Building trust in society, one tea at a time. Community profile: Tea With Strangers
Building trust in society, one tea at a time. Community profile: Tea With Strangers
Last summer I was sitting with Ankit Shah in a cafe in San Francisco. A while into our conversation a stranger, sharing a table with us…
Community building is as old as humanity — let’s remember, not invent
Community building is as old as humanity — let’s remember, not invent
A few weeks back I saw Ants Cabraal from Enspiral present at AIME 2019 in Melbourne. He gave a fabulous talk about how community can…
Community is a journey, not a destination
Community is a journey, not a destination
I recently spoke with a UN agency who is building a global community of practitioners. In our conversations I was reminded of a particular…
What do we want to change in the next version of the Community Canvas? Insights from user research
What do we want to change in the next version of the Community Canvas? Insights from user research
These insights come from user interviews in the last few months, the Canvas 2.0 survey and a 3 day workshop the team held in NYC in…
Where we are headed with version 2.0 of the Community Canvas
Where we are headed with version 2.0 of the Community Canvas
We have been working on the next version of the Community Canvas for the last couple of months and this post is a summary of the clarity we…
The three core motivators in communities: Being together, Learning together, Doing together
The three core motivators in communities: Being together, Learning together, Doing together
One of the biggest question I’m holding with nurturing thriving communities is simple: what are the core motivations for people to show up…
Community profile: MakeSense
Community profile: MakeSense
A few months ago I sat down with my dear friend Christian Vanizette, co-founder of MakeSense. MakeSense is a global community of 40'000+…
Going from Community Canvas 1.0 to version 2.0 (and we need your help)
Going from Community Canvas 1.0 to version 2.0 (and we need your help)
I always thought of the Community Canvas as a “work in progress” document. What we launched in May 2017 was a pretty rough draft and I…
Design principles for brand communities (a wish list)
Design principles for brand communities (a wish list)
I have been talking to different brands recently who are building brand communities. And I realized that at the core of these conversations…
Community profile Legal Hackers: interview with Jameson Dempsey
Community profile Legal Hackers: interview with Jameson Dempsey
I had the pleasure of chatting with my friend Jameson Dempsey, one of the founding members and current board members of Legal Hackers…
The dark sides of communities: the in-group and out-group effect
The dark sides of communities: the in-group and out-group effect
When groups come together, and the people in it start trusting each other and feeling a sense of belonging, the magic of community happens…
My talk about the power of community at ESHIP Summit 2018
My talk about the power of community at ESHIP Summit 2018
I tend to be very critical about my own talks and often find them hard to watch without feeling horribly embarrassed. Yet I’m also trying…
People join communities for reason x, but they keep coming back for relationships
People join communities for reason x, but they keep coming back for relationships
Last night I had the pleasure of being part of a beautiful panel discussion about community building with Kristin Hodgson from Meetup…
Community profile: The Sanctuaries
Community profile: The Sanctuaries
A few weeks back, I had the honor of chatting with Rev. Erik W. Martínez Resly, one of the co-directors of The Sanctuaries. The Sanctuaries…
No commitment, no community
No commitment, no community
As I’m doing research for the next version of the Community Canvas, I think a lot about key ingredients that haven’t been captured in the…
Conflict in communities: unavoidable and important
Conflict in communities: unavoidable and important
I recently was part of a conversation among a group of community builders about “conflict” in communities. We talked about different…
Community concept: Tavolata — recurring food circles for older people
Community concept: Tavolata — recurring food circles for older people
I was recently back home in Switzerland and came across this beautiful community concept called Tavolata. It is geared mostly towards older…
“Gather, don’t train” — notes from meeting Peter Block
“Gather, don’t train” — notes from meeting Peter Block
Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to meet one of my biggest community heroes: Peter Block, author of “ Community: The Structure of…
Introducing the “Community Entrepreneur”
Introducing the “Community Entrepreneur”
I’m deep in my second wave of research, talking to incredible community builders and working on the next version of the Community Canvas…
Why introverts make good community builders
Why introverts make good community builders
I’ve been surprised how many introverts I come across in my work talking to community builders across the globe. I’m an introvert myself…
Co-created communities need a new type of leadership
Co-created communities need a new type of leadership
As more organizations move from a top-down to a decentralized and eventually distributed model, some fundamental characteristics of the…
The most powerful & undervalued community tool: potluck dinners
The most powerful & undervalued community tool: potluck dinners
I was talking to my best friend Mike Radparvar and we were reminiscing how in the time we lived (and worked) together in NYC with his…
Key to understanding communities: the centralized to distributed spectrum
Key to understanding communities: the centralized to distributed spectrum
All communities exist on a spectrum — and why I think this spectrum matters so much.