From conference to community
Image: David Quinalty
Conferences and festivals are great social capital catalysts. They bring people together to share stories, create connections and, when done well, build relationships of trust.
And then it’s all over and they send you home. 🤷🏻♀️
This has struck me as a missed opportunity for organisers for a very long time.
Below I share a little more about the specific opportunity and what to watch for when exploring this route.
Where is the opportunity
I believe conference organisers are in the business of building social capital through storytelling, and that the pilot meet-up, annual event or conference are but stages in a journey, where the more social capital you build, the more impact you have and income you generate.
Think of TED… the über-storytelling-conference. What if Chris and the team had stopped at their original gathering in Monterey, and never built out TED Global and TED Women, TEDx, their online video channels, membership program, TED Ed, TED Books and sooooo much more? Think of the huge impact they would have left on the table, and the income they would haven’t be able to reinvest in all those “ideas worth spreading”.
That is the opportunity - to move from pilot to platform, or from meet-up to movement; and grow impact and income along the way.
Now not every event is a TED but I firmly believe that most if not all have the potential to build social capital beyond the specific moment in time and space that is the conference or festival, through programming “back home”, at regular intervals throughout the year, via smaller in-person groups or online globally.
There are plenty of examples of commercially successful communities doing just that 365 days a year, as opposed to just three. Here are five…
TechGC - an independent, invitation-only, community platform for General Counsels of leading venture capital funds and high-growth technology companies. 👉🏻 techgc.co
Chief - a private membership network focused on connecting and supporting women executive leaders. 👉🏻 chief.com
The Consultancy Growth Network - an international community for consulting business owners and their teams to access insights, introductions and actionable advice. 👉🏻 consultancygrowthnetwork.com
Agency Hackers - a membership community for leaders and teams of £1m+ agencies. 👉🏻 agencyhackers.com
Profound - a mastermind group of up to 100 entrepreneurs, leaders, and more who live and work in upstate New York. 👉🏻 profoundmastermind.com
Each is different in terms of their community purpose, the people they target and the specific programming formats, but all offer some form of regular in-person story-sharing meet-ups, expert webinars and curated online group where conversations and connections can live and grow 24/7… and charge anything between $200 to $2,000 per month depending.
Learning from these I believe points a way forward for organisers - be that of creative festivals, conferences or trade fairs - to grow their impact and income.
What to watch for
Now the idea of building community and connections beyond a conference or festival is not new. Many have tried and failed.
This is in large part due to the fact that running a conference and running a community, while both in the business of building social capital, require a different set up and approach.
Conferences are about the production, the crescendo, the channels to market, and are more akin to training for the 100m sprint. Community is about the platform (in its broadest sense), the cadence, building out local chapters, and feels more like running a marathon or relay.
Each has a separate rhythm so make sure you set yourself up accordingly.
This could mean pulling together an in-house team with some clear frameworks and guidance to help them get started; acquiring an existing community that aligns with your conference or festival that you can help scale; or some other approach.
I’ll expand more on the former in the coming weeks and months.
If this is an area you’re interested in or have examples to share do get in touch or comment below.