Community Building 101

I’ll be writing a series of blog posts on community building, based on my experiences over the last two decades.

Some of the content will also appear in my many Substack newsletters, and vice versa

Community building can be tough…as well as rewarding and inspiring. Community builders - the people who lead communities deserve and need support. They are the people to whom others turn but who do they turn to when they are challenged? This newsletter will share both my decades of experience, failures and successes, aiming to achieve a good humoured, positive, “lessons learned” approach. If you have a story to share, or otherwise want to contribute, contact me.

1. Why this, why now

There is a a lot of expertise “out there”. I sense there are some gaps, especially in

1 The activation of “dormant communities” where a potential community exists and someone is looking for ways to activate it

2 Cross-community know-how sharing. I’m fortunate to have been engaged with many groups and communities. I’m convinced that there is a lot to learn from other communities.

Community leaders often share and learn from other communities builders working on the same projects in a different region. TEDx-ers learn from other TEDx organisers. Village Builders from around the world get advice and support from other parts of the “Village in the City” movement. But unless someone straddles both worlds the TEDx-ers won’t learn from VITC’s excellent “hosting traditions” and VITC will not hear about TEDx-ers excellent volunteer management processes.

3. How often

I will aim to post at least once a month. To get critical mass I will repost past relevant content from my blogs, other newsletters and social media groups.

4. Subscribe to The community builders' newsletter here

https://communitybuildershub.substack.com