Participants brainstorm during a working group session.
By Amy Turner, The Community Roundtable
Working in community you can get pretty numb to the amazing collisions that take place between passionate people. We recently got a reminder of what makes community professionals – and members of TheCR Network – so special.
TheCR Connect brought together community veterans and tactical experts from around the country for a two-day workshop full of inspiring speakers, actionable planning sessions, engaged networking and expert case studies. And just a little bit of networking held around actual roundtables, with delicious food and tasty drinks in hand. (Some extra-special bonding was done during the World Series game we watched as a group on night one!)
This year, participation was limited to members of TheCR Network to ensure that deep connections could be made quickly, and so that every participant could contribute and walk away with inspiration to effect real change in their community. No business cards needed at this event – everyone was already connected online in the Network!
A roomful of community lovers led to great networking.
The Connect workshops, lightning talks and unconference sessions (all led by our amazing members) covered on topics such as Dashboards, Roadmaps, Community Platform Requirements, Gamification, Empathy and Crowdsourcing Innovation.
We even celebrated members of TheCR Network with a series of awards during Connect, to showcase the incredible work they are doing to advance the discipline of community management as well as contributing to Network in valuable ways. Awards covered such topics as “The Cheerleader”, “The Detective” and the “Explorer” and were a fun way to surprise and delight our members.
 Members of TheCR Community Team present member Ted Hopton with an award. |
 Community VIP Claire Flanagan receives a special community commendation. |
While we are sad to have another Connect event in our rear-view mirror, these amazing connections and conversations are already living on inside TheCR Network. Our year-round regular programming, including roundtable calls, working groups and discussions ensures that members are always connecting, always sharing and always learning – even if they aren’t in a room together anymore.
TheCR Connect Class of 2016
| Learn how your community and your career will benefit from membership inside TheCR Network. |  |
