I am incredibly excited to announce another keynote for Connect 2020: Mia Birdsong! Mia Birdsong is a pathfinder, community curator, and storyteller who steadily engages the leadership and wisdom of people experiencing injustice to chart new visions of American life. She has a gift for making … [Read more...]
New for Connect 2020: The Technology Track
One of our most frequently asked questions is, "what's the best community technology for me?!" We always answer honestly, "There is no best, just the right one for you." To that end we launched our first Community Solutions Showcast last Fall, connecting online community technology platforms and … [Read more...]
Introducing our Connect 2020 Track Chairs
For the last five years, we've run increasingly dynamic and engaging Connect conferences. Over the course of the years, there was one piece of feedback that we heard over and over - but had a hard time implementing: "We want tracks!" Believe me, we got it. It's a bummer to settle into a session … [Read more...]
Pushing the (Community) Dialog Further, Together
TheCR Connect conference is always striving to push the dialogue further, and this year did not disappoint. Between an in-depth exploration of the vendor market in their Community Solutions Showcase to the two thought-provoking keynotes on entrepreneurship and trust in Community spaces, my notebook … [Read more...]
Four Ways To Win Connect: Getting The Most From Your Conference Experience
Even if your bags aren’t quite packed (to be honest I’d be impressed if they were), there is still plenty to plan for this years premier Community conference, TheCR Connect. As a three-year veteran of the event, I thought I’d take a minute to layout four ways to extract the most from your Connect … [Read more...]
TheCR Connect Big Idea: Lakshmi Balachandra
Lakshmi Balachandra is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at Babson College and her research examines the impact of trust, gender and other entrepreneurial characteristics in acquiring early-stage funding. Through our State of Community Management research, we've uncovered parallels … [Read more...]
Save the Date: TheCR Connect 2019 is September 23-25, 2019
It might feel like Connect 2018 just happened (because, well, it did!) but we're already looking forward to another amazing community event. TheCR Connect 2019 will take place on September 23-25, 2019 at the Revere Hotel in Boston, MA. We don't have many details to share yet, but early bird … [Read more...]
TheCR Connect 2018: Key Themes and Reflections
This week in Boston was the annual in-person gathering of TheCR Network members. It's part workshop, part conference, part family reunion, part stress relief. It also provides an interesting temperature gauge on how community program owners are feeling about their work and the future. Here … [Read more...]
Exploring the Transformative Power of Community
How do we make sure TheCR Connect is exactly what attendees want? We ask them. Our annual community conference - TheCR Connect is less than seven weeks away! Believe me when I say things are ramping up at TheCR headquarters and we can't wait to host an eclectic group of community professionals. … [Read more...]
Big Community Idea: Heather McGowan + the Future of Work
“There has never been a more important time to understand the context and impacts of accelerated change.” As we started to tackle the agenda for Connect 2018 I kept coming back to the quote above. This year, as we focus on the theme “Community Accelerates Organizational Transformation” I was … [Read more...]
