(Originally published in TheCR News – our monthly newsletter.)
We were recently reminded about the power of taking online communities offline through this short video. This is an approach we strive to embrace at TheCR.
Why?
- Create Member Collisions – Our members benefit from interacting with each other. But time is scarce for them and we understand that. The more we can help them collide, the better for them and the better for engagement within TheCR Network.
- Strengthen Existing Relationships – Getting to know people online is great and often necessary, but there is no substitute for a hand shake and looking someone in the eye while having a conversation…and if you can mix in some food & drink…all the better.
- It’s Only Natural – Online communities are what people have been doing for years, just on a bigger and broader scale. Meeting and sharing ideas is human nature. Just because we can now do this online today, doesn’t mean we should only meet up there.
How?
- At Conferences – We speak and attend many events throughout the year. Many of our members are also at these same events. So we often put together breakfast, lunch or dinners to meet up. Or we gather in one place at one time to say “hello” and snap a photo together.
- Regularly-Scheduled Events – When we started TheCR we wanted to listen to what people were thinking about community management. We also wanted to see what they thought about what we were doing, so we started TheCR Live monthly lunch events. And it has been a hit for more than 3 years. The response is so great that we now have some TheCR Network members running them in other cities.
- When Opportunity Knocks – We co-hosted a public event for 150 people recently and noticed a bunch of our members would be attending. It was a good-sized group, and as we host a virtual “happy hours” for members regularly, we decided to host one in real life ahead of the event. It proved rather popular judging by the smiles and the cocktails in displayed.
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Here are some of the upcoming events where you can find us and/or members of TheCR Network:
April 19: TheCRLive – Chicago
April 26: TheCRLive – Boston area
May 2: The Community Conference -Copenhagen – Rachel will be keynoting on “The Business of Community” and members of TheCR Network will also be presenting.
May 10: TheCRLive – Raleigh-Durham
May 21: Online Community Unconference – Mountain View, CA (Use code “TheCR” for 25% discount)
