Why should you hold events in your community?
An overview of the benefits different events can bring to your online communities.
The real question here is, why shouldn’t you? The potential value that events can add to your online communities is huge. Not only does putting voices to faces help break down barriers, build a rapport and surface affinities, but bringing everyone together also reinforces community spirit. I will focus here on virtual events, although most of what we cover could be easily transposed to an in-person gathering.
You might wonder, however, what kind of events really make sense for your community, and where to get started. Wonder no longer, I’ve compiled a few ideas of effective events our team has organised in a variety of communities, ranging in size, scope and purpose.
Community forum
Think monthly, bimonthly or quarterly forums for your whole community to come together. These can be used as a platform to brainstorm, workshop, or showcase, and will of course vary depending on the focus of your community. It could include, for example, multiple presenters talking about their passions, projects, updates on the company, the product, or recent developments in the industry.
Game night
The name says it all: what better way is there to form relationships than through some good old-fashioned fun? Many of us have come to experience virtual game nights throughout the Covid-19 pandemic a few years ago, whether it was with family, friends or colleagues, and I’ve personally found it a wonderful way to bring about a sense of closeness. Trivia quizzes, online card, video or board games, digital scavenger hunts … There’s a lot of fun to be had!
Coffee & connect
Coffee is, of course, optional. What I’m referring to here is a social, informal meeting where participants are simply spending some time together. Make sure you have some ice breakers and discussion prompts ready in case you need to help the flow of conversation. Interested in a no-fuss variation? Try using breakout rooms for an entertaining one-on-one “speed dating” format.
Knowledge sharing session
Learning together is a fantastic (and time-efficient) way to provide additional value to your community members. Which skills are relevant to them? Which knowledge areas would be beneficial to go in-depth in? Once you answer those questions, you will have a curated list of topics that this kind of event can address. Don’t be afraid to mix it up by leveraging your community members’ expertise, bringing in people from the community ecosystem or even external speakers, where possible.
Q&As
Executives, external influential people in the industry, top community contributors, various department experts … identify those who have a story to tell, and encourage them to tell it in this format. Whether that story is more personal, technical, or business-oriented, there will be plenty to be learned from it.
It is likely that not all of these approaches will fit your community aim & scope, and you might need to mix and match aspects of these events and create your own unique community get-together opportunity. Even then, it’s undeniable: there is much to gain from adding another dimension to your community and bringing members together through events!
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