My thoughts on offline communities

Published 2 months ago • 1 min read

Hello friends, I hope you've had a great week.

Here are 3 ideas to help you cultivate more connection in your life this coming week.

Because I ran an in-person event last week, this week’s focus is on offline communities. Next week will be online communities.

(1) Get in early

Consider this advice from an experienced event organiser and a PSA (public service announcement) from event organisers everywhere: please buy your tickets early (eg a few weeks out from the event date).

So much time goes into events and planning, yet many event organisers hit the panic button when tickets don’t sell. In those situations, we must spend a lot of time chasing, emailing, and calling interested parties (as I had to a week out from my last event with only four ticket sales). We ended up with 29 at the event, so it was a success. But that situation never feels easy.

So, if you plan to attend, register/buy your tickets as soon as you know you can make it. It's a kind courtesy move.

I understand you may not know if you can make it or that plans are up in the air, and in those situations, it's best to wait to buy tickets. But if you plan to attend an event, get in early and show support. It will help event organisers everywhere breathe a small but important sigh of relief 😅.

(2) Share the anticipation

Looking to support an offline community more? Comment on the event announcements and behind-the-scenes posts, and hit share if you feel inclined. The growth of offline communities very much depends on word of mouth and testimonials. Hitting the share button on your socials goes a long way to building anticipation (and attendance) of events.

Even if you can’t attend an event but would like to, you can still share it. The organisers will genuinely appreciate this small act.

(3) Share the appreciation

Just as the attendance of the event is dependent on shares, so is the ability to create momentum with ongoing events. In the 8 years I have been running my LinkedInLocal events, the single biggest way I have seen community interest grow is by sharing images, videos, and testimonials for events.

So share your appreciation post-event on your socials. It's a great way to say thanks and help grow the ongoing community and future events.

Let me know your thoughts online or by hitting reply.

Until next week,

Anna

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