On this special Philly Tech Week episode of the Digital Citizen podcast, Fastmail COO Helen Horstmann-Allen speaks with Alex Hillman, Will Toms, and Michelle Freeman, three of the savviest digital citizens in Philadelphia about community building offline and online.
Michelle is the Founder of Witty Gritty, a civic-focused marketing events engagement company based in Philadelphia, and Amplify Philly, an initiative co-run with REC Philly aiming to amplify the intersection of business, tech, art, and more. Will is the Co-Founder of REC, a company that works to get independent creatives paid for doing what they love. Alex co-founded Indy Hall, Philadelphia’s first coworking community, which has been gathering people since 2006
▶️ Guest Interview - Alex Hillman, Will Toms, and Michelle Freeman
Alex explains that the difference between community building on and offline is that offline community building gives you many things for free, such as serendipity. Natural and organic conversation is one of the things that makes a community so special, which is very difficult to build online. Online, you have to be specific and intentional in building community.
In our hybrid world, being online serves as an enhancement for in-person experiences. It allows people to keep in touch between meetings through tools like email and Slack and make connections with people they can later connect with in-person.
Our guests are all three extremely proud of their home city of Philadelphia. What makes the city so special is that the city has more creative talent than any other city per capita, even though they don’t have the entertainment infrastructure of New York or LA. REC Philly highlights the resources Philadelphia has to leverage to entice creatives to stay rather than relocate to another city.
The first thing people can do to become better digital citizens is shift their identity online from building an audience to building a community. As a community builder, your role is to create a space for people to connect with others.
⭐️ Takeaways
It is important to add value to the spaces you inhabit, whether they are on or offline.
Simplicity makes participation accessible. Something as easy as encouraging people to participate in thematic name tags (or screen names on Zoom) can spark meaningful conversations.
When it comes to community building, “Onboarding is forever.” Be intentional about the type of community you want to build and start laying that groundwork early on to help foster its growth.
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