A friend of mine was recently disappointed he was accepted in Mensa.
Mensa is for the smartest 2% of people in the world.
He wanted to join the Triple Nine Society. The Triple Nine Society is for the smartest 0.1% of people.
I bet there are people in the Triple Nine Society that wish they were in the Prometheus Society (0.003%) and people in the Prometheus Society who wish they were in the Mega Society (0.001%).
Ever more exclusive private member clubs are springing up around both London and the rest of the world.
We want to be a part of an exclusive group of those we consider our peers. If the group includes too many of those we consider below our level, we feel a weaker connection to that group.
If there is no unspoken agreement about the skills, attributes, or experiences required to be a part of that group, it’s harder to feel a sense of community.
This works in companies too. Steve Jobs used to take the top 100 Apple employees by skill (not seniority) away every year to hammer out ideas. This bonds the top 100 people together. They feel special.
The first step to creating a powerful sense of community is always to define the boundary that separates insiders from outsiders. Build that exclusive group within the broader group.
That’s going to be a community for {x} that {y}. X will be the common topic that unites them. Y will be the special thing that makes them feel a strong peer group.
Pick something from your audience’s demographics, habits, or psychographics that unites them.
On October 29th to 30th, the world’s top 250 community professionals are going to SPRINT in San Francisco. Will you be one of them?
