Community Strategy Insights

The latest insights on community strategy, technology, and value by FeverBee’s founder, Richard Millington

Community In Name Only

Richard Millington
Richard Millington

Founder of FeverBee

I’ve been working from a WeWork office for a year or so.

It’s a “community” in the sense I share office space with other warm bodies.

The views are nice, the snacks are ok, and there are occasional guest speakers.

But there’s little sense of community.

None of the ‘community managers’ (WeWork’s term for support staff) has done the hard work to build a community from members. They arrive, respond to questions as best they can and go home.

There are no introductions to other members when you arrive, no rituals for newcomers or veterans (birthdays, membership anniversaries etc…), no joint problem solving and few collective projects to collaborate on.

WeWork is what we call a CINO – Community in Name Only.

No-one is doing the hard work to forge the audience into a community, to build a sense of culture, and to create that shared purpose.

Slapping a community label onto a project might raise it’s perceived value, but turning it into a genuine community collaboration will raise its real value.

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