It’s a wrap! September 2018

All I think of when I think about September is the LifeStartFest. At the end of August, we started organizing a careers festival for students in Bangor and I was lucky enough to be one of the key people in making the event happen. Luckily, I wasn’t responsible for the logistics because that would mean I’d order the pizza from the US and the balloons to Bangor in Northern Ireland as we happened to learn in the process. I was tasked with programming it all and making sure our attendees would have an incredible experience. You can read more about it in my case study.

Because of the LifeStart event, and next to my usual community work, I spent most of September thinking about hosting gatherings and creating inclusive environments. Over the years, I’ve been a part of many online initiatives and learning how to sort out conflict and create a friendly environment online. Yet with how the social web’s evolving, I’ve found an increasing joy in thinking about offline experiences. The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker is one of the most useful books, and just like Reclaiming Conversation by Sherry Turkle, it’s a must-read for everyone who deals with communities.

I was also fortunate enough to be invited to the Community Summit at the TechFest in Copenhagen organized by my friend Severin Matusek and his co-matter studio.

One of my highlights of the month was that I joined Norn.co as a founding member in Berlin. So far, I’ve participated in two events and it’s been incredible to witness how they facilitate gatherings. I feel like I have so much to learn from them. And so, if you ever get a chance to join one of their events, I’d highly recommend it.

In October, we’re opening a new round of LifeStart Challenges, which is what will be my focus of the month. If you have some small projects you want me to help out with, please let me know. I’d also love to get involved in creating event experiences, so if you think having a community strategist on board would be of value, please reach out.