Don’t Just Throw Together a Webinar

With in-person events canceled, now is the time for community engagement teams to experiment, learn and sharpen their skills in creating virtual events.

First Round published this interview with David Spinks, VP of Community for CMX, a networking platform for community professionals. With more than 10 years’ experience advising start-ups and other organizations on community-building strategies that contribute to business success, Spinks emphasizes that the best contemporary businesses have long offered online and in-person community-building opportunities to customers, partners, investors and other stakeholders. Companies can easily develop the skills and acquire the software and infrastructure needed to create that balance.

You can organize and stage virtual events more quickly than you can facilitate in-person gatherings, so move fast while people are hungry for interaction. Give speakers plenty of time to prepare, but get your event in front of people quickly.

Use only one software platform – no audience wants to juggle varied programs to handle different aspects of an experience. A centralized resource enables geographically scattered user groups to connect easily to your virtual experiences.

“Growing a community is more like growing a tree than building a house.” (David Spinks, VP of Community, CMX)

Stay flexible and creative as you build vibrant online communities with quality content and appropriate formats for interaction.

If you create an exciting environment, recruit interesting participants and provide great content, people will come. Businesses with an established product can create a space for customers to mingle, share their enthusiasm and provide mutual support. If your business doesn’t have a large customer base, offer content regarding potential customers’ shared interests.

Don’t overthink your programming; try different approaches and iterate as you go. Start with small steps, perhaps with a tool your participants already know, such as Slack or Zoom. Move to more elaborate platforms as your user base grows. Foster interaction and get people talking to each other.

“When you bring the right group of people together into a shared space, with the right purpose, it’s almost impossible for magic to not happen.” (Spinks)

Embrace different formats such as small group – no more than 10 – webinars with featured speakers, speed networking, collaborative tools for brainstorming or hackathons, and shared creative experiences, like music. Spinks believe you can host a virtual online conference that combines all these modalities.

However, don’t expect your online event to replicate an in-person gathering. Focus on meeting the same needs and solving the same problems in a new way. The virtual environment offers advantages, such as not worrying about logistics and more easily bringing together disparate people with similar interests.

Your online events should build community well-being and generate a favorable business outcome.

Building a community around your organization should create a sense of belonging, satisfaction and enthusiasm. Authentic communities contribute to the bottom line. Spinks outlines how to use the “SPACE Model” to clarify how a nurturing a healthy community supports your company’s overall strategy:

• Support – Community members help each other, reducing costs.
• Products – Members share ideas for improving your offerings or suggest new ones.
• Acquisition – Enthusiastic participants spread awareness, drawing new prospects and customers.
• Contribute – Participants offer valuable content or code.
• Engaged – Members become more involved with your business, engendering customer loyalty.

Capture business and community data for your virtual event so you can measure your success against specific metrics. Spinks encourages you to ask: Are participants converting from prospects to customers? Do they engage with your content as you anticipated? Will they come to the next event? Use online tracking tools and participant surveys to measure attendance and follow-up interest.

“It’s critical to be able to show the value of your community, because that’s what will help you justify and grow your investment in serving your members.” (Spinks)

Measure and understand the business value of your community, but be careful your participants don’t feel that you’re exploiting the current crisis to boost profits.

Skillful facilitation of small-group online discussions make them a great format for building community.

Small discussion groups create an atmosphere of intimacy and authenticity. For best results, limit their size to no more than 10 participants (eight is better) and make sure that they run an hour (or even 90 minutes) to give everyone a chance to contribute beyond a self-introduction. Spinks suggests introducing attendees to the “step up, step back” rule: encourage them to “step up” when they have something to say and to “step back” to allow others to speak.

“This is perhaps the most important rule for a facilitator to enforce. When a participant starts taking up all the airspace, you’re the only one in a position to step in, and ask them to step back.” (Spinks)

Start your meetings with a round of introductions sparked by a “fun” question, a “whip-around” topic, or ice-breakers like “high-and-low” in which participants share one positive and one challenging item in their life or work. Encourage everyone to bring a snack or drink and let others know what it is. Finish the session by asking participants to identify an action they’ll take or a commitment they’ll make as a result of the discussion.

Facilitators should allow awkward silences without jumping in to encourage participants to come forward. But, Spinks warns, be alert to the difference between a fruitful silence and dead air. In a virtual space, you can’t read body language cues, so be explicit about how and when you want people to respond. Direct specific question to specific respondents, and avoid open-ended questions that hang unanswered or elicit simultaneous responses.

Community-building is taxing mentally, emotionally and physically. Keep your priorities clear for yourself and your community.

This time of quarantine, economic uncertainty, stress and anxiety exacerbates the challenges of building healthy communities. Make sure your team members understand that their well-being is a priority and essential to the success of your efforts. As you adjust to today’s “new normal” – for as long as it may last – moderate how you consume information and use social media. Exercise and meditation may help.

“The number one priority is being a resource and helping people right now. It’s not to make more money out of this, or take advantage of opportunities.” (Spinks)

For all that this seems like a golden opportunity for community-building, remember that your most important goal should be to contribute value and help the people in your business’s sphere of influence. In Spinks’ analysis, human beings are most resilient when they come together in communities of shared purpose.