Why Community Matters Episode 1 Recap: If It’s a Fog in the Pulpit

“Where are we going and why does it matter?”

Some of you may recall, 11,000 forevers ago (or, during the launch of the series on the livestream yesterday), I hoped that people would share their takeaways from the episode’s lesson, and it would turn out the series would inspire folks to think deeply about online community and how to make it better.

By the end of the evening that same night of the launch, I received one email from a colleague who’d watched the livestreamed introduction and the first episode. (By the way, every podcaster and blogger I know ADORES the people who actually ACT on the call to action they leave at the end of a show or post. This person is officially on my “can do no wrong” list now.)

She shared her big takeaway with me and, even more exciting, her thoughts on how to apply it. Here’s the first part of what she wrote:

She then applied this question and thinking to the work that she, and the team we work with, does with our association clients. She wondered if Hotsenpiller’s “Where are we going and why does it matter?” in building community could lead to some deeper questions about strategic planning and how it has changed over time.

Her question got me thinking, too.

She had recognized how, due to the limited time we often had with association clients while working on strategy, it meant sometimes having a less-than-ideal allotment of attention spent on core purpose, vision, and mission statements… and she wondered if one might be able to make sure not to leave any of this important work out of the engagement, or short change this bit, by rolling core purpose, vision, and mission statements all up into work done as “vision + values” that would ensure associations stay true to mission when working on their strategic plans.

I have to admit, hearing that a 2-minute video could evoke some deeper thoughts about more than community building made me feel like the series was off to a great start.

So, how are you applying the first episode’s lesson about vision to strengthening your communities? 

Please share your comments or tweet me at @kikilitalien on Twitter.