Building a Community Among Event Planners

I hosted 100+ events last year with a $0 budget. Instead, I had to rely on Social Capital. ⮆ Food sponsors became trusted partners. ⮆ Venue owners became community advocates. ⮆ Attendees became evangelists. The math is simple but powerful: • 1 introduction = 1 goodwill • 10 goodwills = 1 event • 10 events = 1 community • 10 communities = 1 ecosystem Importantly, a $0 budget forced me to think differently: Instead of paying for a venue → I offered venue owners a solution to their Tuesday night problem Instead of buying catering → I turned sponsors into community partners who needed to grow their brand Instead of hiring staff → I turned my attendees into my next co-hosts And here's the secret sauce: When you can't pay people, you have to create value in other ways: ↳ Recognition (tag them, celebrate them, make them heroes) ↳ Access (exclusive intros, insider knowledge, first dibs) ↳ Reciprocity (help first, ask later, always deliver more) The founders who get this? They're the ones building movements. My advice to anyone starting out: 👉 Stop waiting for a budget. 👉 Start adding value right away. All you need is: 💻 A laptop to create an event page 🟦 A LinkedIn account to rally people 🔥 The guts to go out and ask "Hey, can we use your space?" 𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵: 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭. Why? Unlike money, the more you spend it on others, the more you get back. Win/win ✅ = Flywheel 🛞 Founder friends, what's the boldest thing you've done with zero budget? 👇

Notice a gap? What do you do about it? Do you wait for a solution or create it yourself? I noticed a need within the community space and had to find a way to fill it. How did I know? By getting to know my members. I asked what they needed-> surveys, one-on-ones, emails,... Need: Community members wanted to connect. Goal: To bring them together in a common spot. Problem: No common place to gather virtually. To gain more support: Spoke with active users (whom I built relationships with) to contribute and help me promote the event. *Solution: Set up a monthly recurring virtual meet-up -> 'Connect CommUnity' *Benefits from this meetup ↳Members became friends online & offline ↳Learned more about each other & built trust ↳Collaborated at events & in projects together ↳IRL connections happened (picture in comments) Impact of it? ↳Enhanced customer experience ↳Members were excited to hang out ↳Established meaningful relationships ↳Members felt appreciated and heard ↳Over time, members started to host the meet-ups. The beauty of it all? I got to see this all unfold and witness the amazing connections form. Gain more insight into what they needed by listening to their conversations. And continually help create a better environment for them all. ⭐ If you don't see a way to solve a problem, create the solution instead. You don't need to wait for a large crowd to get started. Start with what you have and add on. (If you need help, ask your members)

70% of communities fail. Mine don't. Here's the framework I use to build them. Most communities fail because they start backwards. They build the platform first, then hope people show up. Here's the 5-step framework I've used to build thriving communities for both women leaders (nearly 2,000 members) and industry organizations (70+ companies): 1) Start with careful participant selection → Don't chase scale. Chase alignment. → One unengaged member can kill the energy. 💎Quality beats quantity every single time. 2) Define your unique connection point → "Professional women" isn't enough. → "Women navigating male-dominated cultures" resonates. 🎯The more specific your shared challenge, the stronger the bond. 3) Build structure that removes social anxiety → Assign teams before people arrive. → Create agendas for every interaction. → Remove the guesswork from "how do I fit in?" 🏠Introverts shouldn't have to act like extroverts to belong. 4) Set clear intention (and enforce it) → No sales pitches allowed. → No toxic positivity or negativity. → Vulnerability is rewarded, not punished. 🛡️Rules create safety. Safety creates connection. 5) Create rituals that build excitement → Annual moments that people protect on their calendars. → Exclusive access that feels special, not business-like. → Traditions that members look forward to all year. 🏆When people guard your event dates before you announce them, you've won. The result? Members who respond to each other's emails. Who refer business to each other. Who genuinely celebrate each other's wins. That's not networking. That's belonging. 👉 Follow Stephanie Eidelman (Meisel) for more ideas about how to increase your visibility and advance your career. 🎫 Stop networking. Start belonging. Join us at WCF 2025, where you'll build the connections that respond to your emails and champion your success. (https://hubs.la/Q03dYbHY0)