community building for business success

Community Building for Business Success

Dom Bortolussi, CEO @ The Working Group

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Hi, I’m Dominic.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

I <3 community

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

According to the Enneagram personality test I’m both a ‘helper’ and an ‘explorer.’ Meyers Briggs classifies me as an Extrovert.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

This presentation is about...

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

How community helped our business.And how it could help yours.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

So, what is community?

•A group living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.•A feeling of fellowship with others as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.•A group of interdependent organisms of different species growing or living together

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Communities form around

•Interests and Activities. •Action and Desire. •Place or Habitat. •Circumstance

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Communities enable us to create and discover who we are.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

“We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.”

- Jim Rohm

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

To build your business, you need a community.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Communities are evolved.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

You can’t defeat a wooly mammoth without people to back you up.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Community = Cooperation

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

The Prisoner’s Dilemma

•2 prisoners asked to inform on each other•Both inform on the other = Both get 3 years in prison•Both players cooperate with each other = Both get 1 year in prison.

•One player informs while the other player cooperates = Informer gets off free and the cooperator gets 5 years in prison.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

For cooperation to prove stable, the future must have a sufficiently large shadow. The importance of the next encounter between the same two individuals must be great enough to make [noncooperation] an unprofitable strategy.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Conduct business at the intersections of interests and practices. Community happens there.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

The results

•Attract and retain great talent.•Find good work, with good people, even if you’re not salespeople•Get invited to cool events

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Building a community puts people first and makes you happier. That’s the best goal unto itself.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

So how do you do it?

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Event planning

•Hand pick 50 - 80 good people to invite, tell them to RSVP and bring friend.

•Promote in places you know your community will take notice

•Structure for content and conversation•Use real wine glasses•Follow up with a thank you, an invite to the subscriber list for future events, and a link to the photos that were taken.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

This isn’t a zero sum game.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Greater community increases the velocity of information transfer. Greater interaction and idea flow generates greater innovation, entrepreneurial activity, ideas and growth.

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

37.5 coworking spaces per million people

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Taking action

•Commit resources to finding and supporting your community.•Identify the things you are passionate about and host a meetup or event of your own•Spend your free time attending community events•Give willingly

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

“No business is an island, entire of itself; every business is a piece of the community, a part of the main.”

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Thank You3

Wednesday, 31 July, 13

Community Building for Business SuccessDominic Bortolussi

twg.ca @dombort @twg

Wednesday, 31 July, 13