How to Build an Active Digital and IRL Community
Why the startup community is growing in Phoenix, Arizona right now, including 9 takeaways for how you can build similarly
Saguaros, golf, ridiculous laws — there are a number of things that Phoenix has been known for in the past that did not include its startup community.
Over the last three years, that story has changed. I’ve enjoyed the personal fortune to take part in watching the Valley of the Sun bootstrap itself and grow an active tribe of entrepreneurs all committed to building Greater Phoenix.
People have written about what’s happening in Phoenix elsewhere, but let’s take a deeper look at how the momentum increased in the first place.
Started with a Hashtag
The seeds of technology and innovation were planted in Phoenix decades ago. Unfortunately, those seeds weren’t coalescing into a united whole. As a result, a few locals and I decided to launch a hashtag, #yesphx, which would serve to amplify what was already happening around the Valley.
Tip #1: Build upon activity that’s already happening.
All we did was start with a very basic website explaining the vision, share it via email with some people, and incorporate #yesphx into our relevant tweets. Though it began as a neighborly experiment, it worked even better than we imagined.
Tip #2: Start simply. A hashtag will do.
Nobody Owned It, Everybody Owned It
Ownership is key to growing something. If only one person or organization is in control of something, then they will be the only ones who help grow it. To grow an active community, control and guidelines need to stay loose. The less rules, the better.
Tip #3: Run the community in a non-bureaucratic way.
By starting #yesphx as an organic, community-led effort that was not tied to any one organization or person, everybody in the Phoenix startup community felt a sense of pride and ownership with it. It was theirs, while at the same time, it was nobody’s. Though we started with only a small band of misfits leading the charge, that eventually became a small army.
If someone wanted to see something happen in the community and came to me asking to incorporate their idea into #yesphx, the answer was simple: “Awesome. Lead it!”
Tip #4: Keep the community volunteer-led and open to everyone’s ideas.
Less than three years later, what started as simply a hashtag primarily on Twitter became a helpful online resource, monthly happy hours, massive quarterly celebrations, regular dinners with ecosystem leaders, a local TV show, billboards around the city, multiple online communities, bi-weekly email newsletters, organized roadtrips and retreats, over 24,000 subscribers, hundreds of thousands of shares, more than 5,000 attendees at PHX Startup Week, and more.
Tip #5: Focus on one channel at first, then let things expand organically.
Vision Became Mantra
As momentum increased around Greater Phoenix, it became important that we clarified what was taking shape. This too was an organic effort. Rather than one person define our vision from the onset, we collectively identified what was happening as we gathered together. Finally, we put words to it:
This was our identity, but it was also our aspiration. We weren’t trying to build another “Silicon Something-or-Other,” we were cultivating a spirit of generosity. And this remains our focus.
Tip #6: Allow your vision to evolve with and be defined by the community.
Today, if you ask everyone from our local founders to our startup employees, our investors to our supporters, or our mayor to our city officials, we all know what we’re focused on cultivating — generosity. This is so simple, yet so inspiring, that it has unified us as an incredibly diverse tribe of citizens.
Tip #7: Choose a vision that’s simply stated, yet extremely positive.
Onward and Upward
Optimism is baked within the very name of #yesphx, encouraging all members to adopt and maintain a “yes” attitude in their long-term outlook for the community. Rather than complain about what’s lacking, it has been important that our community leaders focus on what’s happening and strive to be a force for positive change.
Tip #8: Remain optimistic about the future, mindful of the big picture.
This isn’t to say there’s not a time or place for constructive criticism, but it is important to look forward rather than stay put. Generally speaking, the more momentum and progress there is as a community, the more the problems will work themselves out within a distributed network of doers.
Remember
There are many more lessons that I have personally learned since helping build an active digital and real-life community in Greater Phoenix, but these are some of the salient ones. The most important of all, however, is best communicated in the words of William Shakespeare:
“What is the city but the people?”
Tip #9: Remember, remember, remember: it’s about the people.
Whatever type of community you may personally be trying to help build, whether it’s online, in your workplace, at church, or across the city you call home, these tips should help guide your path:
- Build upon activity that’s already happening.
- Start simply. A hashtag will do.
- Run the community in a non-bureaucratic way.
- Keep the community volunteer-led and open to everyone’s ideas.
- Focus on one channel at first, then let things expand organically.
- Allow your vision to evolve with and be defined by the community.
- Choose a vision that’s simply stated, yet extremely positive.
- Remain optimistic about the future, mindful of the big picture.
- Remember, remember, remember: it’s about the people.
Now, go build some community of your own.
High Fives and Chest Bumps
Thanks for reading! If you loved the article, press that pretty little ❤ below to recommend it to others. And if you need help building a digital community, please reach out to Jonathan Cottrell directly. Like all good community builders, he’s accessible.
