To grow a community, we don’t need more spaces we need more contexts.
We have plenty of SPACE for people to meet, they just have no reason to come together in the same time and place.
The entrepreneurial community has many potential homes, now the hard work is getting people to overcome inertia. Not to go home at 5pm, but to come to an event. Not to be on their phones at an event, but to engage with humans.
That work is difficult, it’s risky and it doesn’t payoff in the short term.
It’s an investment in community that will pay dividends into the future.
It requires someone to stand up and say “we’re hosting an event at this time and place for people who___.” It requires that same person to face the music when three people RSVP and only two show up. It requires that person to try again, and again eventually creating some special and giving people a reason to spread the word.
Organizing the community isn’t easy, but before we spend more time and money on space, let’s think more about context.