The power of play to build belonging

Send us a textChris Fitz is the Founder and Artistic Director of River Crossing Playback Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. With experience in improvisational arts since 2003, Chris and his ensemble use Playback Theatre to build community by dramatically portraying real-life stories. He is also a trained mediator and former Executive Director of the Center for Community Peacemaking, specializing in Restorative Justice—community-based practices that address harm and promote healing in schools, communities, and the legal system.Chris sees Playback Theatre as a tool for personal and social healing, emphasizing the power of storytelling to foster connection, belonging, and understanding. Through performances like "Healing York," his troupe has addressed issues like racial harm, showing how storytelling can help heal communities.Chris believes in the importance of repeated dialogue and rituals to foster belonging, whether in-person or online, and offers advice to community builders on engaging participants without relying too heavily on presentations. His focus remains on creating safe spaces for people to connect, share their stories, and address community challenges through both art and conversation.Contact Chris Fitz and the River Crossing Playback Troupe by visiting the website  https://rivercrossingplayback.org/ and connect with Advoz at https://advoz.org/. If you have an online community, or just want to grow an online business, communicating directly to your audience allows you to build relationships with them one email at a time! You might think you don’t have enough time, but I have some great news for you! ConvertKit can help you start building your email list with easy-to-setup templates, immediate analytics, and start for free!  Buzzsprout Let's get your podcast Start for FREEMighty NetworksAll-In-One Community Platform for your course or membership. Bonsai Run your entire business in one place with the help of this business management tool Kit Kit makes email marketing easy! Grammerly Grammarly helps you become a better writer using AI technology Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Community Strategy Podcast offers interviews with online community leaders who share their community-building journey. Our podcast covers community concepts, community building, community strategy, community structure, community membership, and community management. Visit our Website Find Calm Here to learn more about working with Deb

Send us a textToday, I’m happy to introduce the Reverend Mike Travisano, an ordained Buddhist priest, mindfulness instructor, and integrative group therapy facilitator for an intensive outpatient program for adolescents and young adults.Mike is also the founder of The Art of Monday Morning. This company provides mindfulness instruction to individuals and organizations.In this episode, you’ll hear Mike’s story of starting a Monday Buddhist Mindfulness and Meditation community.  Mike spent most of his career working in tech software, but his life took a turn in 2020 when he joined the seminary to become an ordained Buddhist priest. Over two years, he studied and wrote about his thoughts and understanding of Buddhism. He finishes with a “plunge,” which allows students to choose their path toward how they will implement their training. Working with those seeking help, Mike began providing support through mindfulness counseling.If you are interested in the virtual gathering, please visit Mike’s website: https://www.theartofmondaymorning.com/. To learn more about Mike, connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-travisano-7b30a733/. Please consider sharing this episode with someone else you think might enjoy this discussion. Send questions or comments to [email protected]. If you have an online community, or just want to grow an online business, communicating directly to your audience allows you to build relationships with them one email at a time! You might think you don’t have enough time, but I have some great news for you! ConvertKit can help you start building your email list with easy-to-setup templates, immediate analytics, and start for free!  Buzzsprout Let's get your podcast Start for FREEMighty NetworksAll-In-One Community Platform for your course or membership. Bonsai Run your entire business in one place with the help of this business management tool Kit Kit makes email marketing easy! Grammerly Grammarly helps you become a better writer using AI technology Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Community Strategy Podcast offers interviews with online community leaders who share their community-building journey. Our podcast covers community concepts, community building, community strategy, community structure, community membership, and community management. Visit our Website Find Calm Here to learn more about working with Deb

Send us a textWelcome to the Community Strategy Podcast. I'm Deb Schell, the host. I'm excited to introduce today's guest, Eli Walker! She designs events and programs that build play into belonging in the modern world and how to use play to facilitate more engaging meetings. Equipped with a BFA in Theater from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and as the founder and author of Drunk Yoga® (now The Uplift Experience), Eli pioneered the wellness entertainment movement to bridge the gap between #selfcare and #communitycare through her social yoga events. Since then, she has used immersive storytelling and mindfulness practices to support tens of thousands of individuals and hundreds of institutions across the globe—including NYU and Columbia University, as well as Barclay's, eBay, Intel, Google, Pinterest, and Mastercard—in building meaningful belonging for themselves and their teams in our modern, remote world by leveraging the art of play in live experience design. Eli has always loved helping people from different backgrounds get on the same page. Bonus points if she can achieve this while inspiring them to live joyfully, empowering them with new perspectives, and making them laugh simultaneously. When you work with Eli, you can expect to play, move, laugh, and walk away feeling empowered with tools to create a more connected world.During this interview, Eli shares her entrance into the community industry. She describes community-based theater as an immersive performance art in which the facilitator and storytellers go into existing communities and use live storytelling theater to help participants tell their stories and bridge sociological barriers. If you have an online community, or just want to grow an online business, communicating directly to your audience allows you to build relationships with them one email at a time! You might think you don’t have enough time, but I have some great news for you! ConvertKit can help you start building your email list with easy-to-setup templates, immediate analytics, and start for free!  Buzzsprout Let's get your podcast Start for FREEMighty NetworksAll-In-One Community Platform for your course or membership. Bonsai Run your entire business in one place with the help of this business management tool Kit Kit makes email marketing easy! Grammerly Grammarly helps you become a better writer using AI technology Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Community Strategy Podcast offers interviews with online community leaders who share their community-building journey. Our podcast covers community concepts, community building, community strategy, community structure, community membership, and community management. Visit our Website Find Calm Here to learn more about working with Deb

Send us a textWelcome back to The Community Strategy Podcast! Today’s guest is Mathilde Leo. She's the Head of Community and Customer Education at Circle, an all-in-one online community, program, and course platform for entrepreneurs, startups, and nonprofits.She's been building online customer communities from scratch since 2021. As the first community hire and employee #11, she was instrumental in crafting and implementing Circle's original community-led strategy, which helped onboard, activate, and educate 10,000+ customers, building some of the most innovative community businesses on the planet. Before Circle, Mathilde co-founded MakingJam, the leading European product professional conference. It was a side project she turned into a thriving community business. Episode Notes. If you have an online community, or just want to grow an online business, communicating directly to your audience allows you to build relationships with them one email at a time! You might think you don’t have enough time, but I have some great news for you! ConvertKit can help you start building your email list with easy-to-setup templates, immediate analytics, and start for free!  Buzzsprout Let's get your podcast Start for FREEMighty NetworksAll-In-One Community Platform for your course or membership. Kit Kit makes email marketing easy! Bonsai Run your entire business in one place with the help of this business management tool Grammerly Grammarly helps you become a better writer using AI technology InstacartA typical Instacart order saves one and a half hours to get back in your day to do whatever! Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Community Strategy Podcast offers interviews with online community leaders who share their community-building journey. Our podcast covers community concepts, community building, community strategy, community structure, community membership, and community management. Visit our Website Find Calm Here to learn more about working with Deb

Send us a textGet ready to jump into a NEW episode of The Community Strategy Podcast! Hosted by Deb Schel, she interviews Tracy Beavers, a six-figure entrepreneur, and an online community builder. Get the tips to grow your community organically and launch a group that turns into income! Tracy hosts a free Facebook group, BE A CONFIDENT ENTREPRENEUR: Get Visible + Grow Your Email List & Income, with over 2.7K members! When Tracy first launched her Facebook group, her biggest goal was to become more visible. After setting up the group, she invited members from her list to join the free group. In addition, she mentioned the community when networking and posted about it on social media. Although organically growing the Facebook group was challenging, she persevered and now sees about 100 new members monthly. Don't miss out on the opportunity to access Tracy's valuable free marketing resources. They could be the key to your community's success.  Connect with Tracy on Facebook. Did you like this episode? Let me know by rating and reviewing this show on Apple Podcast. If you have an online community, or just want to grow an online business, communicating directly to your audience allows you to build relationships with them one email at a time! You might think you don’t have enough time, but I have some great news for you! ConvertKit can help you start building your email list with easy-to-setup templates, immediate analytics, and start for free!  Buzzsprout Let's get your podcast Start for FREEMighty NetworksAll-In-One Community Platform for your course or membership. Bonsai Run your entire business in one place with the help of this business management tool Kit Kit makes email marketing easy! Grammerly Grammarly helps you become a better writer using AI technology Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Community Strategy Podcast offers interviews with online community leaders who share their community-building journey. Our podcast covers community concepts, community building, community strategy, community structure, community membership, and community management. Visit our Website Find Calm Here to learn more about working with Deb