Should EVERY Business Have A Community? A Conversation with David Spinks

Scott Stirrett is the Co-founder and CEO of Venture for Canada, a non-profit organization on the mission to foster the entrepreneurial skills & mindsets of young Canadians. Venture for Canada’s vision is a Canada where young people can equitably realize their entrepreneurial potential to build the most prosperous place in the world.  In this episode, Scott and Marsha chat about how VFC shifted from a thriving in-person community to having to adapt to becoming virtually focused. We then flip the script and Scott interviews Marsha about Fuckup Nights. They chat about failure, why young people should consider entrepreneurship, and why community is more important than ever for young people. Episode Notes: https://www.createcommunitypod.com/episodes/scott-stirrett Venture for Canada’s annual ALL THINGS PEOPLE virtual conference is coming up! In this event, you'll learn how to give everyone a seat at the table, and most importantly, how to put people first. Learn more here and buy your tickets today: https://bit.ly/3y9nMiK    

Do you have a best friend at work? According to Dan Manian, it could be a game changer! After spending years working in product at fast-growing startups, Dan co-founded Donut to help teams foster cultures of connectivity and collaboration.  In this episode, Dan and Marsha chat about how to create rituals for your team that foster camaraderie and community. Dan also shares some great ideas around how to build connections equitably in a hybrid environment.  Episode Notes: https://www.createcommunitypod.com/episodes/dan-manian Donut's Community: #donut-be-strangers Donut has a new community, #donut-be-strangers, to connect the people who connect everyone else. If you're interested in meeting fellow connectors, learning vetted approaches to team engagement, and sharing what's worked for you, then you can go to donut.com and use the chat popup to request your invitation!

Ashley Barby is the founder of FashionTech, a global community for people at the intersection of fashion and technology. FashionTech provides programming through speaker series, networking opportunities, ongoing industry analysis and much more. Ashley is also the Retail Strategy Lead at Tulip, a mobile retail technology SaaS company at the forefront of omni-channel experiences. In this episode, Ashley and Marsha chat about scaling a community with integrity, mistakes to avoid when just starting out, the future of retail and how community plays a massive role, and lots more.  Episode Notes: https://www.createcommunitypod.com/episodes/ashley-barby

David Spinks is the co-founder of CMX, VP of Community at Bevy, host of Masters of Community podcast, and the author of The Business of Belonging. CMX is the world's largest network for community professionals. Over 25,000 of community professionals come to CMX for training, research, events, and community. In 2019, CMX was acquired by Bevy, an enterprise software platform that powers community-driven events and virtual conferences. In this episode, David shares his journey of building CMX, how to turn an audience into a community, his thoughts on the future of the community industry, and so much more.  Episode Notes: https://www.createcommunitypod.com/episodes/david-spinks Grab your copy of David’s new book: The Business of Belonging  

Many years in business development have taught Jeff MacIntyre that business is built around solid relationships and how rewarding giving back to the community can be.  Jeff leads the Fuckup Nights Kitchener-Waterloo community and is a Vice President Sales of and Corporate Development in the cannabis space. This conversation takes us from Jeff’s unique wedding, to thinking through the future of events, how to build your network as an introvert, how to leave communities and situations that are no longer serving you, and so much more.  Episode Notes: https://www.createcommunitypod.com/episodes/jeffmacintyre

Bar Kirshon is the Co-Founder and CEO of Communyco, a new platform that helps content creators who teach their craft to connect with their online communities. In this episode, Bar shares her journey of growing up with creative roots, moving from Israel to Canada, and starting and growing Communyco. Bar and Marsha chat about how to keep communities harassment free, how to find work-life balance, and how to find your community in a new city. Show Notes: https://www.createcommunitypod.com/episodes/bar-kirshon Want to check out Communyco’s beta? Sign up on communyco.com using code "communyco-family" + check out their upcoming event - The Creator Series

Sheena Brady is a social entrepreneur and leader at Shopify. In 2013, she started her first company, Tease Tea, out of her condo. Today, Tease Tea has grown into a 7 figure social enterprise selling all-natural loose-leaf tea while giving back to programs empowering women.  In 2019, Sheena created Founders Fund, the first digital accelerator supporting under-represented, women-identifying entrepreneurs during every stage of their journey. Members can access mentorship, resources, and non-repayable funding for their business. To date, Founders Fund has distributed over $100,000 dollars to fund women owned businesses while providing mentorship and community to over 600 founders across Canada. In this episode, Sheena spills the tea on her winding personal and entrepreneurial journey. She opens up about the challenges and barriers that she’s faced along the way, and how this drove her to help others and create community. We chat about things ranging from entrepreneurship and financial literacy to when Sheena knew her husband was the one.  Episode Notes: https://www.createcommunitypod.com/episodes/sheena-brady

Marjorie Anderson is the Product Manager for Community at Project Management Institute, a professional membership association shaping the project management industry. Outside her 9-5, she is the founder of Community by Association, an organization and online community for those who build communities for associations and nonprofits.  In this episode, Marjorie and Marsha chat about how to identify and support your community super users, how measure the business impact of your initiatives, and how to create a community strategy. Marjorie shares her career journey in community management, and has some great advice for young professionals looking to advance in this industry. Episode Notes: https://www.createcommunitypod.com/episodes/marjorie-anderson

This episode takes a deep dive into the fascinating world of gaming communities, featuring Victoria Tran, the Community Director for Among Us at Innersloth.  The Among Us Twitter account officially launched with its first post on Nov 18 2020 and gained 1 million followers within 1 month. In this episode, Victoria shares her social media strategies and what she learned after suddenly inheriting a community of half a billion players. In the gaming industry in particular, toxicity and trolling can be rampant. Victoria and Marsha take a deep dive into moderation challenges, creating social values, and how we can create more sustainable and kinder online communities. Episode Notes: https://www.createcommunitypod.com/episodes/victoria-tran

After being hospitalized for COVID-19 in March of 2020, Fiona co-founded the Body Politic COVID-19 Support Group, which offers support and resources to thousands of people living with COVID-19 around the world. In April, Fiona wrote what is believed to be the first account of long-haul COVID in The New York Times. She’s been covering the patient experience and leading COVID patient advocacy efforts ever since.   In this episode, Fiona shares her personal experience with long-haul COVID and how she created and fostered her community. Moderation in a support community is very unique - Fiona and Marsha chat through some of those intricacies. They also chat about how we can recenter the health and wellness conversation around the people and groups that have historically been left out and how we can all be better allies. Episode Notes: createcommunitypod.com/episodes/fiona-lowenstein