Rosie Sherry and Simon Tomes return after a short break to reflect on how the MoTaverse has evolved into a more strategic, boundary-setting membership model, and what that shift means for paid community expectations, where some members still expect the free-for-all access of the pre-membership era. They talk through the emotional weight of running a scholarship fund, why it moved away from underemployment criteria, and how membership value keeps growing even as free offerings like AI-focused chapters draw record interest. From there, Simon and Rosie build the case for naming community as a service outright, comparing it to SaaS, weighing in on monetisation challenges, and reflecting on a recent conversation with a podcast guest about the universal difficulty of community work.
Guest Serena Snoad joins to unpack the difference between strategy and tactics in community building, why the professional lexicon around terms like "community as a moat" keeps shifting, and how different community types, from customer support to non-profit and identity-based groups, change what a service model even means. The conversation turns to bigger trends: the return of online community as AI companies invest heavily in it, the rise of decentralised networks and niche online spaces, and a broader pull toward intentional offline connection, from protecting third spaces like pubs and libraries to phone-free movements. Rosie shares how she's building her own online platform and vibe coding small community tools, before Simon closes out with a story about a London hide and seek experience, the simplicity of organising people with just a webpage, and examples of large scale community picnics springing up right now.
Chapter timestamps
00:01 This Week in Community Introduction
01:46 Transitioning to a Strategic Membership Model
04:54 Navigating Paid Membership Expectations
09:40 Scholarship Funds and Decision Stress
12:10 Building Growth Through Membership Value
18:31 Reframing Community as a Service
24:39 Monetisation Challenges and Guest Perspectives
32:13 Strategy Versus Tactics in Community
35:41 Evolving Terminology and Professional Lexicon
37:38 Identifying Different Community Types
40:00 The Return of Online Community Trends
46:35 The Rise of Decentralised Networks
48:17 The Shift Toward Intentional Offline Connection
50:36 Protecting and Sustaining Third Spaces
52:34 Building Personal Online Platforms
54:01 Vibe Coding Small Digital Tools
55:29 London Hide and Seek Experience
56:49 Simplicity Of Online Coordination
58:09 Large Scale Community Picnics
Handy links
- Serena Snoad - Good Community
- Rosieland — Rosie Sherry's own site and community for community builders, which Simon told a fellow founder to check out after their community's move to paid membership.
- Shoulder to Shoulder — a London men's in-person community (introduced to Simon via ambassador Eamon Droko) that recently shifted from free to a paid-for membership model.
- The Future 100: 2026 — VML's annual hundred-trends report, referenced for its findings on the resurgence of in-person "soft socialisation."
- Empty Chairs — a pub-based community campaign leaving seats open for anyone to join, cited as an example of a viral, in-person connection movement.
- Touching Grass podcast — a Gen Z/millennial-hosted podcast about stepping offline, mentioned for its recurring theme that "online is a cesspit."
- The Offline Club — a phone-free, chapter-based events network held up as another example of intentional offline connection.
- Lovable — the AI app-builder tool Rosie's been using to "vibe code" small personal projects and micro-communities.
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