In this episode of This Week in Community, Rosie Sherry and Simon Tomes check in the week before MoTaCon, with around 500 people heading to the Brighton Dome. They talk through the move to a membership model where a professional membership includes conference access, why registering is now a single click inside the MoTaverse rather than a third-party ticketing tool, and why a clipboard and pencil can still be the quickest way to get people through the door.
The conversation then turns to Marie Le Conte's argument that text-based social media is losing its joy, and what an intentional alternative without sensationalist algorithms could look like. Simon shares Peter Hyman's idea of human maxxing and the risk of outsourcing reading, writing and thinking to AI, before Rosie explores Community Maxxing as a Gen Z rejection of doomscrolling in favour of real connection. Wendell Berry's life of farming and writing prompts a reflection on leaving a positive impact through what we write, and Hyman's five educational pillars are reimagined as prompts for anyone taking part in a community of practice.
Rosie and Simon also unpack Ted Gioia's piece on how our leisure time got monetised, asking where community sits between work and play, why members shouldn't feel constantly sold to, and why investing in yourself matters when your company won't.
Chapter timestamps
00:03 This Week in Community Introduction
01:30 MoTaCon Conference Preparations
04:45 New Membership and Registration Model
08:17 Integrated Community Management Systems
12:51 The Decline of Written Social Media
16:37 Building Intentional Digital Spaces
21:20 Human Maxxing and Cognitive Development
25:12 Understanding Community Maxxing Trends
34:33 Five Pillars of Community Learning
38:49 Balancing Monetisation and Leisure Time
53:48 Upcoming Events and Announcements
56:12 London Leaders Dinner Details
57:27 Guest Participation and Episode Archives
Handy links
- Twitter, Bluesky and the death of social media: Marie Le Conte's piece in The New World arguing text-based social media has lost its joy, which Rosie used to open the social media discussion.
- Human Maxxing: Peter Hyman's Substack post (his Oppidan Lecture at the RSA) on developing human capabilities in an AI age, the source of the five pillars Simon mapped onto community.
- Community-maxxing: gen Z are done with doomscrolling: The Guardian article on Gen Z swapping doomscrolling for in-person connection.
- How our leisure time got monetized: Ted Gioia's post on The Honest Broker about corporations monetising free time, which prompted Rosie's reflections on leisure, membership and being sold to.
- Wendell Berry: The farmer, novelist and essayist who died recently at 92, held up by Rosie as a community maxxer whose writing will outlast the algorithms.
- Taylor Harrington's LinkedIn post on seeing the same people more often: The post Simon quoted about deepening existing connections rather than meeting more people.
- A guide to community discovery on Rosieland. The future of community building relies on community discovery. This is an introductory guide to what it is and why it matters.
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