In this episode of This Week in Community, hosts Rosie Sherry and Simon Tomes are joined by community professionals Nicola Earle and Andy Piper for an open, wide-ranging conversation about what it means to show up for community in 2026. The conversation opens with a linguistic idea from a Nora Bateson and Nate Hagens YouTube discussion: what happens when you swap the word "to" for "and"? Going to a conference to watch talks is closed. Going and watching talks opens up everything else that might happen.
From there, the discussion moves through community measurement and North Star scoring systems, the tragedy of the commons and schismogenesis (the pattern of relationship that breaks relationship), the fragility of open social platforms, and the creeping threat of AI-generated content in community spaces. Running underneath all of it: a belief that human-to-human connection that is messy, effortful, irreplaceable is more important that ever and might just be the thing that brings more people to human-to-human communities.
- Nicola Earle
- Andy Piper
- It's not enough to have better ideals. — Ben Werd
- Everyone Wants a Village, Nobody Wants to Be a Villager
- Announcing Stack Overflow for Agents
This Week in Community (TWiC) is a weekly online call between community professionals, hosted by Rosie Sherry and Simon Tomes.
Gather around the community fire for a live conversation as we connect with the people behind the practice, explore what's emerging, and share the passion of those shaping the future of community. Tune in for the latest news, discussions, and insights from across the world of community building, connection, and care.
We meet every Wednesday at 4pm UK time. Join the stage and tell us about your week, share your hot takes, talk about what you're working on, celebrate your wins, or just listen in and join the chat. It's up to you.
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