Rosie Sherry and Simon Tomes are back on This Week in Community after a week off for MoTaCon, reflecting on a festival week of dinners, socials, workshops, and a seafront walk, and why community is something you support all year round, not just during one big event. They talk about the post-conference admin that's never quite "done done", how a quick retro has already shaped next year's event, and why community builders can give themselves permission to decide fast rather than stall in analysis paralysis, especially when member feedback mostly confirms what they already sensed. From there, they explore community knowledge management, from archiving event photos to turning one workshop into an Insight article, an Observatory link, and a new glossary term, all tied together as part of communities of service.
The conversation then turns to Nicola Earle's post on measuring vibes, prompting ideas for a vibeometer and a simple listen, capture, analyse loop for reading the signals that show a community is popping off. Rosie shares a Guardian piece on a Berlin tree-watering app as an example of action-first community, contrasting it with the messiness of local Facebook groups, and both hosts swap stories of litter picking and paddle-board clean-ups before asking what the online equivalent of tidying up might be. They close with a nod to disconnecting offline, inspired by a worriedaboutsatan track, and a heads-up about an in-person TWiC with Andy Claremont in London on 21 October.
Chapter timestamps
00:01 Conference Reflection and Community Resilience
03:25 Post-Conference Task Management
04:53 Rapid Decision Making and Future Planning
07:14 Avoiding Analysis Paralysis in Decisions
09:29 Validating Assumptions Through Member Feedback
16:13 Community Knowledge Management and Archiving
17:55 Expanding Insight Through Platform Features
22:15 Defining Communities Of Service
24:59 Measuring Community Vibes and Sentiment
39:39 Action Oriented Local Community Apps
54:22 Modelling Online and In-Person Communities
56:10 The Importance of Disconnecting Offline
57:45 Upcoming In-Person Community Event
Handy links
Comments