Hybrid Communities

Presented online at Community Thrive 2021

We're heading deeper into a hybrid future - usually envisioned as in-person events with an online component included. While this is certainly a great way to allow for events to accommodate people who cannot attend in person, what if we could do more? What if we could build an entire community that brings people together in multi-faceted and impactful ways, regardless of where they are in the world? These hybrid communities can go far beyond simple events and can bring together people in ways they never thought possible. Let's explore what this future will look like and how you can start building a hybrid community today.

Transcript

1. Hybrid Communities
   Integrating online & o ine experiences
   

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2. What is a hybrid community?
   

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3. A hybrid community...
   ...facilitates valuable online connections…
   ...strengthened by in-person interactions
   

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4. How can we connect online &
   o ine spaces?
   

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5. Three focus areas
   Training
   Create practical content to teach your
   community new skills
   Teamwork
   Collaborate with your community to
   facilitate interactions
   Provide accessible platforms for
   collaboration and connection
   Tools
   

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6. What do you look for in platforms
   and tools?
   

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7. Platform
   considerations
   Live interactions
   Asynchronous conversations
   Accessibility
   Localisation
   Moderation tools
   Multimedia
   Documentation
   Open-source
   

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8. What do in-person events look like
   for a hybrid community?
   

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9. In-person events...
   ...involve collaborative discussions…
   ...that flow from online interactions
   

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10. What about existing communities?
    

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11. What about existing communities?
    Create
    Create content that caters to your
    community’s needs
    Recruit
    Onboard community members to
    facilitate creating content & interactions
    Initiate
    Provide space, structure and seeds for
    community interactions
    

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12. Hugh Lashbrooke
    @hlashbrooke hugh.blog
    automattic.com learn.wordpress.org
    

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