Thoughts: Why I left a community – and what it taught me
Welcome to my first newsletter, all about community building in fintech.
A few years ago, I joined a community for professional women. It turned out to be a bit of a waste of time - and money - for me personally. Here’s why I left, and what it taught me about building professional communities.
It wasn’t especially diverse.
I loved the idea that it was there to support professional women and did meet some people from different industries, but overall I began to feel I was meeting the same person over and over again - myself included. The second time my Diet Coke got mixed up with the Diet Coke of another blonde twentysomething lady in a floral maxi dress, I couldn’t help but feel something was missing.
The content became repetitive.
Panel discussions and webinars seemed to make the same points over and over again and it just didn’t feel like they were keeping up with real world events, or forming any type of progressive series. The speakers themselves were also repetitive, which felt like a missed trick when I looked around the room and saw so many in the audience with something to say.
The community didn’t get to contribute.
When people did come up with ideas for new content or events, these were rarely taken on board. In my view, this is the key difference between being a community and just an audience.
It was too broad.
I realised I needed to find people in the fintech sector, especially those who worked on their own or in startup or scaleup environments. That wasn’t the vibe here - which was OK, just not for me.
I didn’t have the time.
I’d joined the community when I thought I would be able to work flexibly, make the most of using their physical space, and take part in more of the initiatives. This didn’t end up working out with my job at the time.
It was a year’s commitment.
This did keep me longer than I might have stayed - but is why I wouldn’t sign up again. Having people commit to a whole year made it feel there wasn’t pressure for the community to deliver for its members outside of pre-renewal season.
They kept trying to flog us NFTs…
Lol, remember 2021?
..despite pushing everyone onto an app that didn’t work.
This was where the NFTs really stung. Not only did it seem - sorry - a bit of a money grab, but Web 2.0 was causing this company enough problems. While WhatsApp and email were preferred by most people, a lot of time was spent trying to migrate us all to a new app which had teething problems as big as not showing you the name of the person who was sending you a message.
They were totally unapologetic.
When the app crashed, or the leader of an event didn’t show up, or things were cancelled last minute, it came down to simple customer service. It didn’t seem like anyone was responsible for “looking after” the community. This was around the time of the pandemic where most of us had a “cut them some slack” attitude, but a lack of any apologies wore it a bit thin.
What it taught me…
In the end I don’t think it was a good or bad community - and I haven’t named it here for that reason - I just personally had a disappointing experience and it wasn’t for me. Some things (the customer service, the technology issues, the bloody NFTs) were things they could have worked on, but others (not fitting my particular niche, or my schedule) were more an issue with me as a member. Nonetheless, all of them are something to take on board when setting up a community, even if just to ensure you’re targeting and onboarding the right people.
On reflection, the biggest thing that stands out to me is that your members take a punt on you when they join a community. They want to feel they are making the most of it and understand the wider purpose of what you’re trying to do for them - which should be consistent. If they can see that, many will put in more than they get out and still be happy to pay for it. If not, the let-down can feel really personal for some.
Have you ever left a community? If so, could they have done anything to persuade you to stay?
Author’s note
Welcome to my newsletter! It feels a bit strange to start off on a bit of a rant, but this is Substack after all and a lot of you seem to be doing it… They won’t all be this negative, though.
I am hoping this newsletter becomes a place where we can talk about professional communities of all shapes and sizes. Mainly in fintech, but we might blur occasionally when something useful comes up in another sector. I’m also hoping to ask some geniuses I come across to contribute now and then, too.
You can expect this newsletter roughly every two weeks - but I won’t be killing myself over it - and can expect the content to cover three themes: my thoughts, my tips, and the 411 where you can get the inside track on industry communities in general.
I’ll also share the odd bit - but not too much - about my life in general. This last two weeks has been super busy as it was UK Fintech Week and also the UK Fintech Awards where the company I work for, mmob, won Partner of the Year. Overall the events track can be exhausting - more on that in a future newsletter - but this year I felt a real positive buzz that was missing in 2023. It feels like those of us who survived the bloodbath are just starting to stick our noses above the parapet. Or am I being dramatic?