Community
Not just my favorite TV show.
I spent the last two weekends attending classmates events for their communities. It was a lot of fun, and frankly, it was nice to see my classmates outside of school for a change. Even if it was technically a school event, it didn’t feel like one. I got to delve a little deeper into the lives of the 16 people I spend most waking hours alongside by sharing their hobbies and interests, not to mention venturing out into new spots in the City.
First, I went to Carrie Tsang’s “Dash and Dine,” at McCaren Park in Williamsburg. Though the wind was working against us last Saturday, we ran a few laps around the track before chowing down on some donuts. There were far more donuts than runners, so Carrie began handing them out to people on the track. Some were very enthusiastic, others a little dismayed, but it turned into a great way to recruit for her running club.
Next up was Sun Young Na’s “Scatchbook” event, hosted at her home in Brooklyn. Despite my cat allergies, I love drawing so I took some meds and went anyway. Sun Young laid down some paper on the floor and provided all sorts of drawing supplies for her guests to use. Drawing a moving cat turned out to be pretty tricky, but it was a fun challenge.
Later that day, I participated in Rachel Hsiung’s online chat, “Let’s Talk About Pay.” While it can be intimidating to talk about pay, interviews, and related processes, it can also be incredibly helpful. We gained some insights from people already in the industry and shared our horror stories and triumphs from past internships and how to go about asking for a raise. Rachel should be sharing a recap shortly.
On Sunday, I met up with Matt Lee’s “Legoist NYC” club, for Lego enthusiasts. As a team, people worked together to construct a large and complicated kit of a Star Wars spaceship. It was very neat to see people with similar passions talk about their craft and share their stories and inspiration.
I went to all these events, because I realized I didn’t know how to go about starting a community. All of the communities I have ever participated in have been well-established.
So, how do you get in on the ground floor? Well, I’ve learned a few things.
1. Your friends will probably be your first group members, and that is ok. In fact, it’s pretty great. They have your back, no matter what.
2. Have an objective goal in mind. Give your audience a task that will take them some time to complete. One that you do not have to be a part of.
3. Incentivize. Food is pretty good, so is beer. Offering small rewards for the “best” or “most creative” or “insert superlative here” is also a viable option.
4. Something will likely go awry. Roll with it. If you brought too much food, give it away and try and recruit new members. If your guests are allergic to your subject, be prepared with allergy meds. Whatever your hiccup is, work with it.
Finally, I realized a few things about my own projects. For starters, I have nowhere near the time to get my drawings done daily. Not while school is in session. I will have nothing but time coming up in May though, so that might be a better time for the challenge. An in person event, however, would be good to get the ball rolling and gauge interest. I also started to drink root beer again, and have been hash-tagging #RootBeerClubNYC to photos on social media whenever I do. I think sometimes putting too much pressure to create your community actually give you some disdain for it. Once the pressure is off, though, you can just enjoy the thing you love.
