#community-building

#community-building

"The idea of giving women a space to remember who they are - without trying to teach or fix them - is what resonates."

The idea for Canopy really began with a very personal experience. I gave birth to my first baby in New York City on March 24, 2020, right in the earliest days of the pandemic when the city was in full 'shelter in place.' Overnight, there were no playgroups, no mom gatherings, no places to go with a baby. The normal ways that parents meet each other and find support totally disappeared.

We're also spending less time with friends. For years, Americans averaged about 6.5 hours a week with friends. Between 2014 and 2019, that number plunged by 37%, to just 4 hours. The year 2014 coincides with a rise in smartphone users.

Social anxiety, more often than not, is about inexperience. Most of us only go out for dinner or have an event once a week, and that becomes our entire social outlet. So when we do interact with someone new, it feels high-stakes. You feel pressured to say the perfect thing.

We had friends from different parts of life. There were my college friends, Brad's coworkers with whom he was close, friends we made in our apartment complex and at church, and even friends we met online through our first dog, Moe. We consider ourselves very grateful to have had such a positive experience living in D.C.

Everybody wants to flourish-to experience joyful, meaningful, shared growth. The problem is, we've been trained to approach the most important parts of our lives as if they are games to win, when they're more like gardens to be grown. Flourishing isn't about being smarter-it's about taking simple actions that foster the ecosystem of your life.

This fair is so conducive to conversations. The founders were creating these situations where you can have conversations and have opportunities for community building. The hotel model might also be more ecological than the typical fair format: This is utilising spaces that already exist and transforming them, rather building anew.

How did you build your village? We asked NPR's audience this question in our newsletter in January, inspired by Life Kit's interview with Priya Parker on how to create community. The key is to start imagining the community you might want to live in and then take steps to make that a reality, says Parker, a conflict resolution facilitator and the author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters. Many of our readers have done just that.

What makes Granada so unconventional is the fact that it's located on the lower level of their actual home, a situation enabled by LA County's relatively new Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation (also known as MEHKO) permit. The permit allows Wayser and Watters to legally serve coffee and food out of their house, with limitations on the number of staff and total annual earnings.

Michelle Paulin dances while instructing youth at the Dulce Tricolor Venezolano dance group at the Ariel Dance Studio in Campbell on Jan. 25, 2026. Dulce Tricolor, a Bay Area Venezuelan dance group founded in 2019, teaches children traditional folk dances while preserving culture, building community and offering a sense of home amid Venezuela's ongoing political and economic crisis. (Josie Lepe for KQED)

"I feel like it was easier to connect with other transplants," she said. "Everyone seemed to revolve around hobby-based communities."

People say it takes a village to do difficult things: raise a child, sustain a community, build a barn. But we don't often talk a lot about what it takes to be a villager. What does it mean to not just be in a community, but to help create one? Priya Parker, author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, says the key is to put yourself out there, even if it's scary.

All the swiping, chatting, and meeting up on Thursday nights - even when you're super tired or not in the mood to go out. Now imagine putting that same effort into seeing your friends. On TikTok, people are talking about the importance of friendship and how easy it is to deprioritize your besties. While you might love your friends, it's not uncommon to go weeks, and sometimes even months, without seeing them.

"You can have as much money as you want to pour into the algorithm and buy ads," Kaplan told Business Insider. "But if you don't have the right founder who's able to build a community and the attention that you need to build a real product that people want, all of that money ... is meaningless."

That model no longer fits how tech leaders work today. Over the past years, I have spent time in conversations with founders, executives, and operators who carry real responsibility inside their organizations. As a community builder, I often speak with them before they commit to attending events. Their questions are direct. They want to know who will be in the room, how discussions are structured, and whether the environment allows honest exchange.

We don't know where the product is going to end up because the celebrity will pick the product,

Playing board games and curating a perfectly optimized shelf are, for me, two separate hobbies. In gaming, I've come to appreciate elegant designs, the kind that feel effortless to pick up but reward deeper engagement. Systems that get out of your way, yet are carefully considered under the hood and offer structure without ever feeling overwhelming. That same philosophy is at the heart of Tabletop Junkie.

EuroPython wouldn't exist if it weren't for all the volunteers who put in countless hours to organize it. Whether it's contracting the venue, selecting and confirming talks & workshops or coordinating with speakers, hundreds of hours of loving work have been put into making each edition the best one yet. Read our latest interview with Jakub Červinka, a member of the EuroPython 2025 Operations Team and organizer of PyConCZ 2026. Thank you for your service to EuroPython, Jakub!

"This community doesn't really have an event like this in the States," Wesley told SnowBrains. "There are small gatherings here and there, but nothing you can count on happening every year. I want this to be something annual-something that brings people together."

I was raised by entrepreneurs, but I never wanted to be one. Instead, I saw myself in a big corner office in the city. I started climbing the corporate ladder, but being laid off twice showed me that a corporate career wasn't as secure as I thought. I started freelancing, and soon opened a marketing agency called No Subject. We focused on events and influencers, back when we were still calling them bloggers.

"Before the creator economy had rules, roadmaps, or ring lights in every bedroom, Brianna Mizura was already building something rare: community. What started as short-form POV storytelling quickly evolved into a universe of characters, emotional arcs, and inside jokes that millions of Gen Z and Gen Alpha fans didn't just watch-they lived inside. Today, with more than 20 million followers across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, Brianna is one of the internet's original breakout stars-and one of its most enduring."

My hope is that this new community building and George Street public plaza will become a cherished destination in Sydney's city center, a generative place for people to connect, recharge, reflect, and take a pause from the rhythm of a fast-transforming city.