I’ll Take My Community With Chocolate Chips

@BrainsOnFire | @GenoChurch

WOMMA Summit 2012

Holiday time is right around the corner… my favorite parts of the holidays; family and food.

When I was growing up the holidays meant a lot baking… which meant I got to help make cookies… chocolate chip cookies… the real deal… the kind that came from my Mom’s magic touch of ingredients and love.

I thought I would share some of the real deal… please Vicky my cookie hostess, I have some cookies to share… sorry I don’t have enough for everyone… so first come first served.

The real deal chocolate cookie - consisted of many parts; the ingredients, the hand mixing, the molding of balls of dough… My goal against my MOM’s wishes was to never make the balls the same size… little one’s, big one’s, busting with chips ones…

But, the real reason I helped… yep it was selfish, was to get a cookie right after it came out of the oven. I would pick my target, and peel a soft and gooey cookie off the sheet and let it melt in my mouth.

Building communitiesis a lot like baking cookies.

Building Communities is a lot like Baking Cookies.I’ll dig into that in a minute.

If you dig through Slideshare or you’ve been through one of the awesome WOMMA Community Certificate Programs… there’s a lot of information and Case Studies about ROI, Management, processes, and training… all necessary.

I’ve given those talks… sadly, I feel at times that all I’ve done is given attendees a cookie cutter…

Today is about breaking the status quo… throwing away the mold and getting our hands dirty.

Communities are a test kitchen… they’re always in beta…

Community

I’ve decide to share my daily… community rant… our community beliefs inside Brains on Fire. As I started digging into what I wanted to share during this presentation… I went back to my past with “communities, which actually started before “community” was a marketing term, a platform, a thing to be managed, and leveraged.

LivingMessaging

In 2002, I had my chance, do I put my faith in a printing press, a television spot, a print ad, a websites to reduce teen smoking.

We challenged our state health department to empower 13 to 18 year olds…To take a chance and build a community of teenagers that become living messaging, living messengers.

In 2006, WOMMA’s very own Suzanne Fanning… heard me speak about that teen led communities that were empowering conversations across South Carolina. She challenged Brains On Fire… can we help Fiskars Brands build a better emotional connection with their customers.

We weren’t afraid to believe; “you can build a community around a pair of scissors.”

If you will believe in people remarkable things will happen… meet some self appointed super heroes for the Fiskars community of Fiskateers.

Communityis a way,not a place,or a platform.A way for people to connect to their passions, and to connect with others.

Community is a way, not a place, or a platform. A way for people to connect to their passions, and to connect with others.

Acommunity

rallies Peoplearound an

ideaor belief

A community rallies People around an idea or belief.

A community isn’t defined by “its venue”…

it’s not about technology.

Communityis definedby people.People whogive a…

A Community is defined by people. People who give a damn. Actually more than the brand.

A communityis not an Empirefor your brand.

A community is not an EMPIRE for your brand.

The voice ofthe Brand shouldbe as one of the community.

The voice of the BRAND should be as one of the community.

A Communityis a mirror.

A Community is a Mirror. A Community should be a mirror… of purpose, of values, of conversations. A mirror you can hold up to the inside of a brand and to a brand's customers.

Communitiesconnect theunconnected.

Special communities… are the ones that people are wanting - but didn't know it until they found it. Communities connect the unconnected.

Communities areeclectic, shabby, and always in need of being tidied up.

Communities are eclectic, shabby, and always in need of being tidied up.

Communitiesare Human.

Not all days will be perfect days in a community… but that’s OK. Communities are human.

Communities share ownership.

Communities share ownership. For a community to become a real-world community it has to expand outside of technology and into the lives of it’s members… brands have to empower members to take ownership for this to happen.

Communities are “We” and “Me.” A community adds to a person's identity, its part of ME, it gets ME. And it gives US something… a tribe of same believers.

For this session… I wanted to open up the kitchen and share a bit about two communities that are truly still in the oven.

Empty Gym FloorWho’s a member of a fitness club, yoga studio, the YMCA… show of hands?What percentage of Americans are members of a club or gym?

15%… Sadly the fitness industry has fought for the same 15% over and over and over.

65% of the 85%of Americans that aren’t working out in a gymare interested in fitness, but remain non-users of a club/gym.

65% of Americans… are interested in fitness… but remain non-users of a club/gym

Meet Chuck and Dave owners of Anytime Fitness…

you might remember them from Secret Millionaire. Chuck and Dave run the largest fitness franchise in the world… yes they are successful but they felt there was a lot of work left to do.

They challenged us to do something about that 65% can we change the conversation?

the existing convo = we all know it…

diet pills

bikinis

biceps

100 lb weight loss stories

The current conversation… treats exercise/fitness/weight loss like a "goal" to be achieved, which sets it up as a failure…

We decided to flip the convo on its head by celebrating the little things, little wins, the start.

So, how do you start that conversation to those folks? You become human, yes a brand can become human…

it starts by not being so concerned about being in control, trying to get your point across, selling more gym memberships… what good is it if they never come back after one day, ten days, thirty days…You will draw people to you by creating a safe place, a nurturing place, a place that has two-way conversations, a place where people can feel like they can be themselves.Sounds easy huh… not exactly.

We asked for help, 25 Anytime fitness clubs to join us, by being open to a new conversation to engage those left out of the current fitness conversation.

We brought those brave souls, those rebels together… the beautiful thing is they all ready knew this needed to be brought into focus.

The Fitness Rebellion was born.

Meet Josh…

Tonya a Fitness Rebel, posted Phillips, picture on her club’s Facebook page yesterday.

it's gotten almost 250 likes, 8 comments and 2 shares in one day…

Josh's  Club  hosted  a  boot  camp  this  weekend.  Price  of  admission  was  a  turkey  or  bag  of  Thanksgiving  goodies  for  the  local  food  pantry.

23 million Americansneed treatment for addiction,only 4 million Americansseek it…

Now let’s bring the test kitchen LIVE… 23 million Americans need treatment for addiction, only four million americans seek it…

Most of us, maybe all of us in this room… our lives, a loved one’s life, have been touched by addiction.Addiction and Recovery it’s lonely, it’s anonymous, and it faces stigma’s.

Lee Pepper with Foundations Recovery Network wanted to challenge the status quo.They wanted to help the 19 million American’s that aren’t seeking help. we have to change the stigma so they will seek help.

In the future there will be a collective of people connected by actions; dreams, hopes, failures, and success -- building a movement of recovery.

We are a community for the hopeful.

We believe bringing people together

is the best way to help others help

themselves.

By extending love, instead of passing

judgment, we can share stories and help

others understand that today can be the

first day of their lives – Day One.

We are a community for the hopeful. We believe bringing people together is the best way to help others help themselves. By extending love, instead of passing judgment, we can share stories and help others understand that today can be the first day of their lives – Day One.

Lee Pepper come on up… let’s talk 1) My first question is WHY? Lee why did you think building a community for an issue that is most often discussed behind closed doors and what was your goal?2)The Logo… a symbol… a meaning

1) What has happened internally since Heroes In Recovery has launched?

1) Online and Offline… lets talk about about how your blending online storytelling with offline F2F engagement.

Let’s talk about the Heroes in Recovery 6k’s why a 6k?

Let’s talk about Sean Morrison…

Sean went on a 30 day road trip…

Sean went on a 30 day road trip…

audio…TAR

audio…TAR

Break the Stigma… what’s this about?

The Journey Box…

The competition… what’s happen since Heroes has launched?How does FRN define success for the Heroes in Recovery community?

I’ll Take My Community With Chocolate Chips

@BrainsOnFire | @GenoChurch

WOMMA Summit 2012