{"id":838,"date":"2019-04-23T14:45:19","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T14:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ona19.journalists.org\/?p=838"},"modified":"2019-07-25T21:02:03","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T21:02:03","slug":"how-we-build-community-at-onas-annual-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ona19.journalists.org\/2019\/04\/23\/how-we-build-community-at-onas-annual-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"How we build community at ONA\u2019s annual conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post was first published for Framework<\/a>, where ONA team members share what’s happening behind the scenes as we design the ONA experience.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

When I attended my first ONA conference, I knew right away I had found my people. As someone who had spent most of my career at the intersection of digital media and membership, I remember thinking, \u201cWhere has ONA been all my life?\u201d Now that I\u2019ve been with ONA three years, I\u2019ve heard that same sentiment from countless other community members. And that\u2019s no accident: ONA is designed to drive community building in every aspect of what we do, especially at our annual conference.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, conferences are a great place to get training, but so are online learning platforms, webinars and universities. The great opportunity for in-person conferences is to connect people with like-minded peers, and here\u2019s a secret: It doesn\u2019t just magically happen. Community building takes strategy, time and investment. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to make sure community building is baked into your event program, here are a few ways to get started.<\/span><\/p>\n

Build a volunteer program. <\/b>Plenty of people think of a volunteer program as event logistics support, and indeed, our 100+ volunteers do help run the show \u2014 working our registration booth, creating robust audio and visual resources from sessions and making sure every attendee feels welcome and knows where to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

But ONA\u2019s volunteer program is also an integral part of our community strategy. Our volunteer program helps us scale the instant sense of community as soon as attendees arrive. When attendees see their peers contributing to the conference at every level from registration onward, they know they\u2019re part of something bigger than themselves. It sets a strong tone from the outset that this conference is a community affair.<\/span><\/p>\n

The program also amplifies community building for the volunteers themselves. We hear from past volunteers the experience helped them make more connections, both on their volunteer teams and among attendees, and gave them a strong introduction to the spirit of ONA as a member-driven organization. They feel a sense of ownership over the conference, because they played a role in putting together a truly special experience. And they often say they were inspired to attend more conferences, to pitch a session idea or to volunteer with a local meetup group back home.<\/span><\/p>\n\t\n\t

\n\t\t

Special thanks to our ONA19 sponsors<\/a>, including:\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t