Civic Meetup #569: Happy town: Why scaling community is not like scaling a product
Ready to join in on the fun?
Topic: Happy town: Why scaling community is not like scaling a product
What does it take to build a less lonely city? Can we scale human connection the same way we scale a tech startup?
Happy Town began as a grassroots experiment in creating spaces where strangers could become friends. Through recurring walks, shared meals and community gatherings, it has grown into an evolving network hosts creating opportunities for more satisfying connections across Toronto.
But growing a community comes with distinct challenges not faced by companies or start ups.
What happens when growth creates pressure on the very relationships we’re trying to nurture? What if the most sustainable way to scale community isn’t to build a better product, but to build a movement?
Drawing on the experience of building Happy Town and its evolution into Less Lonely Winter, a collective effort to bring 25+ free community events per week to Toronto throughout winter, this talk explores our approach to community building. One rooted in the idea that nobody owns community; and the belief that connection is grown, not found.
Speaker: Adam Chen (in-person)
Adam Chen works in mental health communications by day at HF Care, and grows community by night with Happy Town. He is a storytelling and live journalism performer, producer and director who dabbles in app development, having co-created the private-blogging app “Smaller World." Website
Agenda:
7:00-7:20 Welcome and Introductions
7:20-7:50 Presentation and Q&A/discussion
7:50-9:00 Breakout groups
Code of Conduct: https://civictech.ca/about-us
Check in with us on the Civic Tech Toronto Slack: https://link.civictech.ca/chat
About Us:
Our weekly civic meetups bring together Torontonians (designers, coders, urban planners, government staff, mappers, policy-makers, students, communications strategists, community organizers, and more) who share an interest in making Toronto more responsive, prosperous, sustainable, and equitable through design, tech, and data.
Come and be part of it!
For more info: https://civictech.ca
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Suggest a Speaker:
Interested in speaking at a future event, or know someone who'd be a great speaker? We'd love to hear from you: https://link.civictech.ca/speaker-suggestions
Suggest a Venue:
Have a space that could host up to 80 civic-minded folks for an evening? Consider recommending your venue: https://link.civictech.ca/venue-suggestions
Platform Sponsors
Torc is a community-first platform bringing together remote-first software engineer and developer opportunities from across the globe. Join a network that’s all about connection, collaboration, and finding your next big move — together.
Join our community today!
Supercharge your dev team with AI code reviews
Get your free trial now
Ready to join in on the fun?
Platform Sponsors
Torc is a community-first platform bringing together remote-first software engineer and developer opportunities from across the globe. Join a network that’s all about connection, collaboration, and finding your next big move — together.
Join our community today!
Supercharge your dev team with AI code reviews
Get your free trial now
Civic Meetup #569: Happy town: Why scaling community is not like scaling a product
Topic: Happy town: Why scaling community is not like scaling a product
What does it take to build a less lonely city? Can we scale human connection the same way we scale a tech startup?
Happy Town began as a grassroots experiment in creating spaces where strangers could become friends. Through recurring walks, shared meals and community gatherings, it has grown into an evolving network hosts creating opportunities for more satisfying connections across Toronto.
But growing a community comes with distinct challenges not faced by companies or start ups.
What happens when growth creates pressure on the very relationships we’re trying to nurture? What if the most sustainable way to scale community isn’t to build a better product, but to build a movement?
Drawing on the experience of building Happy Town and its evolution into Less Lonely Winter, a collective effort to bring 25+ free community events per week to Toronto throughout winter, this talk explores our approach to community building. One rooted in the idea that nobody owns community; and the belief that connection is grown, not found.
Speaker: Adam Chen (in-person)
Adam Chen works in mental health communications by day at HF Care, and grows community by night with Happy Town. He is a storytelling and live journalism performer, producer and director who dabbles in app development, having co-created the private-blogging app “Smaller World." Website
Agenda:
7:00-7:20 Welcome and Introductions
7:20-7:50 Presentation and Q&A/discussion
7:50-9:00 Breakout groups
Code of Conduct: https://civictech.ca/about-us
Check in with us on the Civic Tech Toronto Slack: https://link.civictech.ca/chat
About Us:
Our weekly civic meetups bring together Torontonians (designers, coders, urban planners, government staff, mappers, policy-makers, students, communications strategists, community organizers, and more) who share an interest in making Toronto more responsive, prosperous, sustainable, and equitable through design, tech, and data.
Come and be part of it!
For more info: https://civictech.ca
--
Suggest a Speaker:
Interested in speaking at a future event, or know someone who'd be a great speaker? We'd love to hear from you: https://link.civictech.ca/speaker-suggestions
Suggest a Venue:
Have a space that could host up to 80 civic-minded folks for an evening? Consider recommending your venue: https://link.civictech.ca/venue-suggestions
Get in touch!
hi@guild.host