We live in incredible times when it comes to our ability to create, join, and engage with communities locally, nationally, and even around the world. For those of us who enjoyed the experience of living in the world before the internet, we can remember building a community was usually slow. And always painful.
Today I heard Sandra L. Richards talk with Randi Zuckerberg at the Esports Business Symposium by Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment and the Esports Trade Association. When talking about how to approach creating your own NFT’s the first recommended step was not to get out the creative tools, but to start building your community. That is who will support your new endeavor. I liked their analogy to writing a book. Writing a book is the easy part. Getting people to buy it is the hard part.
In this week’s episode of The Gamers Change Lives Podcast (link in the comments to subscribe to the podcast to be notified when it drops) I talk with Eniola Edun of Gamr Africa about creating tournaments. She emphasized the importance of having a community to make the event popular. She and her team spent time and money hiring community managers across Nigeria and Africa long before the Gamr X 10 Nation Tournament event earlier this year which helped lead to their amazing success. Also, she pointed out the value in having an existing community for selecting the games that you pick for the competition. Why make it difficult for yourself?
Community building is a discipline, taking place over a long-time frame and not a one-time occurrence. Communities – especially those valuable to esports entrepreneurs – are not accidental. They take planning to create, using a wide variety of tools that we are lucky enough to have these days.
Think of the multitude of communities in which you are a member. Think of the work it took by someone to make them happen. You get the idea.
Photo by William White on Unsplash
