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Shared experiences are vital for community development. They solidify bonds, stimulate activity and provide easy sources of content.
- VIP speaker/live-chat. You have a guest-chat coming up with a VIP. Call for questions beforehand. Let members curate a list of 10 questions to ask.
- Birthdays of important members. Ask for donations, buy something nice and relevant.
- Hall of fame induction. Have your members done something great recently? Induct them into your community’s hall of fame.
- Meet-up week. This is the week where members of your community try to meet people local to them. Mashable do this really well.
- The annual gathering. It’s that time of the year again isn’t it? Plan your big meet-up of the year. People should be flying to visit.
- Newcomer orientation. The online community version of fresher’s week. You’ve got a bunch of newcomers you need to educate, entertain and induce into your community. Good when you’ve had a sudden rush of traffic.
- Milestone reached. Never forget to celebrate your milestones. What are you working on now? What has your community achieved recently?
- Elections. There are vacant posts available in your community. It’s election day. People vote for which members they want to fill them.
- Achievement. Which members have recently achieved something of note? Who’s got a promotion? Started a business? Had a baby? Got married? Wish them well.
- VIP birthday. Which famous people does your community admire? Celebrate their birthdays too. Find an activity that ties in to what that celebrity did for your niche and replicate it in some fashion.
- JohnnyFab’s day. Name a day after a member who has done something fantastic in your community.
- Charity day. Every community should have a charity drive. Pick a cause that resonates strongly with your audience and do something cool to raise money for the charity.
- Book/Film/Product launches. What are the major events happening in your sector? What are the new products, services being launched in the near future? How is your community celebrating them?
- Community birthdays. Do you know when your community was founded? I hope you should. Host a special event.
What events does your community organize or celebrate?
If you don’t currently organize events check out this earlier post on the role of events within a community and the different types or the video from Breda Doherty's webinar on integrating events into your community.
(Image: cinco de mayo pinata cookies!, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from jasonsewall's photostream)
