I have to say, I don’t know how the title community builder came to be bestowed on me a couple of years ago. Back then, I was just running events under the KICKSTART.MY and FuckupnightsKL brand, and always regarded myself more as an event organiser than anything else.
Well, a title’s a title, but if the definition of community building is bringing likeminded people together for a cause, then, yeah, I guess I can accept it.
KICKSTART.MY grew from a small 20 peeps event to over 4300+ members, featuring international entrepreneurs and world-class brands.
And over the past 5 months, I’m fortunate to be able to work with @bitrocker2020 to bring Steemit to more Malaysians. I’ve known @bitrocker2020 from my old KICKSTART.MY days, and haven’t been in contact with him for a while. Then, on one fateful day, we met at a mutual friend’s book launch in August. He told me about the blogging community that’s he’s involved in, powered by the blockchain, and that was enough to get me curious enough.
That was how I started on Steemit.
Since then, I’ve benefitted a lot from the platform. To tell you the truth, I’ve been writing for over the past 15 years, and while clients did pay me for my articles, or my email campaigns did went on to generate a nice little income for me, the rest of my writing - those close to my heart (like this piece, for example) - earned me close to zilch. Well, I get some Facebook likes, a couple of shares, and even became a guest blogger at a few platforms, but I got myself no moolah.
On Steemit, well, let’s just say I’m fattening my non-existent crypto portfolio.
Me co-founding and co-hosting the first season of FuckupnightsKL. This was one of my favourite session because it featured three of the community builders who I worked with and idolised - WuHan from WebCampKL, Lais from Startup Grind and Zikry from Incitement.
Because I was sold on it, and I knew I had the connections, skills and expertise (and hyper-excitement) to promote the platform, I asked @bitrocker2020 if I can help to create and run more Steemit events. You see, other than the two communities I was involved in, I had also been promoting international and regional speakers as a conference and training organiser, and I thought to polish my event organising skills further.
Frankly, I never asked @bitrocker2020's permission (or what he thought about it), but we just went on to create brand the Steemit Intro events as 100degrees. Of course I like to think he's happy seeing me excited, and he had been a great support to me too.
Through the several 100degree events, and it's various editions (we had done for musicians, cartoonists, artists, trainers, coaches), we've managed to grow the teammalaysia community, close to 900 members now.
And here is where I will give you my honest review of the teammalaysia community. I'm tapping on my own past experiences, and also from interacting with some of the local legends who's brands and communities had since gone international. I've watched communities grew and fell, started and buried, fired-up and died, and it's based on this set of wisdom that I'm giving my opinion on the Steemit community here.
Two words: E-PIC!
And it's not because I'm high from the platform or the gathering last night. As a matter of fact, it was at the meet up yesterday that it finally hit me - the missing pieces of community building that has eluded me for the past 6 years.
Because I like to sexify shit, I even put them into seven Cs.
#1. CONNECTIVITY
In the old days, during our KICKSTART or FuckupnightsKL events, it always end in a high (or at least I like to think so. I had to literally chase people off to close up the venue.)
And that's it. Sometimes you do see the participants exchanging conversation pieces on Facebook after the event, but that's pretty much it.
With TeamMalaysia, however, the communication continues. Whether it's on the Steemit platform, on WhatsApp or the Discord channel, you can see the members talking, chatting and commenting days, weeks and even months after the meet up.
During last night's gathering, I joined a conversation between @yasminep, @vikapuzach and @deborism, and they mentioned it's nice to see how the meetup bridged the online and offline experience. We all agreed that nothing beats face-to-face connections, and I'm really glad that it went on way, way past the physical events.
TeamMalaysia first official meetup at @danielwong's Big Hug Burger!
#2. COMMONALITY
While most communities would have shared interest, because it's on the Steemit platform, TeamMalaysia shared something more. Some familiar, actually.
Here's why: do you notice that you have good connections with the colleagues that you work with? Call it culture, or work-friendship, but there's something special when you share common interest in something.
And that's what Steemit has created. I've seen LinkedIn offline event meet ups, but trust me, the secret sauce is just not there (when compared with TeamMalaysia).
Rest assured though, we are not a silo-community either, because during the past few events, we had Steemians from other countries joining us, and trust me, I've never seen strangers from different nationalities connect so quickly.
#3. CHARITY
During my KICKSTART.MY days, I've always wanted to give back to the community. But whenever I initiated something charitable, it's always a small group that turned up. Not that I'm not grateful, but I may have expected more.
And I brought that expectation into the first @myach charity drive we did in December, and I was immediately proven wrong!
I was quite touched to see how fast the teammalaysia members came and support. Not only did we manage to raise RM7,000 (USD1800) from the post we wrote about the home, and we got sponsorship from @natalielo and @littlenewthings too! Best part, at 5-freaking-am in the morning, @bitrocker2020, @aaronleang, @zord189, @davidke20, @joannewong and @karinzdailygrind decided to go buy groceries, electrical appliances, toiletries, breakfast and more, and bring them over to the home to surprised the kids!
And surprised they were! And I swear some of them just woke up!
#4. COMMODITY
Unless your efforts are being funded, I can openly tell you, most community builders don't make money from their initiatives. Sure, it gained them popularity, but heck, that doesn't put food on the table.
With Steemit, it's different, because when the community builders create contents about their initiatives on the platform, they could earn a Steem or SBD, which is lucrative! And it's not just the community leaders that benefited from it. For once, even those who volunteered their time can earn as well, which enabled them to give even more.
Luckily, most community builders I know are building their communities for the love of it (rather than self-interest), but trust me, it's nice to have the costs covered once in a while.
#5. CAMADERIE
Salute! And there's a story to this too!
Meetups and charity drives aside, the friendship that teammalaysia members shared is beyond words. And for once, the community leaders did not have to be the first to organise activities and meet ups, because I see them proactively volunteering and suggesting ideas.
And you wanna know one more difference? While I do get suggestions during my KICKSTART days, I hardly see execution. But with teammalaysia, it's a totally different story! And it's not once, mind you. Even without @bitrocker2020 initiating it, I often see other members taking ownership to run smaller, pocket events.
Heck, I even get their support when I run the Steemit Workshops! When the new Steemians saw the strength of the community, their confidence on the platform grew, and they, too, become advocates to their friends and family members. It happened so naturally, and that never failed to touch me.
#6. CONTINUOUS GROWTH
@aaronleang had been pestering me about running more Steemit Bootcamps where he could attend, and this is from an established Steemian. And it's not just him, because I always had great support when I organise the bootcamps, masterclasses and even when I wrote reports about them.
But you can say, "Ah Mav, they are only listening only. Do they apply it?"
Hell yeah! From crafting better titles to using more strategic tags, I can see them implementing the lessons they learned, and trust me, for a short moment as the "teacher", I am touched. It motivates me to learn more, experiment more and share more, just so we can all level up our game, together.
#7. CULTURE
I'll admit, the moment a large group of people comes together, they will be politics. More so when there's money (cryptos) involved. TeamMalaysia, sadly, is not excluded from that too.
And I'll be the first to admit, I may have contributed to some of the issues as well, because in the process of working on a platform that virtually has no rules, you'll bound to go toe-to-toe with others, especially in terms of personal principles.
I am conscious of it, and refrain myself from focusing inwards (on myself), and actively aim to shift my focus to the larger picture.
But what impressed me is, despite being aware of these undercurrents and hidden messages, the community members as a whole chose to put their differences aside and connect with each other. And you know the magical part? When they do that, they realised everyone has a mutual vision for the platform, and they are not going to let personal values shift their focus from that.
CONCLUSION
(No, this is not part of the seven Cs)
Being on the blockchain, knowing it's gonna be logged in forever after seven days, let this be my pledge.
As long as I can, I will do my best for the teammalaysia and Steemit community. Whether it's with my knowledge, my connection, my dedication to 10x everything I do, I will continue to play the parts I play best, and hopefully, if you've read this far, you too, will do the same.
And I hope you will think beyond just teammalaysia, or whichever local tags you are using. You are part of history-in-the-making, so don't let something silly like different nationalities and personalities stop you from leaving your legacy, from what possibly is the greatest equaliser of wealth I've ever seen. Yes, Steemit empowers you with a chance to really, really make a lasting difference, and it's your job to empower others around you to do the same.
Because when you do that, you have become a community builder.
Steem On!
p.s. Oh yeah, there is one more C, but it's not so much on community, so I thought to leave it out. If you have the chance, do bring in your other (try better) halves onto the platform. There's nothing more rewarding to have one more additional connection and common interest to share. @deborism and I, though we have other shared interests too, have enjoyed growing as a crypto couple since we both found Steemit. And I can see that in @crypto3d & @natalielo, @davidke20 & @francesaw, @aaronleang & joannewong, @danielwong & @happycrazycon, @danieldoughty & @viverridae too! Sorry if I missed out any of the crypto couples. And don't suggest something like crypto double dates. @deborism and I are really boring dinner guests!
Photo credits (I will ask permission from you guys in your posts!) - @aaronleang, @nickychu, @yasminep, @chuazm
Wait, why's Mav posting on Steemit nowadays?
Well, unlike other blogging and social media platform, Steemit is the only platform that allows me to earn cryptocurrency when I engage with it. Yup, one Steem is about USD7, and you, too, can earn Steem Dollars every time you:
- Create content (articles, blog posts, podcasts, videos, photos)
- Upvote (like) other people contents
- Comment on other people's posts
- Have discussions, share opinions etc!
Yup, basically it's the very same thing you're doing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc all along!
The only difference? For once you can earn a nice income on the side!
Sign up for a free Steemit account, and you can thank me by coming back and upvoting this article. And guess what, you will earn Steem too for doing that! #awesome
