Comnet 26 Transcript
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Eric Brown: Let’s get onto the show. Hi, friends. We are doing a special bonus edition of Let’s Hear It. This is a preview of ComNet26, the conference of the Communications Network. I don’t have Kirky here with me to banter with to [00:01:00] do our traditional blah, blah, but we’re gonna listen to this conversation that I had with Erica Pelletreau, Sean Gibbons, and Carrie Clyne of the Communications Network to get folks excited about the conference that’s coming up or to help them think next time about signing up in time, because about 200 people ended up on the waiting list and didn’t get in.
So here’s my conversation with Carrie, Erica, and Sean. Anyone who knows me or listens to this pod knows that the Communications Network is near and dear to my heart. I’ve said it what feels like a million times. It is the single most important professional association I’ve had in a 30-year career in foundation and nonprofit communications.
Some of my most cherished friends are people I met through the network. For 21 years in a row, I attended the annual conference. That streak was interrupted by a regrettable decision made under duress. [00:02:00] Some folks go to their family lake house every year. My family reunion is at ComNet, and this year’s conference comes at a critical time.
It’s been a very hard year to do communications for good. Nonprofits are losing funding at the same time more people need their help. Trust in institutions is plummeting. AI has absolutely upended almost everything we do, and research from the Center for Effective Philanthropy shows a huge disconnect between foundations and their grantees.
Against this backdrop, in two weeks, communicators and other leaders from foundations and nonprofits from around the world will come together in San Diego to learn from each other, teach each other, and make friends for life. I am thrilled to have three of the people who make it happen, Carrie Clyne, vice president of events and community at the Communications Network, Erica Pelletreau, director of strategic projects and partnerships, and its [00:03:00] CEO, Sean Gibbons.
Sean, Carrie, Erica, thank you so much for coming on. Let’s just dive right in. Carrie, let’s start with you. For someone who has never been, what the heck is ComNet?
Carrie Clyne: We pride ourselves on ComNet being much more than a conference. We often say that a lot of conferences can be boring, and so we hope that when you come to ComNet you’ll have a lot of fun.
So if you’re new, if you’re a first-timer, we have different ways for you to connect with various folks around the ComNet community. We have a first-timer reception. We have a big welcome party on the beach. But really what ComNet is, it’s a homecoming. It’s where folks come to see their colleagues, their friends, their peers.
We have people like you, Eric, who have come year over year, maybe not anyone 21 times like yourself. But many folks have come, and they find it a place where they can talk shop, they can get to know each other personally, they can find new tools and strategies for their comms work. But Sean, Erica, and I spend a lot of time thinking about how do [00:04:00] we build and grow and help folks expand and enhance their community and their kitchen cabinet of folks they can call up when they need help, they wanna share ideas, they want to lean on each other.
And so ComNet, we’re hoping, is a really fun way to gather with folks who work in communications for good.
Eric Brown: Erica, can you walk us through what San Diego’s gonna be like in two short weeks?
Erica Pelletreau: But let me start by saying that this audience needs to know about ComNet. They need to know not just about ComNet, but they need to know about the network more broadly, because we’re all involved in the same game here.
We’re all trying to make the world a better place, and we’re all using smart communications to get there. So San Diego this year is one year, but this happens every year. And so in San Diego we’re gonna start off with a day of volunteering opportunities, community engagement opportunities, pre-conference panels, which are pretty low-stakes conversations with people.
We try to bring in a lot of people from the local community from [00:05:00] San Diego talking about their specific niche in the world. And so that’s how we start our day with engaging with San Diego as a community. It’s an important value of ours wherever we go. Then we’re gonna throw an epic party. It’s gonna be an epic party on the beach in San Diego.
So think about it, sunsets, food trucks, friends, fairy lights, maybe a little dancing. But that’s really our way to kinda set the tone and really gather folks. That’s our kickoff, our big kickoff. You’re going into Thursday, which is a full day from starting first thing in the morning running all the way to the evening, of keynotes, of small group discussions, of conversations that are related to communications, the field of communications, and how you do it to do the work for good.
Intentionally structured so that there’s plenty of time for chitchat, so to talk with your friends, to get to know one another, to get deeper into the conversation that may have been a [00:06:00] provocation at the beginning of the day. One of the things that I’ll say is a not to be missed is the keynote with Percival Everett.
I don’t know if you know his book, I don’t know if your audience know his books, but wow, that man has an ability to do storytelling in a way that changes and transforms how people see themselves. So that’s what I say is a not to be missed first thing in the morning. I should also say that the majority of our keynotes are gonna be live-streamed on the Chronicle’s website, Chronicle of Philanthropy’s website.
Not this one. This one is just for the people in the room, so got an additional level of specialness to it.
So we’re gonna run through the day. That’s the one that I’m really looking forward to, is that one in the morning. And as we run through the day, we’re gonna have opportunities for our circle members to gather, our leaders members to gather, our local members to gather.
The ethos is very much welcoming, so everybody who goes to ComNet who’s a ComVet is charged with [00:07:00] welcoming the newbies. So the newbies are supposed to come in and maybe they’ve never been here before. Who are these 1,100 people? What are they doing? And the ComVets are there to lend a helping hand, give them a hug, and help move them along.
One of my favorite things is networking at night, and that’s how we close out our Thursday, and it’s a networking event. It’s where you can recognize people that you saw across a room, follow up on a conversation where there’s a point of shared synthesis that you can go deeper on, and you can have a good time just chatting.
This is where the friendships go from a friendly look across the room into a deeper, more meaningful connection. Starting on Friday morning, the piece that I’ll say really is the must not miss for Friday morning is, whew, boy do we have an amazing thing for you with the Jones Award winners, IllumiNative.
They have done transformational work in cultural storytelling about Native American people in this country. [00:08:00] And it’s gonna be an incredible presentation, and this is the first year that we will have done it since we launched the prize that we do it with Dr. Jones with us in spirit but not in person.
So it’s gonna have an extra level of depth to it this year. But to me, the Jones Award is like the Emmys for our field. Like, who actually is doing this type of comms work that’s changing people’s lives and doing it best in class? There’s a competitive system here. We solicit nominees from across the land.
And it’s a competitive judging panel that evaluates all of these different people who apply to be awarded the Jones Award. And this year, as I’m telling you, Eric, is gonna be one of the best that we’ve ever done before.
Eric Brown: As I mentioned in the open, Sean, this is a really fraught time for foundations, for nonprofits, for anybody working in the social sector.
Obviously, if you’re working in government or you’re working almost in anything, it’s a fraught time. But what are you [00:09:00] hearing from members, Sean, about what they’re dealing with, what their biggest challenges are, and maybe what they hope to gain at this meeting?
Sean Gibbons: Yeah. I think it’s interesting ’cause we walked into last year, I think, wondering what will the mood of the community feel like.
And the thing that’s so interesting about the network now is that we don’t really have to guess because, as you know, for the last few years we’ve had this Slack community. There’s now 2,100 people who are chit-chatting away throughout the day, and so we actually kinda have real time intelligence. I know that sounds a little creepy.
Maybe I shouldn’t phrase it that way, but we can see the network operating well but in the same way that we could see folks in the hotel hallways at ComNet. And what I’d say you see there often is moments of folks seeking support, but so often moments of joy and enthusiasm. And maybe what I would say, to step back, is what I am confident about in our community, I’m confident will show up at ComNet, it is evident in almost every program that we see right now, is a deep sense of optimism.
And I think that’s a weird thing to say, [00:10:00] but what I don’t see is people turning away from the network, right? So I think if folks were really dejected and depressed and unable to function, then they would not be doing what they do. Because coming to the network, I think, is a signal, I have a big job. I have to do important work. This is my calling. This means something to me, and I can’t do it by myself. And they go looking for friends to help them ’cause you get smarter faster through networks. We know that. There’s a lot of evidence of that. And the fact that folks are doing that, that ComNet will be its largest ever this year, I think is a testimony to this deeper sense of optimism.
And I know that’s hard for folks to conjure maybe in a moment where you can point at almost any of the things, and so many of us are living inside of devices. Hell, you’re listening to one right now probably. Believe in other people. That is the message I’ve gotten from the network this year. And so as we gather, I think folks should be excited about what’s ahead.
Not that we don’t have to deal with these questions, but that we don’t have to face them by ourselves.
Eric Brown: What are some of the topics that you’re hearing about in the Slack, in your own [00:11:00] personal conversations? What are the things that are top of mind for people right now? And I can guess a few, but why don’t you tell me?
Sean Gibbons: Well, so again, we do pulse polls now, which is interesting ’cause you can go find them. They’re up for free online. But a lot of folks are thinking about things like artificial intelligence. It’s not a question of if folks are using it. We actually asked the community or the field earlier this year, and the answer is, well, the delta between last year we asked or maybe 18 months ago we asked, and it was about kind of a try it bite for the network or the community, I would say.
About 20% of folks were actively using it maybe 18 months ago. It’s like who’s not is really the question. It’s 70-plus percent is what we saw. In different contexts and with different rules abiding it, but people really attacking that in an interesting way, which shouldn’t surprise anybody who’s walking in the world.
It’s the zeitgeist at the moment. And it has huge implications for our field, for our sector, obviously for our world in a whole bunch of ways, some good, some not so good. People are talking about that. People are talking a lot about trust. You mentioned this. It’s essential, particularly if you work in the comms business, because trust is the currency of the realm, right?
You don’t listen to people you don’t trust. Kind of common sense, but it’s [00:12:00] profoundly true. So trust is important, and it’s declining. And so when we were in London earlier this year, it was interesting, and I’d invite Erica to talk about this and Carrie as well, ’cause they built this thing literally out of sticks in like five minutes, God bless them.
I mean, seriously, it was incredibly impressive what they were able to do. But in London, we came with questions, and it turned out folks in lots of different accents, coming from different cultures, coming from different contexts, were all asking the same questions. So we’ve been hearing the questions for a while, and my suspicion is it’ll continue at ComNet, ’cause there are moments like last year that sort of hits you like a rogue wave or maybe a tidal wave or whatever the right sort of metaphor might be.
But these are things I think we’ve all been kinda sifting and sitting with for a little while, even though AI feels like it got here half a minute ago and already feels like we’re dog years into it. But Erica, Carrie, you wanna maybe pick up, talk a little bit about what we heard in London? ‘Cause I think that’s kind of an early, like a buoy out in the ocean kind of giving us an indicator. And what’s interesting, it’s not just an American perspective.
Erica Pelletreau: Yeah, so just a quick recap here is that when Sean says London, he’s referring to a gathering that we [00:13:00] hosted in London with our very good friends at Philea. And it was a convening. It was about a third US, about a third European, and about a third UK, and these are all folks who do comms at philanthropies.
It was primarily philanthropies. There were a few nonprofits there. But the idea was, the questions that we have here in the US, are other people thinking about them too? And how are they thinking about them? And knowing that the world is getting smaller so quickly, what can we share? What can we learn from others?
Where is the shared understanding or the shared questions, the shared anxieties, the shared worries, the shared opportunities? And to really have that be a conversation that is not designed to come up with answers, but a conversation that is designed to have shared thoughts, inputs, influences, and to create a friend network [00:14:00] so that you have somebody to help work this stuff through.
So of course we were talking about AI. Love it, hate it, use it, don’t use it, what does it mean? Privacy concerns, that was a big topic. Another one was authoritarianism, the rise of authoritarianism. Crises about legitimacy of philanthropy itself. That’s something that some of our European colleagues are grappling with, and some of our American colleagues too.
We see that a lot. So it was those types of tensions, and also, interestingly, one of the strongest takeaways for me is that there was almost a consensus that we need to be reaching other audiences. That we know who we’re talking to, and that can be okay, but actually at this moment in the world, we need to broaden.
We need to push ourselves beyond who we normally talk to. And then, actually, how do you do that? How do you do that in a way that’s meaningful, that has accountability [00:15:00] in it? That you’re not just spewing your message to somebody else, but you’re taking the time to sit and think about other people and intentionally invite them to come in, and intentionally…
We spend a lot of time thinking about deep listening, and how do you do that? How do you do deep listening with a community or a colleague that you know very little about? That was the flavor of the conversations that we’re having. So yes to what Sean’s saying about the AI bit, of course, and there are other layers.
And this is one of the most exciting things right now that the network is doing, is we’re broadening beyond the United States. We are creating programming, thoughts, memberships, et cetera, that are outside of the United States. Really tapping into a global idea of comms and a global shared set of questions and concerns.
Eric Brown: Carrie, let me turn to you for a second. Given all that you’re hearing, what you heard in London, what you’re hearing on Slack, what you’re hearing [00:16:00] from your members and others, how does that inform how you pull together a program? How does that shape the programming?
Carrie Clyne: It has a tremendous impact on how we think about all of our programming.
So not just the topics that we’re talking about, but also some of the real meaty challenges that folks are facing with. How can we bring folks together and gather them so that they can talk with each other about these challenges, these opportunities, all of that. And then of course you’ll see a lot of things throughout the ComNet program that lean and reflect directly from what we’re hearing from our circles, communities, from what we’re hearing at the global commons.
A lot of sessions we’ll have on AI, both its practical implications and tools you can use, but also how we should be thinking about it. What are some of the challenges that we should all be thinking about as we’re using it? We will have sessions on trust and depolarization, kind of themes that have been with us for a while.
So you’ll see those appear again at ComNet this year. A couple cool things actually. Being that we’re in California, we wanted to really [00:17:00] lean into entertainment and thinking through, we can’t really be in Southern California and not have something on media and film. And so we will have a session that’s going to bring in both this work on trust-building and depolarization along with a writer, a film producer, who’s going to be helping folks think through how they can shape stories and narratives that bring in various perspectives to help humanize different folks.
So it’s kind of a cool intersection of a lot of the different things we’re hearing from people.
Eric Brown: All right, well, we’re gonna take a very quick break and we’ll be right back with Sean, Erica, and Carrie right after this.
Eric Brown: You’re listening to Let’s Hear It, a podcast about foundation and nonprofit communications hosted by Eric Brown and Kirk Brown.
If you’re enjoying this episode, you may just be a rule breaker. Check out season three of Break Fake Rules with Glen Galaich, CEO of the Stupski Foundation, as he chats with inspiring leaders in philanthropy, government, media, and more about breaking the fake rules that don’t work so that we can build a future that does.
Check them out [00:18:00] wherever you get your podcasts. And now, back to the show.
Welcome back. I’m talking with Sean Gibbons, Erica Pelletreau, and Carrie Clyne of the Communications Network about this upcoming conference. And obviously, the conference is a big deal, and if you’re listening to this, either you’re going to the conference and we’re hopefully getting you excited about it, or you weren’t able to get to the conference because you got on the waiting list and couldn’t get through and you didn’t sign up early enough. Or neither, but you’re thinking about it for next year.
So let me first ask a question to you, Erica. If you’re going to the conference, what would you say the number one first thing you should do to get the most out of the conference? What’s one thing that people who are preparing to go now should be thinking about?
Erica Pelletreau: Should smile. Smile genuinely, not just on your face, but in your heart.
Open yourself to what is gonna be a very [00:19:00] cool, and for many people, transformative experience, that if you’re open to feeling the magic, you will feel it. So the first thing you gotta do is just set yourself up, walk in there knowing that this is gonna be really cool, and be open to experience what it’s like.
So you start with a smile.
Eric Brown: All right. That’s a good start. Sean, for people who can’t make it but wanna follow along, participate in one way or the other, what opportunities are there for people to plug in?
Sean Gibbons: Let’s see. Well, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, as Carrie spoke about, has been very kind for years now.
Folks who are unable to be in the room, and I’m afraid we had over 200 folks on the wait list this year, so it’s them plus a bunch of others. We will be live streaming all the keynotes, again, with the exception of Percival Everett, and as Erica said, it’ll make the room real special. But you’ll be able to watch all the others, so Kaitlin Yarnall from National Geographic.
You’ll be able to see the wonderful, extraordinary Crystal Echo Hawk from IllumiNative. You’re gonna hear from Grant Oliphant. You’re gonna hear from Tonya Allen. These are names, if you’re in our sector, you probably know. We’re gonna have just a [00:20:00] really extraordinary time, so you’ll be able to get that.
And then the thing that I’m most proud of is that while we can’t bottle up all those conversations in the room and in the hallways, and really, that is the magic, that is the real value. What we can do, and we have done now for years, is we take notes from every single learning lab, from every case study session, and from every poster, and we put it up online and make it available for free for all.
So whether you’re a network member or not, all that stuff’s available because ultimately our mission is to try to lift up and improve the field, and the best way to do that is not to put barriers in front of folks. And so that obviously won’t be available come September 29th or 30th or October 2nd, but give us a couple weeks.
Let certainly Erica and Carrie and the rest of the team who’s gonna deserve a nap after all we’ve got in front of us. But then we will post all that stuff up online so everybody will have the opportunity to benefit from all the wisdom that was shared in the room.
Eric Brown: And for folks who are planning to go but haven’t, they wanna come a little early?
Sean Gibbons: Folks are welcome to come to pre-cons. Now, those rooms, I guess at some point they get uncomfortably full, but the thing that’s cool about those, we’ve [00:21:00] done them, again, every single year. But here this year we’re having folks from across the San Diego community, and so there’ll be folks from Barrio Logan, which if you know the area, is really important to folks.
And so we’ll have folks coming in there from the military communities coming in to join us to talk about comms. And so it’s this opportunity to really have a… even if you can’t go to a day of service or you’re not able to go on a field trip and you are gonna have to get up a little bit earlier next time, ’cause those are some cool opportunities, and I’m happy the folks who are having them. But for everybody else, come out and hang with us at the hotel, and then we’ll see you on the beach.
‘Cause maybe the other thing, and I’m not preaching y’all should do this, but San Diego’s a hell of a city to go play hooky. Like, if I had a few hours and I didn’t have to go to some programming, I might… Balboa Park’s nice. There’s some stuff.
Eric Brown: Okay.
Sean Gibbons: You know, the last time we were in San Diego, you may remember, Eric, you were on the board, I went surfing.
Eric Brown: I do remember that. There were sightings.
Sean Gibbons: I’m not sure how the board felt about that, but I went with a board member, so I felt sanctioned.
Eric Brown: Sightings of Sean in a wetsuit. Now, conferences can be intimidating, and Carrie, my sense from you is you’re [00:22:00] something of an introvert.
Carrie Clyne: How did you guess, Eric?
Eric Brown: I don’t have much emotional intelligence, but I figured that one out. So for introverts, a conference can be a frightening experience. And whereas people may have signed up to go because maybe their boss told them that it would be a good idea or something like that, how does an introvert manage to navigate such a group of extroverts like myself and Erica and Sean, how do you manage a conference like that?
And what tips do you have for those folks who are similarly situated?
Carrie Clyne: It’s not just me who’s an introvert on the team. There are a couple of us, and we have been thinking deeply about this for a while. And so we know that we can design for connection, and we can think through how to help people connect.
We also can’t force it. And so what we try to do is we come up with as many different ways where folks can meet and interact with different people, especially in smaller groups, and especially doing some meaningful stuff, whether it’s [00:23:00] having a pre-conference discussion or going on a field trip or day of service.
But again, we are always looking for these smaller ways for folks to connect.
Sean Gibbons: To Carrie’s point on introverts, and Carrie, you can pick this idea up if you want, is one of the things I love about the network, and I was talking about how everybody shows up with a real sense of optimism, is that has nothing to do with kind of how you greet the world, whether you’re somebody who’s a little bit more introverted or extroverted, and we all live on that spectrum.
But what I think is intoxicating about the experience is that introverts find themselves reaching out and showing up in ways that maybe they wouldn’t otherwise be comfortable. And I think that speaks to a bigger thing that we do with the network that has nothing to do with programming, all of which is excellent, and it’s the culture, ’cause we’ve been alluding to that throughout this, and that’s the essential piece is that we meet everybody where they’re at.
We hope to embrace them and bring them in. Introverts come out of their comfort zone. We hope extroverts like me who can talk to a wall shut their mouths for five minutes and listen, ’cause you learn a lot that way. And that seems to happen [00:24:00] often. And so it’s a beautiful sort of thing that we’re building in terms of the culture, and I think that’s the thing folks need to know.
And then also sometimes you need a break. And again, San Diego’s not a bad place. Anybody who’s feeling like they just need a minute, stroll outside, palm trees, sun, water. Not so bad.
And I say that, Carrie, I can’t get on a podcast with you and not say the… Carrie, do you know what I’m gonna say?
Carrie Clyne: Most conferences suck.
Sean Gibbons: Well, yeah, I do say that all the time. Most conferences suck. I do. But I was gonna say no one bites.
Carrie Clyne: No one bites.
Sean Gibbons: No one bites, right. And that’s the thing, I think sometimes folks just need to understand that we’re all showing up even if your boss made you, chances are you care deeply about the work you’re doing.
You wanna get a little bit better, and it’s kind of like, I always say, throwing my kids in the pool. They don’t wanna go in ’cause it’s cold. And you’re like, yeah, first 20 seconds and then the rest of the day is delightful. So to most of my introverted friends, I would say, push yourself a little bit, and it’s exhausting, like physically exhausting to do that, and we get that, and I [00:25:00] get that.
I live with an introvert. But I promise you’re gonna enjoy your time in the pool, and then you’re gonna collapse into bed completely cooked. And by the way, we see you, ’cause that’s the HQ team when we’re all done.
Eric Brown: Well, chances are you’ll find me at the bar, you introverts out there, and I will buy you a drink.
What, just one in. Or bring an introverted friend.
Sean Gibbons: I’m holding you to that, man. I see you at the bar, I’m gonna literally grab people and say, “Just say you’re an introvert, Eric’s buying you drinks.”
Eric Brown: Jesus, more expensive than the membership, the bar bill. Erica, apart from the things you’ve already mentioned, what are you looking forward to most?
Erica Pelletreau: One of the things that the network does that I’ve never seen anybody do before, which I think is super cool, and it taps into working with introverts and it taps into creating community upstream, is Sean sends out emails to everybody who’s going to come. He literally sends out an email to a group of maybe 20 folks introducing them to one another.
There’s usually a board member, a local leader who’s on that thread, too. And the idea is to create space that people can start [00:26:00] connecting before they even get to San Diego. But starting even as soon as now, you’re having opportunities to start to build a kind of a cohort together so that if you do walk in and you don’t know a lot of folks, well, you just met these 20 people via an email thread.
One year we did it and we had the people on my thread, we all met together in the hotel lobby and went together to the opening reception, and that gave us all a friend to walk through it with, and that’s something that’s unique that the network does.
Eric Brown: Sean, other than maybe, I don’t know if you’re gonna go surfing again or not, what are you looking forward to?
Sean Gibbons: I would love it if I could. I think I just called myself out, so maybe not.
Eric Brown: We’ll alert the lifeguards.
Sean Gibbons: Please do. Well, I guess it’s a privilege of… ComNet is this extraordinary thing. It’s hard to think it’s right around the corner. But it’s also fun to know, again, like the network isn’t just those three days a year, as much as those three days a year are important.
I think, Eric, you worked in television and I guess you go to [00:27:00] the Emmys or something, and it’s super fun and fancy and you dress up and all that, but my guess is if I asked you a story about your acting career, you’d tell me about something on set, right? And so to me, it’s like-
Eric Brown: Hey, look, if I had been nominated for an Emmy…
Sean Gibbons: You’d be stoked.
Eric Brown: I’d be telling you about it.
Sean Gibbons: You know what? We’re in the land where we make up narratives. You’ve won an Emmy, my friend. You’re an Emmy winner. So. But the train of thought I was going after is just that I think for a lot of people, ComNet’s gonna be this extraordinary sort of opportunity to step away.
A lot of people have been under a lot of stress for a whole host of different reasons. Some of them are big and kinda galactic in scale, and some of them are just small and personal. I don’t know about y’all, but maybe it’s just the station I’m at in life, but lots of folks carrying stuff. Like adulting is hard, just generally.
So giving three days together to hang out with people who, literally, if you don’t even think about yourself and you just look at who you’re surrounded by, all of these people, every single one of them rolls out of bed every single day trying to do a little bit of good in the world. And it might not be your cup of tea what they’re working on, but climate change may not be your jam, or lifting up the [00:28:00] arts or eradicating disease or whatever it might be, but that’s what they’re doing.
And they’re putting their whole heart into it. And giving them three days away to learn and think about getting better, and to see all those folks every day when you wake up at breakfast, like that doesn’t fill your cup. Like that is a pretty incredible thing. That’s the offer, is a room of people who are dedicated to doing good, who are all committed to being together to get better and get sharper and smarter, and the world requires it of us right now. And for us, Erica and myself, Carrie, to be able to be of service to those folks, best job in the world. That’s an assignment I take every day with pride.
Eric Brown: I, for one, am very inspired by other people who actually work for a living. I think that I wanna do a good job. Carrie, let’s land this plane by hearing from you about how people can get involved with the network the rest of the year, ’cause there are so many things that you do, and Communications Network is not just three days a year, it is 365.
Can you talk a little [00:29:00] bit about that?
Carrie Clyne: We have a variety of different ways for folks to connect. Two programs I’ll mention of the many things that we do are our Circles and Locals programs. They’re how we build community all year long, not just at ComNet. Circles gather folks online. We gather monthly on Zoom.
We also have Slack happening all of the time. And they bring folks together based on role, topic, identity, and we’ve found that these are thriving communities where we see people join each month and continue to build connections that way. Then our Locals program, they gather in real life, in person, in the places where folks live and work.
And so we have 16 local groups throughout the country, anywhere from New England to Seattle. And so these groups gather, and they’re more social focused, and we are finding that they continue to grow and expand. Our real measurement of all of these groups, though, is actually about the return and how many folks continue to come back, and the deepening of connections.
And that’s something that we’re finding that as we are both [00:30:00] growing numbers-wise and we have three new Circles being added this year, a couple local groups being added, but what we’re really looking at is the depth of connections folks make because of these groups.
Eric Brown: Well, they are incredible connections, and I will say that, let’s see now, 12 years ago when I was on the board and we hired Sean to be the CEO, in our wildest dreams, I mean way beyond our wildest dreams, we could not have possibly imagined all that the network is doing now, the things that Carrie just talked about, the way Erica has described this conference.
And Sean, of course, the energy with which you have attacked this work is an inspiration. It’s fabulous. It has made my job better. It has made the jobs of so many people out there, but more importantly, it has made the lives of the people that the foundations and the nonprofits touch immeasurably better, and I just thank you so very much for everything you’ve done.
I [00:31:00] cannot wait to see you all in San Diego. Carrie Clyne, Erica Pelletreau, Sean Gibbons, thank you very much for all you do and for just being you.
Erica Pelletreau: Eric.
Eric Brown: Yeah?
Erica Pelletreau: What’s the one thing you’re looking forward to?
Eric Brown: Oh, my goodness. Just being in a room full of people who I feel this incredible connection with, whether I know them or not.
That’s not something I get a chance to do very often, and because I’m an extrovert, to be surrounded by so many people who are like-minded, who really care about making a difference, just fills me with joy.
Carrie Clyne: I love it.
Eric Brown: Well, thanks, folks. Thanks for coming on. I’ll see you in two weeks.
Carrie Clyne: Thank you, Eric. Thank you, Eric.
Eric Brown: And that’s it. I hope that inspired you and excited you. Normally, of course, Kirk would say things that would go blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and I would go blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and he would go, “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” and I would go, “Eh.” But we didn’t get a chance to do that this time. We will see you next time on a [00:32:00] normal edition of Let’s Hear It, but hope you enjoyed the show, and we’ll see you in San Diego.
Kirk Brown: Okay, everybody, that’s it for this episode. Please let us know if you have any thoughts about what you heard today or people we should have on this show, and that definitely includes yourself. And we’d like to thank John Alleee, the tuneful and inspiring composer of our theme music.
Eric Brown: Our sponsor, the Lumina Foundation.
Kirk Brown: And please check out Lumina’s terrific podcast, Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Talent, and you can find that at luminafoundation.org.
Eric Brown: We certainly thank today’s guest and, of course, all of you.
Kirk Brown: And most importantly, thank you, Mr. Brown.
Eric Brown: Oh, no, no, no, no. Thank you, Mr. Brown.
Kirk Brown: Okay, everybody. Till next [00:33:00] time.