ComNet 24 is Coming! – With Sean Gibbons, Carrie Clyne, and Tristan Mohabir – Transcript

 

Kirk: Welcome to Let’s Hear It.

Eric: Let’s Hear It is a podcast for and about the field of foundation and nonprofit communications, produced by its two co-hosts, Eric Brown and Kirk Brown. No relation.

Kirk: Well said, Eric. And I’m Kirk.

Eric: And I’m Eric. The podcast is sponsored by the College Futures Foundation. which envisions a California where post-secondary education advances equity and unlocks upward mobility now and for generations to come. To learn more, visit collegefutures.org.

Kirk: You can find Let’s Hear It on any podcast subscription platform.

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Kirk: And if you like the show, please, please, please rate us on Apple Podcasts so that more people can find us.

Eric: So let’s get onto the show.

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Kirk: And we’re back. Welcome in. It’s another episode of Let’s Hear It. You found us. We found you. We’re all together. Hey, Mr. Brown. How you doing?

Eric: That’s like your catchphrase.

Kirk: Come on. We’re bringing people together.

Eric: That’s right. If they could make the license plate the, what do you call ’em? The vanity license plates long enough, that’s what yours should be.

Kirk: Welcome in? Gather ‘round?

Eric: I, no, you found us. We’re back. Glad you found us. We’re here.

Kirk: Speaking of bringing people together, Mr. Brown? You’ve got a good one today and you’re headed someplace really interesting and not that far away from where I grew up in October. So let’s talk about this. What’s ahead here? What are we about to listen to?

Eric: This episode is a look forward and a kind of a pitch to all folks out there to go to the Communications Network conference this year in Kansas City. October 16th to the 18th, and I spoke with Sean Gibbons, the CEO, Tristan Mohabir, their chief of staff, and Carrie Clyne, their Vice President of Community about Communications Network, about the ComNet Conference, all things extrovert and connectional and that kind of stuff.

Kirk: And you celebrated some anniversaries, by the way, while you’re talking. So let’s, we’ll get to the interview, but if I have this right, Sean and Tristan have both been at the Communications Network for 10 years. Did I have that right? And then Carrie for five. So this is enormous work. And one of our origin stories actually relates back to a common conference back in the day before Sean’s tenure and when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. And I think if we were lucky, there were 40 people in the room when you and I were at the podium that day.

Eric: I totally could have made breakfast for everyone in that room.

Kirk: That’s right. That’s right. And the guesstimate for attendance for this coming conference is gonna be a thousand, something like that, whatever the numbers are.

Eric: Yeah. A thousand, something like that.

Kirk: And the big thing, it’s, so it’s October 16 through 18. It’s Kansas City. You can still get tickets.

Eric: It will sell out. But get ’em while the getting’s good.

Kirk: It’s well worth the price of admission. So we’ll come back, we’ll talk more. But before we go, Sean, Tristan, Carrie, the entire team at the Communications Network, all eight of you now.

This mighty empire growing in our midst. Congratulations. Good work. And thank you for all the efforts you put into this. We’ll talk more about the importance of the Communications Network. We come back, let’s listen to this. This is Eric talking with the great, the good folks from the Communications Network and the setup for ComNet 24.

Eric: Oh, and one more thing folks. I want you to listen carefully for the, a little Easter egg in there. If you’re going to ComNet, you wanna listen carefully ’cause you could win a prize.

Kirk: Let’s listen. We’ll be back.

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Eric: Welcome to Let’s Hear It. I’m so excited for this conversation. This week, we are gonna be talking about ComNet 2024 and the Communications Network, and my guests are none other than Sean Gibbons, the CEO of the Communications Network, Tristan Mohabir, Chief of Staff, and Carrie Clyne, Vice President of Community. Thank you, all three of you for coming on. This is a huge treat.

Sean: Huge treat for us as well. Thanks for having us, Eric. Great to be here.

Eric: Thank you. I wanna just dive right in. First of all, I’m gonna interview Sean very briefly and Sean says no, no, no, I don’t wanna talk.

So much so, and I really want you to hear from Carrie and Tristan, so that’s what we’re gonna do. But Sean, it just occurs to me that you’ve had a 10 year anniversary running the communications network. Is my math right?

Sean: You have this correct? And I will remind you that because it’s been 10 years, I’ve been telling the story that you told me when I was hired, which is how do you feel about being a guy with a, you remember how this went? Guy with a sandwich, guy with a ham sandwich. That was how you described my job upon getting hired. I’d say, I ditched the ham sandwich and I’ve gotten some pretty good company to help me on this journey.

I’m pretty grateful to you and everybody on the board and obviously the team that we’ve assembled over the years. Most especially Tristan ’cause he’s celebrating 10 years as well. And Carrie just marked five years with us. Pretty extraordinary thing to say. I’m actually happy to say the ham sandwich, 10 years later, probably wouldn’t want to eat it. It could be if we stuck it in the freezer. But I have a, and mold, but maybe greasy and grimy and green by now.

Eric: Now the sandwich, I’m sure it’s got all kinds of ingredients on it and it’s whatever, organic and made by nuns’ tears seasoning it.

Sean: It’s all the things. It’s gotta be, it’s like a six foot long hoagie, because we’re a team of eight now.

Eric: A team of eight. That’s incredible as well. The other thing is a sign of a solid organization is that people stay with it. And the fact that Tristan and Sean are here from a decade ago is amazing.

And Carrie, your five year anniversary, this is a great team that you’ve put together. Just for a couple of seconds here, Sean, tell me what are the two or three or four. Exciting things that have changed over this decade for you running this organization?

Sean: I guess the first thing would be just the composition of the network. It’s gotten a lot bigger, right? So when I started, you may recall, Eric, I think we had 400 and some members, and now we have over 3,000. Those members were almost exclusively the big philanthropies around the country, which was wonderful. It was Ford Foundation talking to the Gates Foundation, talking to Rockefeller, talking to MacArthur, and so on.

But over the last decade, we’ve not only seen more foundations join, so folks like Chan, Zuckerberg, Knight Foundation, and others who maybe previously weren’t deeply engaged. We’ve also seen, and this was part of the board that you were part of, Eric in 2012, the network board, which at the time was entirely made up of philanthropy folks, made a really brave and bold decision, which was we think that we aren’t doing quite enough to get better at our work. We think that our grantees, nonprofits are really, because they’re sitting out in the marketplace and there’s a time of such disruption and innovation, we should be inviting them in.

We should be learning and creating a learning community that includes everybody who gets outta bed every day and the tribe to make the world a better place. And so now 10 years later, we have. I think the split is actually now starting tilt towards nonprofits where we have maybe just slightly more nonprofits than we do foundations, but it’s pretty close.

That’s an extraordinary shift to me. I think some of the programming we’ve been able to offer over the last decade is something I’m very proud of. ComNet is an essential piece, and the pandemic taught us nothing else in person. Gatherings are just so important. I think that’s something that we all missed.

We’ve supplemented that by creating a whole bunch of programs that I think we’re all very proud of and enthusiastic about. It’s where our growth has come from is local groups. This idea that sometimes you just need to go borrow a cup of sugar, and it’s good to be buddies with someone who lives down the block.

So there’s 13 cities now where local groups are gathering. Those are organized by network members, managed by network members, and I think that’s just a testimony to the strength of the community. More recently, during the pandemic, we launched a program called Circles where we said, gosh, as we’re getting bigger.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to help people find the exact right people who can be most helpful to them? So we started to organize these smaller groups that gather monthly on Zoom and all the time on Slack to help each other out. And they’re organized around maybe the job that you do. You share a job function or maybe it’s an issue that you work on, or maybe it’s a shared identity.

And I think in all of those ways, we’ve helped to start to knit the community closer together and build something that you all on the board had in abundance 10 years ago, which is this incredible culture of generosity and kindness. So I think maybe some of the things I’m most proud of, the fundamental things that haven’t changed and our ability to serve more and more people.

And maybe the last thing that I’m really proud of is something I think the board has been a real champion of, is that everything that we do, every substantive knowledge based piece that we do, we share and we give it away for free to everybody. And that was something that wasn’t as possible for us maybe a decade ago.

And now even ComNet, maybe not everybody will be able to be there, but I promise you everything we do together, all the information that we generate, we will share. And we’ll make available to everybody anywhere all the time.

Eric: I’ve said this a million times, but Communications Network is the single most important professional association I’ve ever had the opportunity to be close to, and it has changed my life.

It has absolutely made me better at my job. It has just brought me a lot of fun and connection with people who are doing great work, and I just thank you for making that thing even more powerful and stronger. Actually, when I started with ComNet, way back when, I think I probably could have made dinner for the entire membership if I had a big enough kitchen and now that’s probably not the case.

Sean: I’ve seen you cook. I’m betting you could feed people. It might be more of a food situation just given the numbers. I have no doubt it would be a tasty meal. Look, I think the single biggest thing that’s probably most important for us is, I agree.

I think it’s a really important organization. I’m incredibly grateful for it. Maybe if you ask me to reflect 10 years, it’s been a really interesting 10 years. So much has happened politically, culturally, socially, the shifts that we’ve had, the good fortune to witness and some of the scary things we’ve had to endure.

The idea that drew me to the organization and I think draws all of us to the organization every single day is this idea that you can’t go it alone. You really don’t need to go it alone and you can’t go it alone In today’s era, we need friends. We get by further and faster with the benefit of friends and colleagues who are invested in seeing us succeed.

And that spirit of generosity, I think is just something that’s really sustained me, fills my cup. I can say that.

Eric: It fills mine as well, and I’m really looking forward to talking about ComNet ‘24 in Kansas City, Missouri. October 16th to 18th, and as you are listening to this right now, folks, if you’re tuning in when we drop the show, there are still seats available as far as I understand.

But as we all know. It will sell out. And so this is the first pitch for folks to sign up right now and get your space at ComNet. But let me turn to Tristan and to Carrie to talk about just how you’re doing. First of all, Tristan, congratulations on your 10 year anniversary. How has your experience changed over this period of time?

Tristan: Some things haven’t changed that much. One of them is just the magic of the network and ComNet in general. That’s the highlight of my year every year because the folks who are part of this community are, like Sean said, so generous of time and spirit. I can say that I’ve made a few friends over the years, some of whom I would consider close friends just through the network.

It’s been really cool to see. Ingenuity and adaptability of the community as well as we’ve navigated all sorts of crazy things like Sean mentioned too, chief among them, probably the pandemic and learning from everybody has been usually helpful to me on a personal and professional level, and just seeing that growth has been really rewarding and fulfilling.

Getting to continue to build platforms and programs to help these people do their jobs better is. Just an amazing thing to be a part of, and I’m grateful for that.

Eric: Carrie, you joined in 2019 and then, not that long after the pandemic hit, so you were the Vice President of Community, but you have been working on the ComNet community since you joined, and I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you to have to go fully remote after your, you did the first comment, I think it was in Austin.

And then life changed. How do you build community when you can’t get together?

Carrie: I think we all have been working toward that for a while, but what we found is that community is so important and we all need each other, and we all can support each other and help each other out. That even during the pandemic, we found that folks gravitated to online tools like Slack.

We still held and hosted two virtual conferences with a lot of attendees. We had 2,000 folks join us for ComNet ‘20 during the pandemic. Nothing really replaces real-life or in-person gatherings, but things definitely complement it. And a big part of what the pandemic has shown us is that ComNet happens once a year and it doesn’t just have to happen that one day, and we’re always looking to expand and build our programs to make sure that folks are meeting and gathering online before and after. They can join their local group in the places where they live and work and meet folks within the network that way, but that the network is really always at your fingertips.

And while a big focus of ours is the conference and getting folks there, we’ve seen that not even a pandemic can prevent folks from wanting to be in community and gather with one another.

Eric: I had a very interesting conversation recently with somebody who joined their job during the pandemic, and I was asking them, how do you build, and this is a someone who works at a foundation, like how do you build trust with your grantees if you can’t see them in person, if you can’t go out and spend time with them?

This was during that period and her response was quite interesting. It was a little generational, which is actually, that’s okay. We use these tools in ways that allow us to build relationships and get close, and you don’t always have to travel great distances in order to see people and build relationships.

And I thought to myself, it’s so generational. ‘Cause folks who grew up not working on Zoom and feeling the need to be in touch felt really dislocated during the pandemic. And then those folks who are actually born into the technology. I’ll ask you, Carrie and Tristan, how you can use both of those ways to connect, to strengthen the network.

Tristan: I guess the way we do it is there’s two tiers of engagement and connection, right? Like we have Slack is our primary digital tool. We have our members community in there now, so folks are in there chit-chatting every day, getting help from each other, asking questions, introducing themselves, things like that.

I guess it works as a daily cultivation tool to build the scaffolding that our in person programming then deepens. So whether folks are showing up to local events or ComNet. We have gatherings for circle members at ComNet. Now, those opportunities when people can put the faces to the names in real life and go a level deeper, I think they’re primed to do that based on what they’re doing and who they’re engaging with on the circles calls over Zoom or in Slack or even we just got off a Jones Award call or making connections between people.

Eric: And Carrie, have you seen the transition since we’ve been stumbling out of the pandemic? Have you seen any changes in how people are engaging with each other?

Carrie: A big part of what we focus on is really making sure we’re deepening relationships. It’s not just like a transactional or work only thing, right? That we want folks to really get to know each other, not just as colleagues, but even friends or humans, right?

So I think that because we’re trying to focus on these deeper connections. That we all know that if we have a friend who moves across the country, we keep in touch with the friend, right? We don’t just all of a sudden not talk to them anymore. I think we’ve been seeing that slack and whether it’s email whatever tool you prefer, building these deep personal connections really transcends the tool or the platform or whatever it might be.

At the same time, Slack and email and all of these virtual – Google hang, whatever it is, Zoom meetings, they do really help. They create space that makes things easier and also more accessible. So now you can connect with folks that are not just in, your general area, which is also really nice and important.

Eric: It’s funny, I have to remind myself to go onto Slack. I’m not good at it. I, that’s not part of my thing. It’s like one of those people has to put up a little sign above their computer that says to smile. So it’s just a reminder to me that different people get information and connect with each other in different ways.

And that if you’re gonna be an organization that really brings lots of folks together who are different types, you have to do everything everywhere. Which sounds a little exhausting, but it also sounds exciting. And the other. Part that I’m really excited about is ComNet ‘24 in Kansas City, and after the break, we’re gonna talk about that, what folks can look forward to, why they should go, and we’ll be right back with Sean Gibbons, Carrie Klein, and Tristan Mohabir right after this.

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Eric: You are 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. Tune in to Break Fake Rules, a new limited series podcast with Glen Galaich, CEO of the Stupski Foundation. Hear from leaders in philanthropy, nonprofits, government, media, and more to learn about challenges they’ve overcome by breaking fake rules and which rules we should commit to breaking together. We are also sponsored by the Conrad Prebys Foundation. Check out their amazingly good podcast, and we’re not just saying that, Stop and Talk, hosted by Prebys Foundation CEO, Grant Oliphant. You can find them at stopandtalkpodcast.com. And now back to the show.

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And we are back with Carrie Clyne, Tristan Mohabir, and Sean Gibbons of the Communications Network. I wanna talk about Kansas City. Now, last year, some people may know I missed it, and it was my first miss in 21 years. I had a family, let’s call it a family requirement.

Sean: Can we ask, can we probe here? Were you in America during ComNet last year?

Eric: I was not.

Sean: You were winning. You got a pass.

Eric: The thing, in retrospect, I think I would’ve rather, don’t tell my wife, but I think I would’ve rather been at ComNet. Didn’t go exactly according to plan. Wasn’t worth it. But I will most certainly be there this year and I’m really excited. And let me start with you, Carrie. What are some of the things that you’re looking forward to at this ComNet?

Carrie: Yeah, we’re thrilled you’ll be joining us this year. I think one of the things we’re so excited about is having folks join us in Kansas City.

We’ve not had ComNet in the middle of the country before and it’s been such a pleasure and treat to get to really know the city and all of the wonderful, generous folks in the area, and a lot of our program will reflect that. So we’ve been working with our host committee, all people local to Missouri or.

The region to help build out different sessions. So not only will folks get to be in the city, we’re going to one of those super cool museums in the city, the Nelson Atkins Museum for our welcome reception. But folks will also learn a lot more about what’s happening on the ground and what’s making the city really unique.

And then I think in general, we’re also always looking to find ways to bring some fun and excitement, so we have some surprises for folks as well this year.

Eric: Tristan, what about you? Tell me what your job is like during ComNet, and then tell me what you’re most excited about.

Tristan: My job during ComNet is basically just asking or well, doing whatever Carrie asks of me and saying yes to everything from her. It’s a lot of running around and a lot of making sure things are set, communications going out, emails, making sure people know where to be, when to be, all the basic information and physically putting things up. What I’m most looking forward to, I would say barbecue, but I’m basically pescatarian, Carrie’s vegetarian, but we hear that’s good.

Just being in the middle of the country in an election year I think is gonna be really interesting and not sound patronizing, but I think some of my favorites have been places that are like hidden gems or that I wouldn’t really have gone to before. I think back to Austin in 2019, it was just a cool, fun city and when we were in Kansas City last month, we got a little flavor like Carrie mentioned, and it just was a great place to be. So I’m looking forward to some of the conversations that might come up too. I think it’s two or three weeks before the election, so I think that’s just gonna be really interesting.

Eric: It’s such a good point. I was in Kansas City. I did a play in Kansas City many years ago, and I went to this place called the Savoy Grill, and I’m just gonna put something out there to the listeners. You send me the best question that you want me to ask your guest of your dreams. And to the asker of the best question, I will take you to dinner at the Savoy Grill if you’re at ComNet. So there’s something out for the listeners. So I’m really excited about that.

Sean, let’s talk about some of the speakers and some of the sessions that you’re looking forward to.

Sean: Every year it gets better. I think that’s the thing I’m so grateful for is that as the network has grown and evolved, we’ve had the good fortune of every time.

I think part of our attitude is if you come to ComNet, you’re part of ComNet forever, you’re a friend, and we’ve had that benefit. Even during the pandemic. You may recall, Stacey Abrams was on our stage in 2019 in Austin in person, and then in 2020 she was kind enough to lead a session. She actually interviewed Nicole Hannah Jones.

So I think the thing that I am most grateful for as we plan for ComNet is that we continue to just see extraordinary organizations being very generous and kind and sharing what they’re learning. So this year. Among the voices, I’m really keen to hear Heather McGhee, she is gonna be obviously talking to us. I think the context of her message, the way that she tells stories, the shared humanity and empathy she has for everybody, I think is a model for all of us who do this work.

So I think getting to sit and learn and with her and from her is gonna be really important.

Eric: And by the way, if you wanna prime the pump, you can go back and listen to my interview with Heather of last month. But go on, Sean. Keep going. You’re on a roll.

Sean: There’s a couple. I don’t wanna get out over our skis, but maybe this will come out after we’ve announced this.

We have some other really wonderful speakers lined up among them. Our learning labs this year are gonna be just amazing. Our board member, Trabian Shorters is gonna be leading a session, the Moth, the big storytelling group will be with us and they’re gonna be teaching folks how to tell better stories.

The management center’s gonna be back to offer some special training for senior leaders. There’s just. So much on offer, but I’ll tell you, Eric, also, fundamentally what I’ve learned maybe over the last decade is no matter how great the programming is, and we are always proud of it, and we always challenge ourselves to do more and better each and every year, and I hope that we do that.

I think that we do that. The thing that for me is probably the most important speaker I. At the conference, it’ll be the person I’m talking to in any given moment that there’s just such an array of talent and skill that comes into the room. You know this ’cause you’re part of it. It is literally a gathering of wonderful human beings who happen to be deeply expert in stuff.

That fascinates me. How do you communicate and get through to other people and do so in the spirit of trying to bring good into the world? That to me is just so inspiring. So my favorite part’s, the people, and I’m pretty confident the people will be back and it’ll be another enriching, beautiful, I get a little woowoo about this stuff, but it’s just, it’s such you’ve been for so many years.

You know there’s something that draws us all back. It’s really magical. And it’s not just the folks up on stage, it’s the folks sitting next to you that make the difference.

Eric: Yeah. And now it is true that I am an extrovert and that helps. Even I have found that folks who are not extroverts seem to come and get a lot out of it.

This is not necessarily about going into a room and seeing everybody who already knows each other and there are cliques and you don’t feel should be there. This is a community of people who are here to help each other. There’s one of the joys about working and helping professions is that we are all in it together to try and make people’s lives better, improve the environment, make things better, and people are really willing to share with each other. You were telling me during the break. Sean, that the Slack community is almost two thirds of the network membership that people are, and they’re, they just go in there and help each other out and answer questions and just be friends and supporters and that kind of atmosphere pervades, ComNet and is the thing I’ve always loved about it.

And Carrie I’ll just turn to you. What are some of the things that you think, are there ways that you help folks who are coming to a conference like this engage with each other? Are there tools or tricks or things that you do to help people feel like they belong and to plug in easily? What are the ways that even the extroverts can make more out of this experience?

Carrie: Yeah, absolutely. So we try new things each year and try to meet our attendees where they are knowing that folks are coming with all different ways of wanting to engage, but really we spend a good amount of time thinking about how can we make a big conference feel small.

And so we’re trying to create small spaces where folks can naturally get to know each other. An example would be our day of service. So we have a couple different volunteer opportunities this year where small groups, anywhere from six to eight people are gonna go out and do some volunteering within the community.

And of course they’re doing some good, which is amazing. And also they’re also having a smaller group of fellow ComNet attendees to get to know. It’s much easier. Probably getting to know a group of six or eight than it is a group of 950 if you’re more of an introvert. So we’re looking at all of the different ways people are gonna be gathering what they’re gonna be doing, and how we can infuse, whether it’s discussion prompts, we will be having different discussion prompts on all of our tables just as a way to spark discussion. We’ll have some networking. Bingo. We find folks really love to gamify things. Again, not everybody’s gonna do this, but the few folks who might want an easier way to start a conversation can find these things helpful. We will also, in all of our learning labs and all of our breakout sessions, we’re very intentional that all of the presenters know that We want folks within the audience to engage with each other.

So there’s gonna be a lot of turn to the person on your right or left and chat about what you just learned. Those types of things, just making it feel very warm and welcoming. We actually are going to even have a keynote that specifically is going to be talking about the importance of connection and deepening relationships, being generous and expressing gratitude that is not really just a lecture.

Folks in the audience are gonna have to do a couple different exercises where they’ll collaborate with each other. So really just building that into the overall program and also kind of meeting folks where they are and knowing that not everybody just wants to go to a general mixer, but creating different spaces and ways to engage.

Eric: I love that. And I know how thoughtful you are about that. Now, Tristan, I’m gonna put you on the spot. This is, I think maybe now your 11th, but some of ’em were virtual?

Tristan: I guess so. Yeah. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. Yeah. It’s 11.

Eric: It’s a good thing you have 11 fingers. Do you have a favorite ComNet moment?

Sean: Please say the chalk in San Diego. Please say the chalk in San Diego.

Tristan: That was probably my least favorite ComNet moment. This is back when we were a staff of two or maybe three. We just had less folks to do things and I got tasked with putting out signs and chalk to lead people to the beach where our opening night reception was, which was amazing. That was amazing. But it had to be like 95 degrees that day. And I’m in my blazer and whatever. Like literally blazing that day, so that was not fun. There are too many to name, but I think one that really stuck with me was Desmond Meade’s keynote in Austin just because his presence or aura, I think, as the kids say these days, was just amazing.

And his personal story and how he used that to affect social change. So his organization, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, won the Jones Award that year. For their work to get voting rights back for returning citizens, which I think was the largest expansion of voting rights since the Civil Rights Act.

That was just amazing. Like the entire room was just absolutely captivated and blown away. So that was really special.

Eric: You were kind enough to let us record that. We captured it as a podcast episode, so if you go way back into the archive, you could find that as well. It was an incredible moment.

And Sean, how does it feel that Tristan is talking about what the kids say these days?

Sean: I rely upon Tristan and Carrie to tell me what the kids are saying these days. I need to make sure that my drip is fabulous.

Eric: Just parting thoughts. I’ll just ask you, Sean, why should people go to ComNet? Send us out with a rousing speech, Sean, you’re good at that.

Sean: Oh, man. Except when a called for to do so. It’s kind of like, be funny. It oftentimes gets harder immediately afterwards. What am I most excited for? I think it’s kind of the thing that I felt. Every year about ComNet, which is, and I really don’t mean to insult anybody ’cause I’m sure there’s some folks listening who plan conferences, but my general disposition is most conferences suck.

Eric: Yeah I’m gonna agree with you. I’ve been a few that are good, but a lot of them are not.

Sean: Well, it’s just, it’s so curious, right? Because it’s some people presumably, who are very well-intended and passionate, spend an inordinate amount of time planning this gathering for a whole bunch of folks who presumably are like-minded and gathering because they share an interest in some issue or idea or whatever it may be.

And yet when you arrive, you discover there’s hundreds upon hundreds of people who presumably should be potential friends and colleagues, and yet it’s oftentimes, at least this has been my experience, one of those sort of disorienting, very lonely experiences to go to a conference. And so what am I maybe most excited about?

And it’s the thing that I think we can never look past and that we always have to be mindful of is the thing that Tristan pointed to earlier. And it’s again, it’s this woo woo term, but it really does, I think. I can’t come up with a better adjective where it’s the magic of ComNet. It’s that place where the culture comes to life.

We can talk all we want about asking people to be cool and to be kind and to show respect and give grace and ask questions and seek solace and solutions and all the rest of it. But folks actually do that at ComNet. Like that’s the thing that astounds me is, and it also, again, it fills my cup.

It gives me so much hope and appreciation for just how many. Really lovely, kind. Well-intended humans there are walk in the earth. ’cause sometimes you could flip open your phone or whatever and the world is coming at you with a lot of bad news at a great velocity. And comedy is a place where you suddenly realize like, yes, there are 100% a tremendous number of challenges that are facing us.

And there always have been, as humans, we’re always facing something, but to be surrounded by and informed by and lifted up by. Nearly a thousand people who all roll out of bed to make the world a better place and who seem to be genuinely invested in not only succeeding themselves, but helping others do I don’t think you could put a price tag on that. And so it’s not to in any way malign other people’s gatherings. It’s not to say that the programming and the planning that we’re doing right now isn’t important. ’cause all those things are true. It’s essential. But the reason I suppose, I would come to ComNet.

If I had not been in the past was, I don’t know that I would take it from some disembodied voice over my device telling me to come to this thing.

Eric: While you’re walking your dog,

Sean: While you’re walking your dog. But I would say sincerely, you are welcome and you belong. If you’re listening to this podcast, chances are you’re interested in the work that we all do.

You understand the importance and gravity of it. You understand the complexity and continued disruptions that occur in our field every single day that seem to be accelerating, and all of that is a little unnerving and unsettling. And so to have the luxury of a few days with other people who may be feeling those same feelings but are committed to getting better.

And thinking through ways to be more effective in their work. I come home from combat and I look at two beautiful little girls, and I think I know a whole bunch of people who are invested in helping them live in a better world. I’m a little bit of a student of Fred Rogers, and I’m a big believer in the helpers.

I will say ComNet is a gathering of helpers and I’m all for that.

Eric: Yeah, I could not agree with you more. Obviously the bar is high for a communications organization to put on a good conference.

Sean: Oh yeah. There’s that too, because everyone who shows up has to put on their own and so they’re judging, which makes it fun for us ’cause it gets.

I don’t wanna say it gets spicy, but we definitely are always challenging ourselves to innovate and get better.

Our friends are watching.

Eric: Yeah. Just my wife says, yeah, okay, Mr. Communications, how come you didn’t tell me that thing? But, and I just thank the three of you, Carrie and Tristan and Sean for your commitment to this work for making this organization what it is. I am so excited about Kansas City. I will be there with bells on. If you haven’t signed up to go sign up, talk to your boss, get them to pay, have them gimme a call. I will, I’ll give him a sales pitch. Have him, have Sean, have him give Sean a call.

He’ll really give a sales pitch. Thank you to the three of you. Thanks for your work. Thanks for coming on the show, and I will see you in Kansas City.

Sean: You will, Eric, if you will indulge me if I can give a quick shout out. So there is, obviously the three of us have been doing this work, but I want to just acknowledge the incredible work that Lalissie and Kareem and Alyssa and Amy from our team are all doing.

And Jess Black who’s organizing our locals, it takes a village and it’s not just the eight of us on the staff now it’s the literally thousands of folks who are stepping up into leadership roles. A big piece of how we see the network evolving is there’ll never be enough of us. Who do this as our day job.

We need everybody in the community. And what’s been so beautiful is to see how many different people have stepped up in such really interesting and meaningful ways to continue to build and grow the community. So in a lot of ways it’s like huge props to the folks on the team and on the board, but also just to everybody in the network.

Eric: Thanks for pointing that out there. It does take a village, as they say, and a staff that has grown to really. Interesting and fascinating proportions and for all the right reasons. Yeah. So thanks. Thanks to all three of you. I will see you in Kansas City.

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Kirk: And we’re back. So, Eric, revisit the Easter egg. I want you to surface it, want you talk it, and I don’t think you’re, I don’t think you’re gonna make good on this, by the way. I don’t trust this for a second. I don’t trust

Eric: Au contraire, mon frere. The Easter egg is for folks out there who are going to ComNet this year, send me the best question that you could ask to your favorite guest that we should have on Let’s Hear It. So it can’t be Gandhi, you know, don’t you really want a cheeseburger? No, it has to be a real question to a real guest that someone we should have on the show, and that from the hundreds of thousands of submissions that we get, if you are at ComNet, I will take you to the Savoy Grill for dinner. Now, the Savoy Grill has a very, very special place in my heart because in my former life, I have three, three has-beens ago, I was an actor and I was in the national tour of On Golden Pond, and we played Kansas City in the spring, I think it was, of 1981. And we ate dinner. We had a steak at the Savoy Grill, which is a place like Dillinger with, whatever. He did things and Harry Truman hung out. And there’s this fabulous old historical restaurant and I’ve been dying to go back and I would really like to take a favorite listener who has one hour contest.

Because they’re at ComNet and all of the stars have aligned after 43 years.

Kirk: Isn’t that something? Enjoy that dinner. That’s gonna be an incredible meal. And can I say there were a lot of interesting disclosures in this conversation, but hearing you can but this and you should, but hearing that this was the first time that ComNet has come to any location in the center of the country was really interesting to me.

And I’m actually so glad that the Communications network is coming to a place like Kansas City and as the native Mid Westerner on this podcast. Let me just throw out that there are a number of other venues, options, alternatives, Dubuque, there’s a bunch of cities out there, bunch of great places right now.

Eric: Maybe we do Enid, Oklahoma. Might be nice.

Kirk: You do have to have connecting flights, and I think that’s a hard thing. When you’re doing conferences, you wanna spare people. You want to give people the direct flight connection.

Eric: Hey look, there’s a Calistoga Wagon that leaves San Francisco every third Thursday, and you can take it across the country and stop in Kansas City. And it’s direct. It’s direct. You don’t have to connect. You just get in the wagon and then you get to Kansas City, a month later.

Kirk: So I wanna suggest that there’s a really important word for this whole conversation that we should reflect on.

It was mentioned briefly in your interview, and I want to blow it up a little bit Lonely. And I thought it was really interesting how Sean, Tristan and Carrie talked about how the team at ComNet has worked at the communications network has worked so hard to make ComNet a place where you can foster connections.

I love that idea of a big conference made small, you’re doing small group work, but let’s face it, this work, this communicating for social purpose and social change work itself can be very lonely. And I was thinking about this sensibility. You’re coming to this conference finally, and you and I have joked about this on this podcast, our families, our parents, they don’t know what our jobs are. They’re totally confused. Now suddenly I’m in a room with a thousand people who know this job because they’re doing it too. Before we’ve said a word, we have that deep understanding, that sense of alignment. They understand what I’m doing, understand what they’re doing, even if our topics or issues are totally different to me, I feel like that’s been one of the incredible things.

Somehow Sean and the team at the Communications Network has been able to pull that thread forward and help people leave these kind of isolated little silos of activity and bring them together in all these different ways. And my goodness, it just struck me, and again, Sean and Tristan for 10 years, Carrie for five, and the rest of the team growing, helping people address that fundamental loneliness of I’m trying to make this world a better place, but I’m doing it alone.

To me, that’s just an incredible contribution that group is making. And you have the feeling of finally someone who gets me. Yes. Exactly. And you can learn and it’s a friendly environment, people, and then you get to pop in and outta these different learning labs. The way they just built that scaffolding of relationships, I think is incredible.

Eric: I agree and it, I think that this is really interesting, the notion, first of all, we were talk, we talked a lot about Slack, which if I’m working with a client who’s on Slack, I’m on Slack. If not, I’m not. So I’m maybe not the best audience for this, but there are a thousand people out there using this thing on a regular basis, at least, maybe more.

I think you said 2,000. So people are connecting that way, and then circles give you the opportunity to find that thing that you’re interested in. And use that as a common denominator. And that thing might not necessarily be the work that you’re doing. It could be environment, or it could be an interest that you have so that you can learn about how to communicate about that.

Or you’re just connecting with other people who do your job or a different job in your profession that care about that thing too. So it’s just another way to connect. And I think that the network has done such a good job of finding all of the different ways. That people connect and giving them an opportunity to do it.

’cause it’s not just being good at one thing. You have to be everywhere because that’s, people get their information and they connect in totally different ways. And though a lot of people who have been members of the Comm Network for Communication Network for years and years haven’t been to a conference.

It’s not how they, that’s not how they do it. That’s not their thing and that’s fine. Then there’s folks like me who, yeah, I. I come early, I stay late. I’m one of those people and, but by Friday I’m completely rung out and ugly. But I’ve had a wonderful time and I’ve learned a lot and I’ve been able to share things and I’ve been able to connect with people who I’ve only known as something in my inbox.

And that’s, I love that. I absolutely love that. And I missed it last year and I’ll never forget myself.

Kirk: Was that the only ComNet that you’ve missed?

Eric: Yes.

Kirk: Oh my gosh. So you’ve made 20 what? What number? 20?

Eric: I don’t know, since 2000, I think. 2003 was my first one, and I went every single one since. I hope for last year.

Kirk: I hope you keep it in the edit because when you were cutting the break, you had this little aside where Sean came back around the Slack piece.

And I do think we need to hit the beats on these numbers a little bit. So Sean’s reflecting that the network itself has grown to more than 3,000 entities. It’s not just foundations as foundations, nonprofits, practitioners, more generally. They found all these great ways to organize people. So it’s through the conference, yes, but it’s at the city level. It’s through these different circles. It’s just I that notion of, Hey, let’s just jump on a call. You and I share the same job title. Let’s just commiserate. Let’s just, yeah. Think about the projects challenges we’re facing that are similar, but also then the piece about Slack that was talked about in the break.

So please keep it in the edit. I hope it makes it edit. I don’t know. Who knows?

Eric: If you don’t hear the thing that was in the break, then we didn’t. You’ll have to ask me about it at ComNet.

Kirk: Over dinner. This great moment where, it’s like break and, oh, actually Eric and I just come back and tell you the Slack thing. We’ve got 2,300 people, two thirds of our network is actually connecting through our Slack channels. And again, you’re right. You’re like saying Slack’s not for me.

I use email, I use different modalities. And you’re right. You’ve gotta be in all these different places, support this expression, all these different ways. And for the Communications Network to just be systematically trying to solve this problem. It’s so interesting to me that this notion that the entire social change, social purpose, let’s communicate together space, we’re all yearning, pushing at this shared mission, and yet we don’t.

We don’t actually necessarily find each other unless there’s somebody out there trying to help build these bridges and to listen to the intention with which those folks at the network work the effort they’re putting into doing this. It’s incredible. They gotta, they should write a book about it.

Eric: Here you go. Get someone else. Do some work. Paint your fence, write your book. Write your book.

Kirk: The Communications Network should write a book. They should write a book.

Eric: Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. There you go. Not me. And by the way, yes. I communicate. I communicate in very sophisticated ways. Yeah. Carrier pigeon and Vulcan mind meld. There you go. Those are the two. Those are my two tools for communications. And this podcast.

Kirk: So what do you think, and by the way, this podcast was a tremendously good idea, but we’ll, that doesn’t have to be stupidest idea you ever had. So what do you think about this notion of deepening relationships?

Because to me that was really new and different and I’ve flown in and out of, we’ve all done it. You guys talked about it on the. In the discussion, so many conferences, they’re lonely. They’re dislocating. Maybe you’ve got your little group of folks that you know, but you’re in this kind of vast arena of who are those?

The other folks and the people, the communications network saying, actually we want this to not be transactional. We actually want you to have to real relationships that come as a result of your participation in the work that we do. My goodness, to deliver on that promise, how valuable that is, but also how challenging.

But I also think it’s a new insight. I just don’t think that when you and I were coming up through the ranks, our professional peers and mentors necessarily thought that way and necessarily thought to try to equip with that way. What do you think about that?

Eric: I did seek out ComNet because that’s the sort of person I am. I’m going to be crowd, I’m gonna be whatever, mosh pit crowd surfing or something. I’m gonna I’m gonna just jump into the pile. But that this organization is the thing that has helped me create almost every single meaningful professional association who have become deep personal friends.

People I trust with anything, I will call them up and show them my. Stupid strategy or this thing that I wrote or load an idea off of where some crazy person will say, Hey, let’s do a podcast together, or whatever. And that’s how I connect. It’s how I learn, but it’s also how I go in the world.

And I do think that these personal connections are so valuable because it does give you that place where you can try things out, where you can be unafraid to express new ideas, to think things through. And people are warm and wonderful and loving, and we are not in competition, and we’re not trying to steal market share from each other.

We’re not trying to steal IP from each other. We are all in it for the same types of reasons, and we’re in it together. And that’s what this thing is about, and that’s why it’s so much fun.

Kirk: And answer this question, is this job, hard job or easy job? Whatever the job is. What job, whatever you wanna characterize this notion of communication for social change and purpose.

Easy to do or hard to do?

Eric: Hard to do?

Kirk: Incredibly difficult.

Eric: Oh good, I got that.

Kirk: Do you have too many resources or too few resources? Do you have enough people on your team? Yeah. It’s hard. This is something we do that’s really hard. Who else is gonna share a sensibility about that than somebody who actually shares that burden in whatever context they’re working that same issue from. And so it’s just I love that they’re doing this work. I love that they’re pulling this together.

This is just incredible work. And again you mentioned in passing, I don’t wanna say it again. Even as the communications Network team grows and Sean was. Did a great job of pointing out. Yeah, there’s a lot of people. There’s a lot of friends, there’s a lot of collaborators. We get a lot of help.

The Communications Network organization is growing. There’s a bunch of great people there, but for Sean and Tristan to be at this for 10 years, Carrie for five, you know that ability to hold people, have them continue to grow. It doesn’t sound by the way that Sean is in any way. Feeling he’s done with this gig because it’s been 10 years and actually I bet that the job he has today looks nothing like the job he had 10 years ago, let alone even two or three years ago.

It just seems like it just continues to being a really rich and rewarding place to work and just all credit to the people there that have been. Doing this work all this time. I totally agree. This is exciting stuff. And again, the Communications Network, when we were setting up this podcast, that was one of the first calls we made was we got Sean and his team together.

So what do you think? They were supportive and Exactly right. Lo and behold we were going. So that’s the kind of thing that’s happening to them every day, all day. Hundreds of times people coming forward, what about this? And they greet it all with this sense of generosity and support.

And that’s a lot. And it’s helping thousands of people help think about this. Millions, hundreds of millions of other people. Yeah.

Eric: And here we are. Yeah. 47 years later on this podcast here. We’re, I think we’re closing in on our hundredth episode, but I haven’t checked.

Kirk: Isn’t that great? We just, you know what, you just keep putting the edge. You might just buried the whole lead right there.

It’s funny, I saw REM just adopted into the songwriters Hall of Fame and apparently it was Bill Berry on that team that was like the one who just kept them going, kept them churning out songs, and I was like, oh, yeah, that’s Eric Bryan on our team.

That’s the bridge. Just turning out songs like REM. Exactly. Thank you. It’s just one hit after another, one after. So I love it. Communications Network. Thanks for joining us. Thank you so much, Sean, Tristan, and Carrie for being on the podcast. ComNet ’24, October 16 to 18 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Check out De Moines next time. But it’s coming and please get your tickets there. There’s a few remaining and it will be well worth the time and the effort to participate. And again, kudos to the communications Network for saying yeah, and if you can’t, if you can’t pay to come, we’ll make sure you get all the content for free after. What an amazing contribution.

Eric: And don’t forget to send in your entry for this grand prize sweepstakes. The best question for your favorite interviewee on Let’s Hear It. It has to be someone who’s interviewable. The best question wins and Kirk will decide what the best question is and we’ll accept that.

Kirk: We’ll look for photo documentation of this dinner for the, at the Savoy Grill.

Eric, thank you for doing that. Our colleagues and friends at the Communications Network, thanks for joining us on the podcast and thanks always to all of you for listening to us.

Eric: Yeah, and then we’ll see you in Kansas City!

Kirk: We’ll see you next time on Let’s Hear It.

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Kirk: 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…

Eric: Our indefatigable producer, Harper Brown.

Kirk: John Allee, the tuneful and inspiring composer of our theme music.

Eric: Our sponsor, the Lumina Foundation.

Kirk: And please check out Lumina’s terrific podcast, Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Talent, and you can find that at luminafoundation.org.

Eric: We certainly thank today’s guest, and of course, all of you.

Kirk: And most importantly, thank you, Mr. Brown.

Eric: Oh, no, no, no, no. Thank you, Mr. Brown.

Kirk: Okay, everybody, till next time.