The Power of Play to Build Belonging

Hi, Reader!

There’s a new episode of The Community Strategy Podcast, and I’m excited to introduce today’s guest, Eli Walker! She designs events and programs that build play into belonging in the modern world and how to use play to facilitate more engaging meetings.

Equipped with a BFA in Theater from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and as the founder and author of Drunk Yoga® (now The Uplift Experience), Eli pioneered the wellness entertainment movement to bridge the gap between #selfcare and #communitycare through her social yoga events.

Since then, she has used immersive storytelling and mindfulness practices to support tens of thousands of individuals and hundreds of institutions across the globe—including NYU and Columbia University, as well as Barclay’s, eBay, Intel, Google, Pinterest, and Mastercard—in building meaningful belonging for themselves and their teams in our modern, remote world by leveraging the art of play in live experience design.

Eli has always loved helping people from different backgrounds get on the same page. Bonus points if she can achieve this while inspiring them to live joyfully, empowering them with new perspectives, and making them laugh simultaneously. When you work with Eli, you can expect to play, move, laugh, and walk away feeling empowered with tools to create a more connected world.

During this interview, Eli shares her entrance into the community industry. She describes community-based theater as an immersive performance art in which the facilitator and storytellers go into existing communities and use live storytelling theater to help participants tell their stories and bridge sociological barriers.

Listen to The Power of Play to Build Belonging

A few takeaways:

Eli gives tips for community builders who bring people together. Uplift the experience with play by creating moments of laughter and levity to see a new perspective.
Break the rules and make the community optional. Clarify the container, detail the experience, and then give them a choice to join. They need to be accountable for their own experience.
Belonging is about setting up the conditions for belonging to occur. You can’t just put a bunch of people in a room together and then say, “Be a community.” Instead, focus on setting up the conditions to create a shared experience.
ConvertKit launched the Creator Network to connect customers who want to get more subscribers with each other to share tips, strategies, and what’s working for them.
The best way to start a small meetup is to keep things simple and consistent. Monthly meetings are the norm, but do what is doable for you. Make sure to keep the process the same each time, including posting the links and details in the same place.

Was this valuable to you? I’d love to hear what you find helpful. I recently talked with someone who said she’s been following my content but has yet to become active in the community. Even if you can’t attend any of my events, I would love to hear what has helped you along your journey.

Have a great week!

Best,
Deb

P.S. Creator to Community Builder received a new review; check it out here!

Deb Schell

I’m the author of Creator to Community Builder: Find Calm While Building Your Online Community and host of The Community Strategy Podcast.

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