Thanks to everyone who came last night, especially our experts - @Darren Gough Christina Patrick and Blaise Grimes-Viort. Here are my key takeaways. Please add your thoughts, ideas below. Huge thanks @Paulina for organizing! And to see some of our fabulous customers there also! Everyone in the room shared the goal of creating closer relationships with their customers.  From the experiences shared, we’re already seeing how AI can save teams from answering the same simple questions, or by protecting the integrity of customer communities through moderation. This creates efficiencies, but they act as a shield from customers instead of providing a way to get closer.  If these transactional interactions can be handled by AI, then hopefully it will free a team up to deliver more proactive value for customers. Replacing experienced experts is a race to the bottom. Delivering ‘just in time’ communication is all about understanding and predicting your customer’s needs - educating rather than reacting. This led us back to the power of communities to create deep customer connections and power knowledge sharing at scale. At Zapnito, our focus is to help businesses connect their customers to the right knowledge and the right people, at the right time. Often the most valuable thing we can offer a customer is the chance to exchange with someone like them. Relational over transactional. Creating this two-way dialog is critical. It's how businesses can truly help their customers succeed. And it's how customers can help businesses to provide better products and services. In the spirit of that two-way dialog, I’d love to hear how you’d like to see the Zapnito platform evolve to help you create deeper customer connections, now and in the future.@Neil Morgan @Madeleine Milne @Waimai Lo would love your thoughts!

Hi everyone! Next week, we'll be hosting our event, 'Customer Connection: Now/Next,' which will explore the current and future trends shaping customer engagement. More info here. We'd love to know what topics are most important to you. Here are some starters: Ethics of using AI Personalization Brand trust Data and privacy Let us know below.

Hi All, I am curious about People's views on what happened with Hopin and what the future of Event Tech looks like. https://community.zapnito.com/discussions/virtual-events-best-practices (some good dialogue in here). https://exhibitionnews.uk/hopin-exits-the-stage-having-lost-only-99-of-its-value/ In 2020 we saw the rise of Hopin, Grip and other platforms while incumbents like Intrado (now Notified) gained further traction. Some thought the event model would flip on its head (In 2020 we had a choice to develop some form of Event Tech at Zapnito yet I decided we need to stick to our vision of Communities and Knowledge Sharing vs. chase that trend).    Now its 2024. And events are back and human nature rules - gatherings matter. How will Online Communities living side by side events as the Event Tech providers struggle to find their way (with huge valuations in 2020 & 2021) and huge drops today?  Any thoughts are appreciated... 

Hi community!  I'm on the hunt for your best practices and solutions for driving attendance at your virtual community events...We currently run a monthly networking event for our users that's getting consistently low turnout.  We always create an events widget on our community, and host on Zoom.  We've played with various approaches to sign-up in the past, including 1) automatically registering all community members using Zoom (so they receive an automated email with link via Zoom, no work on their end), 2) requiring them to register so they can sign up for 1 month or the entire yearly series, and 3) no registration, just an open link to attend on the Zapnito event widgetIn all cases, we feature the Events widget on our community homepage, and include reminders in our weekly company newsletter (sent via HubSpot) for all of our customers.  But we're still not seeing great turnout. My hunch is that we're just not reaching our users directly enough, and it might require us to reinforce the value of these events through our CS team and 1:1 channels, at least to get the momentum going...How do you leverage Zapnito tools (or other system) to drive attendance at your virtual events? Do you use Zoom, Zapnito video panels, or another platform? How are you driving RSVPs & attendance? What communication channels have worked well for sending reminders and driving buzz? Help us, hivemind. Thanks in advance! 

Thanks to everyone that came to our Zapnito Connect event to learn about new rebrand and innovations on our 2024 product roadmap. If you missed out, have any questions, or want to carry on any conversations from the event — please join the discussion below. Here are some great photos from the evening:

Saying that...has anyone made any new year’s resolutions linked to community growth/development?Perhaps something to mix up the day to day tasks or introduce something onto the community that has been on hold for a while (new year, be bold....let's do it!) etc, etc.I am going to learn a little more via the books and podcasts shared on Laura’s post recent.  and also looking forward to meeting more of you during the year.Have a great 2024!RobP.S - if you have made some personal NYR I wish you every success : )

Hi all, curious, what Community events you attend (I am particularly curious for London), books you read, podcasts you listen to (all this outside of Zapnito, that is). Here are a few recommendations from my side: - Community Pros of London get togethers (organised by amazing @Madeleine MIlne @Laura Roth @Clare Sutcliffe )- Podcast: Masters of Community with David Spinks (but now discontinued)- Podcast: Bunch (Clare Sutcliffe strikes again!)- Book: Building Brand Communities (this is very much for beginners) That's all for now! I look forward to more recommendations, especially for in person gatherings!

Hello Zapnito Community Members, I’m thrilled to introduce myself as the new Community Advisor at Zapnito, and I’m genuinely excited to connect with you all. Next Tuesday, 5th of September, myself and other members of the Zapnito team will be attending two exciting events: the Community People’s (un)Conference and the Community Pros of London Networking Drinks. These events present a fantastic opportunity for us, as dedicated community professionals, to come together, converse, and establish meaningful connections. Event Details: Community People’s (un)ConferenceDate: 5th SeptemberDetails:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-3rd-community-peoples-unconference-tickets-647111567117?aff=erelexpmlt Community Pros of London Networking DrinksDate: 5th SeptemberDetails:https://www.communityprosoflondon.com/ We hope to see familiar faces among the attendees. I’m particularly excited to meet and have insightful conversations with: @Laura Templer  @Madeleine MIlne  @Clare Sutcliffe  @Jill Nicholson  @Valentina  If you’re in the London area and share our passion for community building, we’d love to have you join us at these events. The opportunity to share ideas, discuss strategies, and learn from each other is invaluable, and I believe it will be a wonderful chance to strengthen our community bonds. Looking forward to meeting you in person!

As Head of Community at Zapnito, I would like to welcome you to our expert Community. Please introduce yourself in this thread so we can get to know you, whether you are a new community member or a seasoned one like myself (side note: I joined Zapnito as a customer in 2020 before joining the Zapnito team in 2022).  Below are some questions to learn more about you, what you do and why you joined our community. By answering these questions, we can help you gain the most benefits from your Zapnito Community membership: 1) What is your job title?2) What is your company's name and type (if applicable)3) Which connections are you looking to make in our Zapnito community?4) Which knowledge would be most valuable to you at this point in time?5) Which (business/org) impact are you hoping to drive with your community (if applicable)? Many thanks in advance for sharing your introduction here and for helping me welcome other members!