This week on The Business of Cloud Native, I spoke with Jana Boruta, Director of Global Events at HashiCorp, about building community — for startups, for big companies and for open source projects with no budget. We also touched on digital-first events and how they differ from in person events. 

Highlights:

What is community and why does it matter for companies building commercial tools for developers. 

Why community building is for everyone — from Nike to volunteer organizations to enterprise software. 

Is it ever too early for community building? How to determine if you’re building community for the right reasons. 

Why community building is a long game — not something that will show immediate ROI after a single event. 

Community building starts with creating a community blueprint. While some tactics are common, but every company’s community is going to be different and has to be authentic to the company. 

Why product feedback can be an important first step for building a community. 

Why starting with community building too early, when the product is too buggy, can be counter productive. 

Why you should avoid thinking of your community as a demand gen program. 

How create digital events that provide value for the attendees, even if they deliver it in a very different way than an in-person event. 

Links:

Jana’s website

Jana on LinkedIn

HashiConf

EpicConf

Digital-First Events, Jana’s book about digital events