What does a community look like when intentionally sliding between “serious” and “play” states?Sliding IS possible and necessary. KPIs, metrics, strategy, and research can prove the value of your community… but what happens when the seriousness feels too heavy or unproductive boredom sets in?Mimp Jiamton and Yuen Yen Tsai are joining us once again to have some fun on Talk About Your Community! Together with Todd Nilson, founder of Clocktower Advisors, they will explore:- Intentional sliding IS possible and they are NOT opposites- Context triggers behavior - we often convene and comply- What if we convene and comply a bit less?- Who joins in and how much laughter will we have?- What is there to discover when you intentionally seek enjoyable activity?It’s time to put down the rulebook and stop bypassing fun. Humor us and join this livestream on Friday, August 21st at 10am Central!ABOUT YUEN YEN TSAIYuen Yen Tsai is an independent creative coach and facilitator. Her work has always revolved around the idea ‘Homo Ludens’ - Man Playing. She trains facilitators to channel play energy and lead brave participation. In her TEDx talk “How to Play. And Reach Your Business Goals”, she showed that play energy is not just fun—it’s a serious force for collaboration and transformation. Participants often describe her as someone who brings a refreshing and delightful perspective, blending humor with professionalism in a way that puts people at ease while stretching them to grow.Her sessions help people let go of assumptions, opening up new space for creativity and bold ideas. Clients emphasize her ability to transfer passion, create co-creation, and infuse every process with energy and fun. The result is that participants not only learn, but also change—discovering how play can help them push past boundaries, reconnect with curiosity, and step into lasting transformation. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuenyen/ABOUT MIMP JIAMTONMimp Jiamton is a British-Thai Creative Designer, Community Builder, and Facilitator based in the UK. She loves bringing people together, especially through creativity and interactive learning experiences. From co-hosting engaging events with communities and organisations locally and globally, to designing visual communication assets, she enjoys bringing ideas to life in ways that spark joy and connection.Alongside her career, Mimp is pursuing a Master's degree in Linguistics - a path shaped by her own bilingual upbringing, polyglot journey, and lifelong fascination with languages and cultures around the world. Her current academic interests include multilingual acquisition, sociolinguistics, neurolinguistics, and psycholinguistics. In her learning journey, Mimp continues to embrace failing forward, lifelong learning, and the power of play. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mimpj/ABOUT THE SHOWTalk About Your Community is a biweekly live stream for leaders, technologists, entrepreneurs and community builders. Todd Nilson interviews experts from a variety of fields who have input on how communities are both built and sustained online and off. Tune in to talk about community building and digital strategy.Talk About Your Community is produced by Clocktower Advisors, a global consultancy specialized at helping organizations like yours to build thriving, sustainable communities online.Clocktower Advisors Privacy Policy: https://lnkd.in/dS64AhxUConnect with Todd Nilson on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gi9gh6NNFollow Clocktower Advisors on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gu9CXE_s

What if your community could prove its value as clearly as your sales pipeline?Community professionals know the impact their work creates—but too often, that impact gets lost in metrics executives don't connect to business outcomes.This week's Talk About Your Community livestream features Community-In-A-Box: Unboxing ROI with Mark Birch, Co-founder and CEO of TribeROI and author of Community-in-a-Box. Mark has spent his career building and scaling communities that drive real business results—from founding the Enterprise Sales Forum, which grew to more than 30,000 members across 24 cities worldwide, to launching Stack Overflow's enterprise business globally and leading community programs across 30 countries as an AWS Global Startup Advocate.Together, Mark and host Todd Nilson, Founder of Clocktower Advisors, will explore:- How to define and measure Community ROI- The metrics executives actually care about- Connecting community efforts to revenue, retention, and innovation- Building a business case that earns executive buy-in- Lessons from Community-in-a-Box on creating communities that deliver measurable impactWhether you're building a community from scratch, leading an established program, or looking for better ways to communicate your community's value to executives, you'll leave with practical insights you can put to work immediately. Bring your questions and join us live for a conversation that will help you rethink how you measure and communicate the value of community.ABOUT MARK BIRCHMark Birch is the co-founder and CEO of TribeROI, the AI-powered measurement layer connecting community activity to revenue, retention, and innovation. He founded the Enterprise Sales Forum and scaled it to 30,000 members across 24 cities worldwide. He launched Stack Overflow's enterprise business globally, and later led community programs across 30 countries as an AWS Global Startup Advocate. He's the author of Community-in-a-Box (second edition), a guide for building communities that deliver measurable impact.https://www.linkedin.com/in/startupmark/ABOUT THE SHOWTalk About Your Community is a biweekly live stream for leaders, technologists, entrepreneurs and community builders. Todd Nilson interviews experts from a variety of fields who have input on how communities are both built and sustained online and off. Tune in to talk about community building and digital strategy.Talk About Your Community is produced by Clocktower Advisors, a global consultancy specialized at helping organizations like yours to build thriving, sustainable communities online.Clocktower Advisors Privacy Policy: https://lnkd.in/dS64AhxUConnect with Todd Nilson on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gi9gh6NNFollow Clocktower Advisors on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gu9CXE_s

We’re entering a new era where community is no longer optional; it’s strategic infrastructure.What if the most important competitive advantage in business today isn’t speed, scale, or even technology but trust?As organizations race deeper into an AI-driven world, leaders are discovering a growing gap: while AI can deliver answers instantly, it cannot create belonging, credibility, or human connection. That gap is exactly where community is becoming one of the most powerful strategic forces in modern business.In this episode of Talk About Your Community, Todd Nilson sits down with Chris Catania, creator of the ADAPT leadership framework and a leading voice in community-driven strategy, to explore why we are entering a new era where community is no longer a program or department, but as a strategic advantage.Chris brings over 20 years of experience helping organizations transform how they build trust, engage people, and adapt to change. His work, including his book The Community-First Advantage, challenges leaders to rethink community as a foundational business system that drives growth, innovation, resilience, and alignment across the organization.Together, they’ll touch on:- Chris’s journey into community and the lessons that shaped his thinking- Why the most successful communities are built on trust, not tactics- How community has evolved from engagement programming into business strategy- What separates thriving communities from those that struggle to scale- Why AI accelerates information, but community builds trust and transformation- Practical approaches for applying community-first thinking across any organizationIf you’re a community builder, strategist, or executive navigating what comes next in an AI-shaped world, this conversation will challenge how you think about growth, leadership, and the future of connection. Join the discussion live on June 26th at 10am Central!ABOUT CHRIS CATANIAChris Catania is an award-winning strategist, speaker, and author of The Community-First Advantage. For more than 20 years, he has helped organizations transform how they build trust, engage people, and adapt to change. Chris helps leaders see community not as a platform or department, but as a strategic advantage for growth, innovation, and resilience in an AI-driven world. His work centers on the ADAPT leadership framework and the belief that trust is becoming one of the most valuable assets a company can build.https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophercatania/ABOUT THE SHOWTalk About Your Community is a biweekly live stream for leaders, technologists, entrepreneurs and community builders. Todd Nilson interviews experts from a variety of fields who have input on how communities are both built and sustained online and off. Tune in to talk about community building and digital strategy.Talk About Your Community is produced by Clocktower Advisors, a global consultancy specialized at helping organizations like yours to build thriving, sustainable communities online.Clocktower Advisors Privacy Policy: https://lnkd.in/dS64AhxUConnect with Todd Nilson on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gi9gh6NNFollow Clocktower Advisors on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gu9CXE_sSchedule a call:https://calendly.com/clocktower-advisors/short-meeting

Community teams are often asked to drive loyalty, advocacy, retention, education, and growth while remaining disconnected from the workflows that shape the customer experience in the first place.In this episode of Talk About Your Community, Todd Nilson sits down with Joshua Zerkel, Head of Marketing & Community at Gradual and author of The Community Code, to explore the GROWTH Framework: a model for building community programs that align with real go-to-market priorities and measurable business outcomes.Drawing from two decades of experience building and scaling communities at companies including Asana, Evernote, HeyGen, and others, Joshua will share why many community programs struggle to demonstrate impact, where community efforts break down inside organizations, and what changes when community becomes embedded into the systems supporting marketing, product, customer success, sales, and education.Together, they’ll discuss:- Why engagement metrics alone rarely tell the full story- The difference between running a community program and building community integrated across GTM teams- How the GROWTH framework helps organizations move from experimentation toward scalable systems- Common organizational and measurement mistakes that limit community influence- How customer signal, advocacy, education, and peer engagement can strengthen alignment across the customer lifecycleIf you’re trying to connect community strategy to measurable business outcomes or rethink how community fits into your broader GTM strategy, join us live on Friday, June 12 at 10:00 AM Central.ABOUT JOSH ZERKELJoshua Zerkel, CPO is Head of Marketing & Community at Gradual and author of The Community Code: Strengthening and Aligning Your Go-to-Market Through Community. Over the past two decades, he has built and scaled community programs at companies including Asana and Evernote, helping connect community strategy to marketing, product, customer success, and revenue outcomes. His work focuses on what he calls community-integrated GTM: treating community as a core business system that strengthens alignment, customer insight, and long-term growth across the company.linkedin.com/in/joshuazerkelABOUT THE SHOWTalk About Your Community is a biweekly live stream for leaders, technologists, entrepreneurs and community builders. Todd Nilson interviews experts from a variety of fields who have input on how communities are both built and sustained online and off. Tune in to talk about community building and digital strategy.Talk About Your Community is produced by Clocktower Advisors, a global consultancy specialized at helping organizations like yours to build thriving, sustainable communities online.Clocktower Advisors Privacy Policy: https://lnkd.in/dS64AhxUConnect with Todd Nilson on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gi9gh6NNFollow Clocktower Advisors on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gu9CXE_sSchedule a call:https://calendly.com/clocktower-advisors/short-meeting

As AI rapidly reshapes how we work, communicate, and build relationships, community leaders are facing bigger questions than ever before: How do we create technology that actually serves people? What ethical tradeoffs come with AI-driven systems? How do we foster more intentional, sustainable human connection in an attention-driven economy?Join Todd Nilson, Founder of Clocktower Advisors, for a live conversation with David Douglas, Founder and CEO of Guideway Labs, an AI-native company focused on human capability in the age of artificial intelligence. A three-time founder with experience leading transformation programs at IBM, McKinsey, Accenture, Capital One, Discover, and Freddie Mac, David brings a practical and deeply thoughtful perspective on the real-world decisions organizations are making as AI becomes embedded into our communities, workplaces, and digital experiences.Together, Todd and David will explore:- The ethical design decisions behind modern AI systems- What it means to build technology that “does right by humans”- The impact of attention-driven platforms on online and offline communities- How organizations can create healthier, more intentional engagement- The future of trust, interaction, and human capability in AI-enabled spacesWhether you lead an online community, build digital products, or are navigating the intersection of technology and human connection, this conversation will offer strategic insights into where communities are headed next.RSVP now to join the conversation live on Friday, May 29th at 10:00am Central.ABOUT DAVID DOUGLASDavid Douglas is founder and CEO of Guideway Labs, an AI-native company focused on human capability as AI reshapes work. A three-time founder, he's led transformation programs at IBM, McKinsey, Accenture, Capital One, Discover, and Freddie Mac. His current focus: AI ethics in human systems.https://www.linkedin.com/in/ddouglas2007/ABOUT THE SHOWTalk About Your Community is a biweekly live stream for leaders, technologists, entrepreneurs and community builders. Todd Nilson interviews experts from a variety of fields who have input on how communities are both built and sustained online and off. Tune in to talk about community building and digital strategy.Talk About Your Community is produced by Clocktower Advisors, a global consultancy specialized at helping organizations like yours to build thriving, sustainable communities online.Clocktower Advisors Privacy Policy: https://lnkd.in/dS64AhxUConnect with Todd Nilson on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gi9gh6NNFollow Clocktower Advisors on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gu9CXE_sSchedule a call:https://lnkd.in/gmYK3rwf

Strong communities don’t happen by accident, they’re shaped by the clarity of the leaders behind them.In this episode of Talk About Your Community, host Todd Nilson, founder of Clocktower Advisors, is joined by Dain Dunston - author, executive advisor, and founding partner of Reservoir LLC - for a conversation on the role of clear thinking in community building at the executive level. Drawing from decades of coaching senior leaders and insights from his latest book, Being Essential, Dain will lead us on an exploration of how self-awareness, focus, and disciplined thinking influence the way leaders support, invest in, and sustain communities.This conversation is for business professionals and community leaders who work with—or within—executive teams and want to build communities that are aligned, intentional, and built to last.ABOUT DAIN DUNSTONDain Dunston has spent thirty years as an author, advisor and coach to leaders, helping them frame the foundation of their personal and professional journeys. He is a founding partner of Reservoir LLC, a company designed to bring deep resources to leaders, led by a coalition of some of the most respected executive coaches in the U.S. His latest book is Being Essential: Seven Questions for Living and Leading with Radical Self-Awareness.https://www.linkedin.com/in/daindunston/ABOUT THE SHOWTalk About Your Community is a biweekly live stream for leaders, technologists, entrepreneurs and community builders. Todd Nilson interviews experts from a variety of fields who have input on how communities are both built and sustained online and off. Tune in to talk about community building and digital strategy.Talk About Your Community is produced by Clocktower Advisors, a global consultancy specialized at helping organizations like yours to build thriving, sustainable communities online.Clocktower Advisors Privacy Policy: https://lnkd.in/dS64AhxUConnect with Todd Nilson on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gi9gh6NNFollow Clocktower Advisors on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gu9CXE_sSchedule a call:https://lnkd.in/gmYK3rwf

As organizations embrace AI to scale customer interactions, community leaders face a deeper question than "how do we keep it human." The real risk isn't that AI feels impersonal. It's that AI becomes another layer of abstraction between brands and the people they serve, further distancing organizations from genuine customer relationships.In this episode of Talk About Your Community, host Todd Nilson is joined by Bill Johnston - founder of Structure3C and a pioneer in enterprise community strategy - to explore the growing tension between AI-driven efficiency and relationship-driven trust. With decades of experience building communities at scale at companies like Autodesk and Dell, Bill brings a perspective on what should (and should not) be automated.This conversation will explore the balance between AI implementation and relationship building within a community, when loyalty, trust, and long-term value are on the line.📅 February 20th at 10am Central👉 RSVP to join live and participate in the discussion: Bring your questions, perspectives, and real-world challenges as we unpack where AI belongs in community, and where it absolutely doesn’t.ABOUT BILL JOHNSTONBill Johnston runs Structure3C, a strategy firm focused on making customer relationships a serious business asset through communities and networks. He previously held senior community leadership roles at Autodesk and Dell, and pioneered many "first wave" community events, including the Online Community Unconference.https://www.linkedin.com/in/billj/ABOUT THE SHOWTalk About Your Community is a biweekly live stream for leaders, technologists, entrepreneurs and community builders. Todd Nilson interviews experts from a variety of fields who have input on how communities are both built and sustained online and off. Tune in to talk about community building and digital strategy.Talk About Your Community is produced by Clocktower Advisors, a global consultancy specialized at helping organizations like yours to build thriving, sustainable communities online.Clocktower Advisors Privacy Policy: https://lnkd.in/dS64AhxUConnect with Todd Nilson on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gi9gh6NNFollow Clocktower Advisors on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gu9CXE_sSchedule a call:https://lnkd.in/gmYK3rwf

What if the secret to lasting engagement isn’t more rewards, but better play?In this episode of Talk About Your Community, host Todd Nilson welcomes Toby Beresford, a longtime champion of online community platforms and one of the leading voices in practical, purpose-driven gamification.Toby’s career has taken him across industries and continents—from using leaderboards to motivate United Nations leaders, wearable tech innovators, and global blogging communities, to his current work at the British and Foreign Bible Society, where he explores how online communities grow through meaningful connection in Bible study groups. Together, Todd and Toby will break down the Infinite Gamification Framework, a player-centered approach designed to help community managers stop relying on one-off incentives and start creating systems that support continuous engagement, learning, and intrinsic motivation.ABOUT TOBY BERESFORDToby has been a passionate advocate of online community platforms throughout his career. Most recently he used to use Leaderboards to gamify community and used them to reach into the world of the United Nations leaders, Wearable Tech, Bloggers and many more. Nowadays he can be found at the British and Foreign Bible Society looking at how online communities best form as Bible study groups. His vibe project, Portalry.com, focuses on improving attendance and engagement at recurring meetings, all using gamification.https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tobyberesfordABOUT THE SHOWTalk About Your Community is a biweekly live stream for leaders, technologists, entrepreneurs and community builders. Todd Nilson interviews experts from a variety of fields who have input on how communities are both built and sustained online and off. Tune in to talk about community building and digital strategy.Talk About Your Community is produced by Clocktower Advisors, a global consultancy specialized at helping organizations like yours to build thriving, sustainable communities online.Clocktower Advisors Privacy Policy: https://lnkd.in/dS64AhxUConnect with Todd Nilson on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gi9gh6NNFollow Clocktower Advisors on LinkedInhttps://lnkd.in/gu9CXE_sSchedule a call:https://lnkd.in/gmYK3rwf