📍 London Community Builders - August Edition
💬 Theme: Partnerships and sponsorships
Hey everyone 👋
We had an amazing session in July, talking about community engagement between events. Not sure about you all, but I've already started using some of the things we talked about (more to come on this!)
This month we're diving into partnerships and sponsorships - something that we should all know about but don't all have a huge amount of experience with. Whether you're completely new to this or you've got lots of stories to share, let's figure it out together.
🤝 What we're unpacking: Partnerships and sponsorships:
- Spotting partners who actually care about what you're building (not just your follower count)
- Having early conversations without feeling like you're selling your soul
- What to ask for beyond cash - and when cash isn't even what you need
- The art of saying "thanks but no thanks" to deals that feel wrong
- Turning one-off sponsors into proper community champions
- What's worked, what hasn't, and what you'd do differently
Plus the usual space for celebrating recent wins or getting advice on whatever's keeping you up at night.
🍻 The format:
- 6:30pm–7:00pm: Settle in with a drink and some friendly faces
- 7:00pm–8:00pm: Guided conversation on this month's theme
- 8:00pm onwards: The official bit wraps at 8:30pm, but let's see where the chat takes us
Finding us: We're in The Snug at the Saint pub, Bow Lane.
👀 Who's this for? This is a monthly gathering for people who run, host, or support real-life community:
- Meetup & IRL event organisers
- Brand-side marketers and community managers
- Independent builders and creators growing in-person audiences
- People who just really care about getting people together
🤝 Why I'm doing this
I run Gather, a service that helps brands build in-person communities. This group isn't about clients or case studies though - it's about building a peer circle. I want to connect with and learn from other brilliant London-based community builders. So let's make this our monthly check-in, idea sharing and venting session all at the same time 🫶
