On Doing It Again
The first Community Council happened last October, and when it ended I remember standing in the driveway of the château watching the bus pull away and feeling something close to grief. Not because it was over, exactly, but because I wasn't sure it could happen again.
Some experiences feel so magical and yet so specific to the people in the room that they refuse to be repeated.
I drove away from Normandy six months ago, certain we had made something real, and equally uncertain whether we could recreate it again.
Last week, we returned.
And what I learned this time is that “again” was never the right word.
Community Council is not a formula. It's not a thing where we look at what worked and run the same plays. The container may be familiar, the rhythms of the arrival, the dinners, the final goodbyes, but everything that happens inside that container is shaped by the specific humans who walk through the door.
The sessions are built around the challenges that surface in the participants' intake forms. The conversations follow whatever threads the group needs to pull. Some of the program’s most valuable content is contributed by the participants themselves.
Each group makes it their own.
And still, there are things that hold steady.
The way the orangerie halls ring with knowing “hmms” when someone names a truth about the work.
The nods that ripple across the room when a vulnerability lands and the rest of the group catches it without missing a beat.
The small shift when people who spend their days holding space for others begin to let themselves be held too.
There is a lightness that starts to emerge.
The mischievous grins and glint in their eyes when they discover a hidden quest. The way grown professionals, leaders of large communities and serious work, begin running through the hallways and lifting the corners of rugs, allowing themselves to play.
At dinner, the conversations stretch longer each night. As if the group is slowly giving itself permission to take up more space.
Even the opening and closing walks change. At first hurried, completing a task to discover what's next, and in the end slow, thoughtful, savoring each remaining moment.
On the final day, you can see on every face how much has shifted since people first walked through the château doors.
Some of the weight they arrived with has been set down. They've landed somewhere they belong, and they've been (perhaps for the first time in a while) taken care of the way they care for their own communities.
I drove away from Normandy this time with a different question than the one I arrived with.
Not whether we could do it again, because we will.
But rather, who that next group will be, what they will need from the space, and what the space will in turn become with them in it.
📚 Book Club: The Power of Moments
Our next Community Book Club read is: The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath.
The Power of Moments reveals why our most meaningful memories cluster around four elements: elevation, insight, pride, and connection. It also shows why we're wired to remember peaks and endings while forgetting everything in between.
Our book club runs a little differently than ones you might be used to. For starters, there is no pressure to have actually read the book. We take some of the core concepts, turn them into a practical workshop, and share what comes up. We'd love to see you there.
💎 Internet Treasures:
- The Community AI Framework. We love a good framework. This one focuses on the tricky task of determining where AI can make your community efforts more effective, while not losing the essential human touch. Originally found via Evan Hamilton's Community Manager Breakfast Newsletter
- I often find myself coming back to these shared resources from the former team at People & Company. Their simplicity, paired with case studies of real communities, is always a helpful reframe.
👋 Come say hi!
On May 20th I will be hosting a workshop with Old Girls Club on The Belonging Triangle, a framework I've been developing for designing better gatherings.
Think of it as the difference between a gathering people endure and one they can't stop talking about. We'll dig into real examples, play with the framework together, and you'll leave with something you can actually use.
Thanks for being here!
Until next time, keep gathering with intention.
—Christina
Founder, Community Council & BoardingPass
