Fuse Intensive – A New and Bold Approach to Building Community

On September 18^th, the first-ever JDC Events Fuse Intensive brought together an array of unique speakers who facilitated highly interactive experiences in a collaborative, workshop-style micro-event, where attendees were able to have hands-on experiences and test drive new approaches to community building, improving event engagement and cultivating more profound levels of brand loyalty.

The Fuse Intensive event explored innovative strategies and created new voices and new ideas from a wide range of diverse businesses, offering participants fresh approaches to creating stronger event communities. In addition to the unique case studies that were presented, the Intensive featured a Blueprint with actionable steps to enable immediate implementation.

Staging and Speakers

The National Union Building in Washington D.C. was chosen to host as it provided an inspiring environment that enabled more intentional engagement, inspiration, creative thinking, and exploration. Speakers included Andrew Webster, VP of Organizational Innovation at ExperiencePoint, who started the day by igniting the creative spark.

When we move beyond the ideation into the “HOW MIGHT WE” thinking we focus on illuminating the room vs. a new kind of light bulb, we open up a world of possibilities.

Fanny Krivoy, the Founder and Creative Director of Analogous, then led the group in a lightning lesson case study entitled – How Mt. Joy Built a Community Around Foor, Shared Values and Social Impact.

Duality marketing – marketing to the mind and the heart – deepens the connection to the community and makes the brand connect along two lines vs. just one. Your brand becomes much stickier when duality marketing is used.

Nancy Mastroianni, Head of Growth for HLTH, facilitated another stimulating lightning lesson case study, From Launch Event to Year-Round Engagement, Talking Community to Drive Innovation.

Be curious and try new things, because you won’t know what sticks until you are brave enough to test the waters. Keep in mind that matchmaking – whether speed networking or 1:1 meetings – creates meaningful connections.

Natalie Gillard, Founder & Facilitator of Factuality, took attendees on an interactive journey that explored the intersection of fact, empathy and action, designed to spark critical thinking and self-reflection.

Factuality – we learned that by understanding the ways in which members of our community are marginalized, we might be better able to understand what drives value for them. This understanding of what is missing and important to all categories of people allows us to deliver what they need and value most, which brings a higher value to our events.

Panel Discussion and Solutions Lab

In addition to the inspiring case studies and presentations, the Intensive led to excellent networking opportunities during the coffee and lunch breaks. Participants were then treated to an energizing and impactful panel discussion led by Beth Surmont, VP of Event Strategy and Design, 360 Live Media; Ken Demith, Chief Experience Officer, Heart Rhythm Society; and John Rubsamen, VP of Events, Out and Equal.

This dynamic panel discussion led by three visionary leaders offered proven strategies and insights on driving engagement and cultivating loyal and tight-knit communities. Some of the key takeaways from the session included:

Build your events with and not just for your communities.
Be ready to pivot as needed, and quickly!
Bring value by focusing on micro-communities within your community
Don’t pigeonhole a person by automatically assigning them one persona, because then they often will have to choose – limiting them in their ability to fully express themselves and live up to their full potential.
Don’t always make participants choose one content session to attend.

Shakira Johnson, Founder and Chief Impact Officer of Maple & Monroe, closed out the Fuse Intensive with an energizing and memorable Solutions Lab called Building Sustainable Communities Through Events:

We do some pretty great things at events, but these actions are one-offs that are not necessarily moving the needle of change. Instead of just feeding the homeless, we could instead: build homes for them; provide job mentoring; provide addiction treatment or teach them to farm and provide farmland to do it. Instead of a CSR activity, do something that has long-lasting impact and moves people and the planet in the right direction.

Closing Thoughts

Jennifer Collins, President and CEO of JDC Events shared her thoughts once the Intensive was a wrap: “Looking back at the close of the day we felt a great deal of joy and accomplishment at having fulfilled the promise of our first Fuse Intensive. We set out to create an interactive event that opened up new ways of thinking that would in turn lead to the discovery of new and innovative strategies to build stronger communities, drive engagement and build brand loyalty. Launching a new event can be challenging, but it is also very exciting. I’m very proud of our team and grateful to our incredible panel of speakers and attendees for making this such a success!”