How Intentionality Drives Community at TED
Fuse founder Jennifer Collins sat down with Monique Ruff-Bell, TED’s Chief Program and Strategy Officer, to dive deep into how TED cultivates a community where curiosity and lifelong learning thrive beyond the typical B2B model.
Have you ever met someone and instantly felt energized and inspired? That’s exactly how the Fuse team felt after our enlightening chat with Monique Ruff-Bell from TED. By the end of the conversation, we were all nursing a serious “TED-ache”—trust us, you will be too.
When it comes to the role of community building in TED’s event and marketing strategy, it’s not a top priority; it’s the priority. Despite TED’s global recognition, many are surprised to learn that it remains a non-profit organization. “Community is the heartbeat of TED, to be honest,” Ruff-Bell said candidly.
She dives deep into the ethos behind TED’s community-first approach: “When I think about the things I have to do, I have limited budgeting in a lot of areas. I have to start with the community first,” she remarked. “I have to think about the experience first. And, so when we work with my team, let’s come up with some amazing ideas to continue to foster connection and community, and then we’ll work backward to figure out how to make it work. We can’t do it at this scale, but we can do it at this scale. What is the experience first, and, then, we figure out how we can make it work – the resources we have.”
This philosophy extends into how TED gathers feedback and evolves its strategies. She explains the thorough process of reviewing event surveys: “We go through and read through, and we have meetings over these results and talk through what has stood out. What are some of the trends? Where can we improve? What do we need to do differently?”
This feedback-driven approach brought a pivotal change to TED’s donor patron program. She recalls taking the stakeholder feedback and doing a complete 180; it improved immensely. “To keep that retention, to keep that engagement, to keep that momentum, you have to listen to them! You have to understand what works for them.”
The cornerstone of Ruff-Bell’s advice on building a community tied to your event: “Don’t think of your event as a transactional event, even if it is…Think of your event as bringing people together. They’re people.” She emphasizes the importance of viewing attendees as individuals, “Thinking about your attendees as people and what you would love to experience if you were going to a conference or event and planning from that standpoint… Don’t think about the logistics; think about the people.”