I've been hosting workshops instead of parties.
It all started even before the pandemic, I started to think about the fact that it would be great if people could leave a party with a takeaway. Some kind of lesson learned that they knew they were going to learn when they walked in the door, so I decided to give it a try.
In the past few years I've hosted many virtual workshops. What I've found is that it's both a great way to stay in touch with people and a great way to learn a new skill or way of thinking.
In this week's blog post and podcast episode I talk about my favorite of the parties I've hosted - and I give you tips and tricks for hosting your own.
I think my favorite party to date has been a journaling class that we did. There was an activity, a good conversation, and some inspiration to choose to change your life.
So today I ask you - what is a skill or topic your community of people might want to learn more about? Can you bring somebody in to talk to them about it? Can you find somebody who is an expert and have them share their experiences? Can you find a local business to support and let them reach a new community of people? What is it that you've been wanting to learn in the year of the pandemic? It's very possible that your friends would be interested in learning it too. I promise, it's not as hard as you think it is.
The next workshop party I'm trying to host? Virtual self defense classes. We'll so how this goes.
Podcast News:
This week's episode is another solo show. It's less than 15 minutes of content about how to host your own workshop party. There are some great ideas for inspiration as well - from burlesque to financial planning to birth chart reading.
Things to Check Out:
Here are just a few resources from around the internet I’ve loved in the past few weeks related to community building & personal development:
This week I listened to this TED talk from Theaster Gates about how to revive a neighborhood with imagination, art, and beauty. This is community building at its finest. I was very inspired and it made me wonder what kinds of big things in life I might be able to accomplish in life - or even right now.
I started writing in this "One Line a Day" journal on the day that I got my first COVID vaccine. Each day is a separate page and there are lines to write for five years on each page. I heard Emma from A Beautiful Mess talk about how inspiring it is to see so many years ahead of the lines you're currently writing on and it inspired me to finally buy this book that's been on my list for years. I can't wait to see how life changes year by year. And it will cover the one year leading up to my wedding, which is cool.
This article about "How Long Does It Take To Advance Women? 36 Minutes A Week" from JP Morgan Chase setup a great framework for helping folks at the office. It could be women, it could be an underpresented minority. Do what works for you and watch out for the folks coming up behind you.
I'm very excited to try out this website designed by a friend of a friend called Slides with Friends to facilitate icebreaker games. I will be using it in two weeks to introduce the members of my bridal party to each other - I will report back!
I'm getting my second vaccine this weekend and this xkcd comic very accurately represents the planning my brain is doing for post vaccine social scheduling.
I hope you're all doing fantastically. I've been working 65 hour weeks, researching information to write a book about bridal showers, and attempting to get all of my ducks in a row at the start of wedding planning. Hoping for a few easy days sometime soon.
But until then - you all know where to find me. Happy community-ing!
xo Chrystina
