Last weekend was my birthday, which included a variety of epic celebratory moments with my friends in Oakland, but excluded the sweet celebrations possible with my kids who are in Maui. This experience is yet another example of the never-ending tension (read: pain) of trying to balance parenting, career, and grown-up expression. Just in time, a book I’ve been waiting for, Mom Rage by Minna Dubin, is coming out this week! Here's to all parents, in whatever rager you're in.
One way that I’m shifting my thinking about communities:
TIL the concept of “Middle Circle”. Rephrasing from Middle Circle Community, “Middle Circle” fills in the gap between “Inner Circle” (composed of people who have similar backgrounds and view-points as ourselves) and “Outer Circle” (acquaintances we see once in a while, are too distant from us to fully be aware of what’s happening in their lives). We all need, yet most of us don’t have, a “Middle Circle”- a community composed of familiar and friendly people who would support and care for us in times of need, and also challenge us in our view-points and expand our horizons. This framing helps me better understand what “finding our people” means for myself and for the Bloom community; it is about building a Middle Circle, a group of different-and-connected people.
Data! Data! Data!
Want to get more matches on Bloom? Here are 2 data points for you to consider*:
profile photos: more is more. The data tells us that the more photos a profile has, the better the profile’s bud:pass ratio is. Profiles with 6 photos receive nearly 2X more buds for every pass compared to profiles with 1 photo.
”about me” bio: the sweet spot is about 50-100 words. Less is less, but there is also a “too much” point, where we see a decline in buds for extremely long profiles.
* consider this a disclaimer about the limitations of correlation when it comes to assuming causation
#Trending:
More things to rage about. Gary Neville and Jill Scott, both sports legends and sports critics, secretly swapped Twitter accounts with the goal of shining a light on the level of verbal violence and sexism exhibited towards women in sports. May this act as a reminder for all of us to be aware, and proactively challenge, our internalized bias against women, in sports, academia, and the workplace.
If you live in the Bay, are non-monogamous, and into deep conversations, you should start following (in a non-creepy way) Allan Steiner. Allan has is leading several Poly gatherings in the Bay. Among other “Low Production - High Connection” events that Allan organizers, he’s been the driving force behind the Bay Area Poly Happy Hour for many years, and is a somewhat expert when it comes to building communities. Bonus content: If you want to want to jump into creating your own community event- check out this detailed organizer manual that Allan and OPEN crafted.
Growing Bloom
WOW. NYC and SFO events and communities are so different! I mean… Bay Area ppl still use Facebook events! You know what's not different? Apparently everyone loves '00 pop music. To celebrate, Bloom is partnering with Space Invader Social Club and giving away tickets for their upcoming September party next wee; Snag a free ticket here.
profile photos: more is more. The data tells us that the more photos a profile has, the better the profile’s bud:pass ratio is. Profiles with 6 photos receive nearly 2X more buds for every pass compared to profiles with 1 photo.
”about me” bio: the sweet spot is about 50-100 words. Less is less, but there is also a “too much” point, where we see a decline in buds for extremely long profiles.
