Association Voice
Community
matters
Alden Arnold, AEV project manager,
reflects on the association’s recent
conference, and the importance of
creating connected communities
R
“You can’t just put
people together in
a room and expect
community to
emerge”
42 — August
eflecting on the recent AEV Conference
at Manchester Central last month, I was
struck by how connected it felt. Connectedness
is a difficult quality to pin down I admit, but
the atmosphere and the constant hubbub in
the coffee and lunch breaks almost gave the
impression of a family get-together.
Perhaps I’m over-sentimental, and this was just
standard ‘networking’, but if there’s one thing
that stood out in terms of conference content for
me, it was the focus on people – human beings
– and their wellbeing, and I’m certain that our
community of businesses is a powerful force for
change in that direction.
The level of interest and discussion that
followed the conference items on wellbeing and
mental health revealed that our members are very
well aware of the issues at stake. I’ve discussed
mental health at length previously and one of the
factors that stands out as a predictor of mental
wellbeing is community.
Feeling part of a community contributes to
mental and physical good health. Isolation and
loneliness lead to precisely the opposite. These
are the facts. We all want to be valued, cared for
and looked after, and that’s when we are at our
happiest and our best. As an industry I believe we
want to be at our best, as much as possible.
It’s said that there are four key elements to a
sense of community. Membership – a feeling of
belonging; influence – a feeling that you are heard
and listened to; reinforcement – the fulfilment of
your needs; shared emotional connection – that
personal closeness and trust, built on positive,
rewarding meetings and shared passions and
beliefs.
You can’t just put people together in a room and
expect community to emerge. Building that sense
of community out of these four elements is part of
our job, and that means taking every opportunity
to facilitate community building on the part of
our members.
The fundamental point is that any meetings
(providing they are positive, enjoyable and
productive) – online or face to face – helps to
strengthen and build our community, while
furthering the business needs of our members.
AEV Conference in July definitely felt like
a community gathering, and even though it’s
an annual event, it is an essential moment for
starting and cementing community bonds and
relationships. After the conference we were
also very clear that we wanted a party - not a
networking drinks evening. We were celebrating
15 years of the AEV, but primarily we wanted
people to have fun together.
But we need other tools to help us build and
strengthen our community because of the
physical distances between our members. The
AEV’s working groups, quite apart from their core
functions, are also important meeting points,
allowing our members to cross paths regularly,
and we’ve also enjoyed real success online with
LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and most recently Slack, in
bringing members together to discuss and debate.
Putting the wellbeing of people first means
making sure they’re part of a trusted community,
one they feel they can fall back on when the
going gets rocky. Logically, if we want to bring in
the best, and keep them at their best within the
industry, then we must look after ourselves and
those around us. And we’re doing it.