Episode 95: Community as a Catalyst for Business Growth

Speaker A: All right, we're live. Jeff, do you want to introduce the questions?

Speaker B: Yeah. So this today's question would. Will be for about 20 minutes from now. Will be if you had to ban one type of founder pitch, buzzword or LinkedIn post from tech Walk Forever, what would it be? So you have some time to think about that. Don't answer it yet.

Speaker A: Eric, kick off. It can be funny. It can be a funny answer too. Okay, here we. Oh, Elena, you're on mute.

Speaker C: I am on mute, not in. Hello. Let's try it again. Hello, everybody. This is episode 95 of Twinning Strategy podcast and the last one for this year. So happy holidays. Um, a very holiday appropriate subject about community and togetherness and movement. Um, and the topic is community as a catalyst for business growth. And with that I would love to introduce Christine Ferrier Roseman and Janet Alicea from Tech Walk. Christine is a founder of Tech Walk. Janet is a New Jersey chapter director and. Welcome, Christine. Welcome. Janet, what is on your mind?

Speaker D: Thank you, Elena, for the very warm welcome and really delighted to be here. Um, what's on my mind when I think about community as a catalyst for business drivers? Something I was thinking about today and what really popped up for me is that I know there's a lot of talk about that right now, but I don't feel like community as a catalyst for business driver is a new concept by any means whatsoever. I feel like, in fact, that's been the basis and the crux for the development of business since time immemorial. And the example that came to mind for me is a commodities exchange. And I'll tell you why, because that was working at a commodities exchange was one of my first jobs. When I graduated from graduate school, I worked as a journalist, and then I transitioned into the corporate world. I was asked to join in a PR role at a commodities exchange. And I was fascinated by it because of my family's background in commodities and in the agricultural community. And I realized that really the agricultural community is a pivotal part of what envelops a, uh, commodities exchange. There are these coffee growers in a particular area and they come together and they try to set a price for what they would like to charge for their product. And then they speak to various stakeholders and like I said, it becomes a market where they buy and trade and sell. And it's really at its crux, a community. So I feel like all of this talk, uh, currently about community as a business driver is really key and important. But I also feel like if we go back and look at the concept of community. It's always been at the heart of driving business.

Speaker E: Yeah, thank you for that, Janet. And, um, thank you all for the invitation to participate in this conversation. Um, one of the things that I've been thinking about, uh, with community is actually the tension that exists between community and business growth.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker E: So, um, just to give a little bit of a background on Tech Walk, we are a networking community for tech and SaaS professionals. Um, it's about two years old. Um, I started this community when my own network was sort of in shambles, and I wanted to figure out a way to bring consistency and meaning to, you know, the relationships that I had outside of the place where I actually worked. Um, and so when I was thinking about this community, I didn't want to charge for the walks. Number one, I felt like, number one, who's going to pay for a walk? Walking is inherently free. And then number two, if someone asks for a refund because either they don't come to the walk or it was bad weather or whatever, they didn't have a good conversation, I was like, I'm. I'm just going to go nuts if someone asks for a $5 refund for a walk. Right. So, um, Tech Walk is still free for people to sign up and participate. Um, we do offer the opportunity for companies that are aligned with our mission and our vision to sponsor our walks. Um, and as we continue to grow and our footprint expands, I think, you know, there's probably some brands out there that would love to get in front of 12,000 tech professionals and, you know, be able to attend one of our walks in one of our ten plus cities, um, and to meet their potential customers. But there's still this tension for me, uh, how much will Tek Walk change when we start to commercialize it more? And how can I actually protect what we've built up to this point, which is the very meaningful relationships that have developed when people walk together week after week after week. I see some, um, Tech Walk people more than I see, you know, my close friends that I've known forever. Um, and the reason being is that we have a set time in New York City every Friday at 9am and I know I'm going to see Ben or I know I'm going to see Libby or Alex or one of those folks. Um, and then the people who actually run Tech Walk, we're all in a WhatsApp group together. We're bouncing ideas off of each other. Um, we're sharing job recommendations. We had a conversation in our WhatsApp group today just to understand what's all the AI tech that people are using for different things. Um, I just feel like after having been in business and in marketing for so long, when we get to the point where it's like, all right, Janet, you know, report on your sponsorship numbers and your month over month growth, and it's going to change the dynamic. Um, so, you know, there's just, in some ways I wish there, there could be this purity of community is community and business is business. Um, but there's definitely meaningful opportunities for overlap. But I feel like acknowledging that tension and that conflict is the first part of the conversation I'd like to stop.

Speaker C: Brandon and why are we echoing?

Speaker E: And Jeff, you're on mute. We've got an echo. All sorts of things.

Speaker D: All kinds of like, weird text.

Speaker C: Make sure that everybody has YouTube turned off so we don't went for a walk. Exactly. So, Christine, you were talking about growth and to some degree, purity. Right. What do you think are the attributes that drive this growth? Why do you think people come to Tech Walk and go open it in their city? And why do you think it's 10, over 10,000 people in two years that are active members? What is it?

Speaker E: So, yeah, I mean, I think a lot of times, and Janet can speak to some of the magic that she's seen in the Jersey City chapter because we're almost like franchises now in a sense that each chapter has its own personality and quirks and characteristics. Um, but people will say to me, it's like, oh, my God, how did you come up with this amazing idea? Number one, I cannot take credit for walking. Right? So that was already out there. I think it's just the people are, um, maybe impressed by the intersection of two things that don't normally go together. Right. So I think we had in our mind that networking can only happen in a bar. It can only be fueled by alcohol, it can only happen at a conference. Um, but my husband and I had walked a lot during the pandemic, and it was a great way for us to get out of our Harlem apartment, um, and kind of like release the pressure valve between whatever happened to be going on in our lives at the time. You come back from that walk, you feel better, you're refreshed, you've gotten oxygen to your brain, you've been walking side by side with this person. And whatever tension started at the beginning of that, you know, that walk was gone by the end. Um, and so we've got a lot of almost like cheat codes working on our behalf Movement. There's a bunch of, you know, science and neuroscience behind what happens when you move and you walk and, you know, how anxiety can come out of your body and how you're able to bond with people in these sorts of situations. We've got fresh air, we've got grass, we've got, you know, the cute space squirrels in Central Park. Um, and I think there's also just this idea of when I walk side by side with someone and I have a conversation, there's less of this tension than if I was just sitting across from them. And so, you know, as I've moved through some of the tech Walk conversations, and I get to overhear some things, people are solving coding problems in real time. They're talking about, you know, similarities, perhaps in their job search. The other thing is you don't know who you're going to meet on a tech walk. Right. We don't do any of that actual pairing in advance. So the conversations can be driven by whatever you learn about that person. Maybe you're both wearing coats from the same Antarctica cruise that you went on, which actually happened, or you find out that someone is in hr or they're an engineer, and you finally feel, like, I'm walking with this person. There's been a question on my mind. They don't know me. I don't really know them. I feel safe to ask. Um, and so a lot of dialogue starts that way. I think the other thing is that we've had some people very early on who joined Tech Walk, really loved it, and. And have become very regular participants. And those sorts of friendships color the energy of the walks. So anyone else who joins in isn't walking into a room where everyone's staring on their phone. Right? You walk into a situation, literally and figuratively, where it's warm, it's inviting. We make it a point that no one is alone on these walks. And so I think that energy has spread from city to city. We've spent no money on advertising. It's very much word of mouth. And so the people that participate and enjoy it have been our biggest ambassadors. Um, and then we started to put other flywheels into effect, like, um, we have a newsletter that we send out that brings people together. We have very regular programming so people know they can sign up for it. Um, and so I think that, um, has fueled a lot of our growth.

Speaker A: I'm curious to see whether I would

Speaker D: add a little bit more to that, if you don't mind. Um, just in Jersey City, just to echo what Christine said. I do see a lot of people just sort of wanting to come out of the woodwork. After Covid. We get a lot of people that spend too much time behind the screen. That's what they say. And they want an opportunity to, to meet other people. But some of the more traditional ways of networking, being at a bar, being at a trade show, or other types of meetups, may not feel comfortable to them because a lot of people feel like they spend so much time by themselves that they had to kind of learn how to be sort of social again. So getting out, um, behind. From behind that screen. I think there's also one of the topics that we covered on a, uh, Jersey City tech walk was the loneliness Tech Walk. There's a lot of people that feel just very isolated and they feel a little bit of shame around that. And I think that tech walk provides a great opportunity for people to be able to kind of start to expand their networking and get to meet people in a way that isn't very challenging, in a way that is just very low key. Get outside, go for a walk, see who you talk to, see what comes up. Sometimes we provide icebreakers. The theme is usually an icebreaker, like loneliness Tech Walk, or in January, we're going to do here in Jersey City, productivity tech to kick off the new year. But the conversation goes in lots of different directions. But there's just this overall sense of wanting to connect more with people, but not always knowing how to say it. And tech work provides a channel for that.

Speaker B: I think it's really interesting that you've sort of solved a problem that I find at, uh, networking events, which is that it's often just really loud, um, you know, and it's hard to carry on a conversation that you've never, with somebody you don't really know, you've never met before, you barely know, whatever, when there's just a lot of like, sort of ambient noise and whatever. And so it's been interesting to me, like, recently I've been on a couple of, you know, sort of virtual networking events. And the breakout rooms are always, you know, a fun way of, you know, solving that problem because, you know, it's just you and one or two other people and you get a chance to meet each other, whatever. But it's interesting that you have found a way to do that sort of outside of the, you know, technology where you like, actually a human being and you can actually hear each other. So I like that. I think that's really interesting.

Speaker A: Um, solution?

Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, I think I've solved for a lot of my own quirks with tech walk. Number one, I'm introverted.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker E: Number two, I can be very awkward. So having to, like, summon the courage to walk into a bar, in a room, especially in tech, where a lot of people might not look like me, right? And then to just walk up to them and to start a conversation could feel very intimidating. And so our, uh, walks are gamified. Um, there's the opportunity. You're not going to, God forbid it should happen. You're not going to get stuck in a bad conversation very long. Because we're switching walking partners. We've created now, like, as communities grow up, community guidelines and codes of conduct to make sure that everyone feels safe. Um, and so I've solved for a lot of the pain points that I had. Um, and the other thing is that, and I wrestle with this a lot because you mentioned zoom. We actually don't have a place place. We don't have a digital offering. Right. Your only way to get involved in a tech walk is to actually come to a walk. You can read the newsletter, you can see our, our posts on LinkedIn. But I also feel like on, um, these walks, people are on pretty good behavior, right? There's none of this, I'm separated. I've got this digital wall where I can say anything I want or behave any way that I want. Um, I think, you know, some, some rules of civility, um, and good behavior come into play. And that has helped us a lot as well.

Speaker A: Are you seeing, um, that business relationships and job, you know, people are getting jobs? Are people, like, actually using this networking for those kinds of activities, or is it more like to connect with, with other people? I mean, anecdotally, are people actually driving business and hiring, or is it more of a connection?

Speaker E: Janet, do you have any stories you want to share from Jersey City?

Speaker D: Absolutely. So in the Jersey City community, I've been able to facilitate interviews for a number of people that I know have been in the job market. And they said something to me. And then I went on LinkedIn and I saw that a contact that I might have made at another, in another group was hiring for a similar role. And I said, hey, do you mind if I introduce you to this person? That could be a potentially good fit. And a couple of few times people have been open to it. So we certainly have had some success stories around job interviews for people and getting into second and third rounds. I've also heard, um, stories in Manhattan. There was one gentleman that has a travel startup and he Just he's, he's the founder of it. He attended a few times. In fact, Elena, you and I met him one time and then I learned that at a later Tech Walk he actually hired his first two employees. That's probably what you were going to mention, right, Christine? But there are all kinds of success stories like this going on in terms of collaboration, in terms of the job market. And that's one factor that was, ah, I think is also really key in the success of Tech Walk right now is that the job market has been going through some volatility, especially in the tech space over the course of the last two years. And people are looking for a way to get out and be able to share their stories around that with other like minded folks. And tech work has provided a channel for that.

Speaker E: Yeah, definitely. I mean we've seen an entire range of um, and I can talk a little bit about our audience, but folks meeting with investors, co founders, finding each other, people getting internships, getting hired. Um, there's a woman that I met on Tech Walk, she attends Jersey City, um, and New York City pretty frequently. She taught me how to vibe code yesterday and I've launched my first website. So you know, how long would it have taken me to finally like get the time and you know, put it on my calendar and actually figure it out? And we just realized, and I think that what I have found in terms of the value of relationships is the ease and the removal of friction that knowing the right person can bring to your life or your business. Right. You could send 100 LinkedIn connections, right, to try to get one conversation going. Or if you're part of these communities where the ethos is give first. Right, Build for the long term. It's not transactional. I can send and this is not a testament to me. Right. I think that this is available to anyone. If Elena said to me I need to meet a person doing X, I can now say, elena, I am going to send four text messages or four LinkedIn messages on your behalf. Whether or not the person responds, that's on them. Um, because people are busy, so forth and so on. But it's much easier than you having to try to start those conversations cold. Right? The person not knowing your motivation, they've got a lot of competing asks right. In their world. But if, especially if I can say Elena is a member of the Tech Walk community or I know Janet has access to, to such and such, she can help you with that conversation. The speed at which business can get done and these conversations can be facilitated is so much faster.

Speaker B: What, um, is your vision of where this is all going?

Speaker E: Oh, Jeff, the hard questions, what's it called? The gotcha journalism?

Speaker B: No, I mean, I was curious. Where do you do sort of a vision? Or is it just, I want to see how it evolves or how are you thinking about it?

Speaker E: You know, um, it's a question that I've wrestled with for quite some time. So the easy answer right off the bat was that we could bring in sponsors for our events for any number of things, right? And those sponsors would pay essentially for the value of renting our community. Because building community from scratch takes a lot of time, takes a lot of effort, and it takes a lot of resources. Right. Mostly it takes time. And so we have what I would now consider ready made audiences. And because our community is very general, um, it is diffuse in that manner. But there are pockets. There are pockets of investors, there are pockets of product managers, there are pockets of go to market experts like Janet and others within the org. So, so you might not get access to 12,000 of the exact person that you're trying to meet, but maybe we can get you 500. Right? Or a thousand. Um, and so sponsorships is the easy answer, but I think sponsorships first came to me as like the main idea, just based on my background in marketing. What I have been continually impressed by now is actually the generosity and the engagement of the Tech Walk community. And when you've got that generosity and engagement, that opens up an entire world of new possibilities because people want to support each other not only with their money, but with their time, their education, their background, their resources. And so now I'm thinking bigger picture. You know, could we be a venture studio that supports founders in our community with building their initiatives? Could we be a venture capital company? A venture capital firm where we're funding members in the community to build their thing? Um, so I think there's a lot more opportunity now. Could we be a data provider? Because we've got 12,000 people who are filling out polls in our newsletter each week. So a great way to do market research and get the pulse of what people are thinking. Um, I think 2026 is going to be a year for us of continued growth in terms of new chapters which continually, you know, feeds the, uh, this community machine. And then from there I'll be working with folks like Janet and others in the community to help us find, figure out what's next and how they would like to continue to be involved. I mean, our chapter director in Silicon Valley, Rupa ah, led over 40 walks last year. Right. And so I think there's this idea, at least for me. How do we keep it fresh? How do we keep it interesting? There are some people who just want to walk every week, and that's great. But for people who do want to do more and contribute more, um, what opportunities can we provide for them?

Speaker B: Well, before we run out of time, I want to, I want to bring up that question that I brought up at the very beginning from ChatGPT, which was, if you had to ban one type of founder pitch, buzzword or LinkedIn post from tech Walk Forever, what would it be?

Speaker D: I have one.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker D: And this is going to be controversial, but I'm just going to go for it. I'm going to ban roi. Can somebody come up with another way to say roi? Uh, I just feel like every pitch is, revolves around that, as it should in a way. But there's got to be another way to position something that isn't just around the straight up numbers.

Speaker A: Yeah, well, or think of ROI in a broader sense. Right. It doesn't have to just be about the numbers. ROI can also be how much you're giving back to the community, how much you enhancing people's lives. Right. It doesn't have to just be shareholder return on investment, which is, I think, something that we've ended up kind of getting too focused on in this world.

Speaker D: I like that a lot, Eric. Uh, just expanding the definition of it so it's not just a numbers game. That's great.

Speaker A: And we can use a different term because I agree that's a little annoying. Roi, right?

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker E: I mean, what I can share is along those lines, but not necessarily anything that I would ban at this point. Look, our community is not for everyone. I've had people join the Walk, um, who thought that I was an investor and they were going to come and pitch and I was going to, you know, fund their startup right away. This gentleman made sure that he raced, you know, to talk to me. Um, he was my first walking partner. He launched right into his pitch, you know, asked me what I thought and then was disappointed and left the walk. Right. Like mid walk, just left. It was basically like, this is a waste of my time. Um, and I mean, I get that. And I think that this is why people don't like networking and why networking can have such a bad reputation is that there's this expectation that you participate and you're gonna ask and you're gonna extract right away. Right. Versus thinking, I'm gonna show up, I'm making An investment. Um, I'm leading with curiosity and generosity and I'll see what happens from there. Um, so, you know, it's not all sunshine and puppies and babies at Tech Walk. Sometimes it is. But there's also folks where, you know, they're looking for more of a surefire or roi, guaranteed use of their time. Um, and you know, I wish them the best of luck in finding that, but that's not what we are looking for.

Speaker A: They're looking for a shortcut. Right? You're going on the walk.

Speaker C: They're looking for a shortcut. They're looking for a transaction.

Speaker E: Mhm.

Speaker C: And I think, and I've attended a number of teams tech walks in the city and also in Jersey City where I'm a happy resident and participant. Um, this is truly a community and the relationship and it is an investment that might pay out tomorrow, but might pay out 10 years from now because you are investing in your professional, um, network and sphere of um, relationships.

Speaker E: And I mean I see this, even my participation in this conversation today is a win. Right? This is the kind of beauty that can happen when um, I mean I don't think this is a paid engagement. You guys let me know if there's any.

Speaker B: No,

Speaker E: but it's just I'm, I'm, I'm happy to participate. I'm happy for the opportunity. I fully expect that someone will watch this, they'll get curious, they'll reach out to me, they'll want to connect, they'll want to go on a walk, they'll connect with Janet and you know, step by step, ripple by ripple. You see the um, the benefits of these like micro um, investments that we're making. And you know, Elena could reach out to me and say I want to show you my app or can you read something or can I connect with you with someone? And that answer is going to be yes. Right. And it's just more difficult and I think other transactional, transactional relationships.

Speaker B: Um, one of our viewers has posted in the comments, um, and sort of jumping back to the comment about shortcuts, that shortcut doesn't exist is what they said. Right. And I think that's.

Speaker E: Can I tell you, all right now I'm looking at some of these comments. These folks are involved with Tech Walk. Right. So we've got a built in audience, built in viewership. Uh, so thank you Ben and Crystal.

Speaker A: I think it's interesting that you brought up the sort of parallels, um, between our, our podcast and your walk because uh, you know, similar what you're Saying it's like this is all about the relationship. We talk to our guests for years after we had them on, um, on the podcast and it's really about, as you said, like Elena, the, the long term investment. So I hadn't really made the connection that we're like, you know, fellow travelers in that sense of like building, building connections. But I, I think it's really um, valuable. The other thought I had was I should just go to these tech walks because I need to walk. This will be something to do while I'm walking and then maybe it turns into a good.

Speaker D: That's absolutely right. You get your steps in right before 9, 8, right. By 10am you are done, you've done your steps, you've done your networking, you're good to go on to your day.

Speaker E: What I will say though is that someone says, someone said to me, they were like, oh, you must not have to go to the gym because of all these tech walks. And I was like, that is absolutely not the case. We have like plateaued at this point. I could walk forever and I would still have to, you know, go to the gym and do something else. But I do think that um, what I have found is that the people who participate in Tech Walk more regularly do seem to be just, you know, good people and we try to stay away from like minded. Um, I personally don't use that phrase anymore because my networks already had put me in, you know, orbit of like minded individuals. Right. What I needed were different perspectives, diverse perspectives. People who have access to information networks, you know, uh, experience talent that I don't have. So I think the common denominator, if there's anything like minded about us, is more people that are, uh, you know, willing to take a chance on a new networking activity. Right. Like walking, don't mind having a conversation potentially with a stranger. Um, in that way we're similar and that might speak to, you know, other characteristics of just open mindedness, etc. But we, if you're coming to a tech walk and thinking that it's going to be, you know, your usual tech suspect suspects, that's normally what you will actually not find at a tech walk.

Speaker D: Yes, and that's, I would agree. And also follow up with the word that we haven't used here to describe a tech walk is that we are truly inclusive and by that we mean we just. Everyone is welcome in terms of skill sets and you just have no idea who you might end up talking to and what you might learn about developing software code like vibe coding for Example, I mean, what you said, Christine and I know, um, the woman that helped you with that, helped me with that. It's just an opportunity to really not only expand people that you know, but your knowledge base.

Speaker E: Yeah. And Kimberly Langley, she's in, I see her in the comments also. So if you need help with your vibe coding, reach out to her. Um, but I would say, you know, what's, what's also been interesting is I think people, um, now when they come to the walks and they feel like, oh, you know, I'm going to talk to Christine or I'm going to talk to one of the other chapter directors and I'm going to get something right, I'm going to um, benefit from the conversation with them. I actually benefit so much from the people that I chat with and the people that I'm able to learn from. Um, because I just, I think when you're, when you're close minded and you just only talk to a certain sort of person, only get your information from one place, it's so limited, it's so limiting in your ability to figure out next steps, you know, try new things. You're just gonna kind of always do what you've always done. And so, um, I appreciate our community for the diversity of tenure, you know, area of tech perspective, socioeconomic, neuro spectrums, you name it. Um, because I find myself learning so much on every single walk. Awesome.

Speaker A: M. Well, this is so exciting what you guys are doing. I'm really impressed with how far you've come in such a short time. Unfortunately, we are well over our 30 minute. It's all good. This is all good. You know, I think we had our longest episode last week was a little over 40 minutes. So you guys might actually end up beating that, um, beating that out. But before we go, what we like to do, let's go around and have each person say one thing, um, that they want to leave our audience with. And we always make our guests start first. And Janet, since you started off, I'm going to make Christine go first. So what's one thing you would like us would uh, like to leave our audience with?

Speaker E: So I think right now community led growth is huge because people want to be back in person. Um, and so I think, you know, if you are trying to build a community for a business outcome, just be really clear on the benefits that you're going to be able to provide to those community members and also be really clear on the value that you expect to extract or drive. Um, and I think as long as that is an agreement that's made in person, I mean, in advance then, and everyone knows what they're signing up for and expectations have sort of been set. There's nothing wrong with that. I think a lot of people try to do like a little bit of a bait and switch when it comes to community. Um, and I would say that's going to be the fastest way to build the leakiest community bucket funnel, right, where people, you're going to get people in, you're going to pay to bring them in and they're going to go, they're going to exit right out. So I think just being really clear on, um, benefits and the reciprocity that, um, you're hoping to achieve is something that just requires a little bit of forethought. Um, and I'm happy to chat with people about what I've learned, not only with Tech Walk, but in my professional roles as well.

Speaker A: Awesome. Janet, would you like to jump in with your one thing?

Speaker D: Yeah. I think that community really is at the heart of driving business and new business. I'm in a new role where I am helping an organization expand its tentacles here in the US from the UK in a B2B perspective. And that is the one thing that I do keep coming back to, is the importance of community and helping them to achieve their business goals. But it is a long game and it does have to be done thoughtfully. And just to echo what Christine said, if you do it thoughtfully and clearly articulate the values and what you bring to the table, I think that there's a big win for organizations in that space.

Speaker A: Absolutely.

Speaker E: And one other thing I would add to that is, like, be sure you're defining community, right? So community versus earned audience versus email subscribers versus, you know, however else people in your Slack channel, like, get really clear on what community means to you and then what success would look like. Because I think people throw the term around pretty loosely these days. It can mean lots of different things to lots of different people. So get your own sort of definition really clear in the beginning as well.

Speaker B: So before I jump in with my one thing, uh, Christine and Janet, what, uh, is the best place for people to reach out to each of you, both of you, to find out about Tech Walks? What's the best, what's the best way to do that?

Speaker D: I would say that for me, it would be my LinkedIn channel. And I really stay on top of that. That's the best place to find out about what's coming up from a Tech Walk perspective. And I respond to all messages sent that way

Speaker E: I'm drowning in my Tech Walk, I mean in my LinkedIn DMS right now. I need some help there if anyone has a solution. Um, but the best way I think just to get, um, to learn about Tech Walk is our Luma calendar. Um, so it's just lu.ma, or you can just search for that. You'll be able to find us. You can sign up for our newsletter, um, on Techwalk co. Um, and then my LinkedIn is Christine Ferrier Roseman. It's just all spelt out. Um, and I would say at this point it actually might be easier to leave a comment on something that I've done versus sending me a message, um, just to kind of get through my inbox right now, which I'm going to try to get through it during the holidays, but it's a mess right now.

Speaker B: Well, thank you. Um, and I guess for me I'm going to pick up on actually that comment that uh, that Ben put in the chat, which was the shortcut doesn't exist. And it's interesting because I, Eric, uh, and Elena know I've been doing a lot of work recently with job seekers. And you know, the, the stats are basically say the only way to find a job right now is through networking. And so you have all these people who don't know how to network, who know they have to network and they're suddenly thrust into this situation where they have to network when they need something. And which is the, as we all know is the worst time to start networking is when you need something because you can, you come, you come to the conversation looking to gain something. And so a lot, you know, it's interesting to your point about the shortcut, a lot of what I tell people is, yeah, you know, you really needed to start doing the networking like two years ago, but you didn't. And so you actually have to take a big step back and network to build your network before you can network to ask for a job.

Speaker E: Um, and I've got some shortcuts and I'm happy to share those for people who need to accept accelerate that path. It's not a shortcut, but it. I can help with acceleration, Absolutely.

Speaker B: I think there are definitely ways to. I agree there are ways to make that happen faster, but you have to come at it that you can't skip the part where you like, develop the relationship because people, you know, are like, I m. Don't know, I got a million people. Um, anyway, that's my take.

Speaker A: I'll pass it over to Elena.

Speaker C: Yeah, I'm actually going to continue on this long game subject, um, in tech. And we, many of us know it's often oh, run, um, exit fast, you know, cut, cut, cut. I think we're at the stage when it's going to be increasingly more difficult and the long game plays both in terms of do you need a new hire, do you need a fractional, do you need a partner, do you need an investor? And it's your community and the people around you, um, and you know who you're gonna tap for this. And it's essential to put these relationships around ourselves, around our businesses and keep them active and keep them engaged. So Eric, over to you.

Speaker A: Yeah, so I want to, I, I just, I love them. I actually have two things I want to say sometimes because I get to go last, I, I, I throw in a second one. But this concept of community that you all are talking about, the, the notion of um, you know, starting from generosity, bringing authentic on authenticity, building that trust, these are all messages that uh, that we're always talking about. And it sounds like you have found a really interesting way of kind of getting those, that, that community started and, and that's just really um, you know, commendable and, and it's great to watch uh, to hear about and we're going to be watching um, closely to see how things um, develop. My second thing is I'm, I think it's really interesting this corporate sponsor direction that you're, you're going, how do you bring that in? How do you maintain that authenticity while you're bringing that in? But I think, think there's a lot of really interesting ways that companies might be willing to tap into uh, the community. But to your point, I think it's really important that they understand that they're partners with you, not you know, just selling people stuff to sell, you know, you have to get the right sponsors and I think that's an interesting challenge, that, an exciting challenge for you all for, for 2026.

Speaker E: So I will say the sponsors that we've had um, so far, and I think some of these early takers were already um, of the mind that this is something that would be interesting to them. I will also say that Tech Walk community members have been easily influenced by coffee, pastries and um, not ice cream. What's the other one? Gelato be. You'd be really impressed to see how many demos and conversations people will sit through uh, when Gelato is involved. So we'll, especially in the summer, so we'll, we'll leave that as a free bit of, um, B2B marketing advice.

Speaker A: It could be like a. It could be one of your. Your walk themes. The influence of gelato on business success.

Speaker D: Gelato Tech.

Speaker A: Um, I want to thank you both for, um, for joining us. Fantastic. What you guys are doing. Great episode. Thank you for joining us. And, uh, we look forward to hearing, um, from you all about all of your successes and continued success with Tech Walk. Thank you so much.

Speaker E: Thank you. Um,