Dear Bri: Community Strategy, Fiascos, and Drama

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Toxic Member in Toronto . Our letter today deals with a toxic community member stirring up trouble to revolt against the community manager. To better help Toxic Member in Toronto , I invited Andrea Middleton **as my guest expert. She is a seasoned veteran of the community space who loves finding paths to productive and powerful collaborations wi...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Constrained in Columbus. Our letter deals with creating a vibrant and engaged community under the pressure of big business goals. To better help Constrained in Columbus, I invited Jelani Memory as my guest expert. He’s not our typical guest because he doesn't consider himself a community creator or community manager. But as you will find in...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, the inspiration stems from a late-night LinkedIn DM from a distressed community manager handling a tumultuous Discord community. They felt overwhelmed and discouraged by all the suggestions and criticism constantly coming from community members. To better help Discordant on Discord, I invited Ami Defesche as my guest expert. She's currently the community dire...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Community in a Conundrum. Our letter today deals with the question of where to host a new online community. Specifically, as it relates to Facebook, Slack, and all-in-one community platforms like Heartbeat. To better help Community in a Conundrum, no one better to talk about whether or not to host your community on Slack than the Slack-slayer, h...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Dear Bri Podcast, an advice column for community conundrums, fiascos, and drama. In this episode, we’re hearing from Frazzled Fairy-Marketing-Godmother. Our letter today comes from someone who clearly has a big heart for their online community, but is also really struggling to draw boundaries and recover from a very common mistake in community management (listen to...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re hearing from Crumbling in Kansas, a dedicated community manager navigating a seismic shift: their EdTech company is transitioning from a beloved cohort-based program to a full-blown membership model. The move promises recurring revenue—but at what cost to community engagement? To better help Crumbling in Kansas, I invited Marie Schacht — CEO of Akimbo— as my...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome Dear Bri, an advice column for community conundrums, fiascos, and drama. In this episode, we’re hearing from Anxious in Atlanta. Their dilemma? They launched a free, private online community as a test—engagement was strong, but now they’re left wondering: Did they use up their one shot at launching a paid community? To help Anxious navigate this transition, I brought on Ev...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Dear Bri, an advice column for community strategy, fiascos, and drama. On this podcast, I collect anonymous letters from real-life community creators and bring on an expert from the community space to help you feel a little less alone and a lot less crazy. Should I build my community on Slack? Is membership the way to go? How do I create a test? I feel so bitter and bur...