co+Lab has a familiar and friendly face rejoining, and taking on a vital role. Kodie Beckley, who you may know as a fixture in the Kelowna professional design scene, and an up-and-coming graphic designer, is joining the co+Lab team as Tummler, and we couldn’t be happier.
When asked what he sees as the purpose of the role, he said “A Tummler makes things happen, deeply considering the happiness and enjoyment of a group. They organize, promote, facilitate, and participate with the goal of encouraging community engagement and solidarity. They create connections between community members and communities themselves. They are known as community leaders and a sort of living “info booth” resource for community members.”
Simply put, Kodie will encourage engagement and connection through collaboration and many other community-building activities.
He’s also diving into head-on into entrepreneurism building his freelance design client list, growing his apparel store side-project Feed Me Kittens, all while handling outreach and member relations at OGO Carshare Co-op.
Connect with Kodie on LinkedIn, or send him an email at [email protected].
Still, the lingering question — what is a Tummler?
Alex Hillman wrote this brilliant post on the difference between a “Community Manager” mindset and a Tummler mindset.
Community Managers do things for the community, while Tummlers create an environment to connect people to each other:
While a Tummler has the same objective — to encourage people participating in the dance floor — Tummlers take a very particular approach to “warm” the crowd.
They cruise the party. They listen, and they observe. They ask questions, and they earn trust.
They meet people at the edges of the crowd, connect with them, and then slowly help those people discover their own way into the mix.
Like a human KitchenAid fitted with a special invisible paddle designed for coaxing empathy out of almost anyone, a Tummler stirs, blends, and incorporates the people they encounter with each other.
And a Tummler actively seek to stay out of the spotlight for more than a few minutes at a time, or however long is actually necessary.
Alex makes the point that Tummlers nurture a network — where community members create value by interacting with each other:
Read more from Alex’s post here.
Questions or comments? Leave them below.
