Role: Founder & Community Manager

Duration: 1 year

Tools: WhatsApp · Canva  · CapCut  · Instagram · Heartbeat  · Google Forms    

Cool Kids Club: Building and Scaling an Austin Networking Community

Community Overview

Target Audience: Ages 25-45

Purpose: Cool Kids Club was created as a networking platform for Austin residents (both newcomers and long-time locals) to make friends and attend events together. The community served as a bridge between professional networking and personal connection, making it easier for members to maintain relationships and support each other professionally.

Community Vision and Goals

The club aimed to differentiate itself from existing Austin networking events by adding fun and personal elements that were missing from traditional professional gatherings. Key objectives included:

• Helping people connect on both professional and personal levels

• Making networking more approachable and sustainable

• Encouraging members to share and attend online and offline events together rather than searching for events individually

• Creating a sense of ease at new events, especially for newcomers

• Building an intimate community (target: under 100 members) where members could form meaningful relationships

Event Programming

Member-Shared Events

Members were encouraged to share various Austin events with the group, including:

• Local networking events for job seekers

• Events for company founders

• SXSW events and group attendance opportunities

• Various online and offline activities discovered by members

Community-Themed Events

The club hosted its own signature events, including:

• Friendsgiving

• Naughty Christmas Party

• Summer Spins at the park with DJs

• Valentine's Day celebrations

Regular Monthly Meetups

Initial Schedule: Third Thursday of every month at 7 PM

The third Thursday was strategically selected after analyzing other networking events in Austin, which predominantly occurred on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, to minimize scheduling conflicts.

Schedule Challenge and Adaptation

When attendance began dropping due to scheduling inconvenience:

• Problem: Thursday fell mid-week, causing many people to arrive late or miss portions of the meeting due to afternoon traffic

• Solution: Conducted a poll asking if Friday night would be better

• Testing: Ran a test event on Friday

• Result: Better attendance on Friday evenings

Platform Evolution and Challenges

Phase 1: WhatsApp Foundation

Initial Setup

The community originally operated through WhatsApp, where:

• New members were manually added by me, the administrator, and existing group members

• The platform provided basic communication functionality

WhatsApp Limitations

Several critical challenges emerged:

1. Onboarding Issues

   • Manual addition process lacked proper structure

   • I didn't know new members personally and couldn't introduce them to the group

   • Many members had invisible or incomplete names in their WhatsApp profiles

   • No transparency in the onboarding process

2. Visibility and Context Problems

   • New members couldn't see discussion context, limiting participation

   • Real names and photos weren't always visible to other group members

   • Lack of visibility discouraged new members from attending monthly socials

3. Event Organization Challenges

   • Event information shared in group chat became crowded and disorganized

   • Difficult to track and follow shared events

   • No centralized, organized calendar

Phase 2: Google Form Onboarding (WhatsApp Improvement)

Implementation

To address onboarding challenges, I implemented a Google Form system:

• As an admin, I took responsibility for approving new members through the form

• Group members could still invite others by sharing the form link

• Form included community guidelines that new members had to agree to before joining

• I had to manually add each new member to her contact book

Improvements

• Better onboarding structure

• Proper introduction to community values

• More controlled member approval process

New Challenges

• Many potential members found the form-filling process tedious, even with few questions

• The extra step prevented some people from joining

• Manual contact book management remained time-consuming

• Process hindered scalability

Event Calendar Attempt

I encouraged members to add calendar events directly in the WhatsApp group to improve organization:

• Events would become visible and organized for the entire community

• Challenge: Required constant monitoring and enforcement

• I often had to create calendar events herself when members shared events without formatting them properly

• Other members would encourage each other to follow the rules, but consistency remained difficult

Phase 3: Migration to Heartbeat Platform

Strategic Decision

Based on challenges with transparency, proper onboarding, and engagement, I decided to migrate to Heartbeat, a full-scale community platform, with comprehensive features.

Enhanced Onboarding Process

The new platform provided customized, automated onboarding:

1. Registration Requirements

   • New members introduced themselves during sign-up

   • Real photos and names required upon registration

   • Optional question: "What's your favorite place/thing to do in Austin?"

   • Introductions automatically posted in the Introduction group

2. Community Guidelines

   • Members required to read and accept guidelines during onboarding

   • Ensured everyone understood community values from day one

3. Automated Welcome Messages

   • Personal welcoming messages sent automatically

   • Included links and instructions on how to use the community

   • Saved significant admin time

   • Enabled community scaling

Platform Feedback System

Recognizing that Heartbeat had its own bugs, I created a separate chat for platform feedback where:

• Community members could share their experiences and issues

• I could address concerns with platform developers

• Continuous improvement was fostered

Migration Challenges and Adoption

Resistance to Change

• Approximately 20% of members never migrated to the new platform

• Many old members resisted the change and preferred WhatsApp

• This was recognized as a normal reaction to platform migration

Early Adopters and Advocates

• The majority of members welcomed the change and saw advantages

• About 4% became very enthusiastic and active on the new platform

• These early adopters became advocates, helping others transition

• Active advocates were awarded "super user" badges

Gamification Features

The platform introduced gamification elements that WhatsApp lacked:

• Incentivized members to participate more actively

• Encouraged members to become club advocates

• "Super user" badges recognized top contributors

Improved Event Management

Heartbeat made event organization significantly easier:

• Simple event creation within the platform

• Automated email notifications and invites to members

• Event reminders sent automatically

• Option to make events public, allowing members to share with friends

• Public events encouraged non-members to join the club

Change Management 

The Cool Kids Club project involved several key change management strategies:

1. Platform Migration: Successfully transitioned community from WhatsApp to Heartbeat

2. Process Evolution: Continuously improved onboarding and engagement processes

3. Community Building: Built the community from scratch, starting with an idea of uniting people

4. Communication Platform Development: Evolved from basic WhatsApp communication to a sophisticated third-party platform

Platform Selection Insights

WhatsApp

• Best suited for existing communities focused primarily on communication

• Limited scalability and engagement features

• Works well for small, established groups

Third-Party Platforms (Heartbeat, Circle, Mighty Networks, etc.)

• Essential for scaling ambitions

• Provide comprehensive engagement tools

Selection should depend on:

• • Community type

  • Community goals

  • Available budget

Results and Impact

Automation Benefits

• Streamlined onboarding saved significant admin time

• Enabled community scaling while maintaining quality

• Automated communications improved member experience

• Consistent onboarding ensured all members understood community values

Engagement Improvements

• Better visibility of members through required photos and real names

• Improved context for new members through organized discussion threads

• Easier event sharing and tracking

• Increased participation from new members at monthly socials

Community Growth

• Successfully scaled beyond original WhatsApp limitations

• Maintained intimacy despite growth through thoughtful platform features

• Created a sustainable model for continued expansion

• Developed active advocates who helped onboard and support new members

Consclusion

This project demonstrated that building a community from scratch requires:

• Adaptability: Willingness to change platforms and processes based on community needs

• Member-Centric Thinking: Continuously evaluating what works best for member experience

• Strategic Planning: Analyzing existing market (other networking events) to find optimal timing and positioning

• Balancing Intimacy and Scale: Using technology to grow while maintaining meaningful connections

• Change Management: Accepting that not all members will embrace change while focusing on those who do

• Automation with Personalization: Using tools to scale while maintaining the personal touch that makes the community special

CKC WhatsApp Onboarding

Cool Kids Club Code of Conduct