At the start of the year, I ran a short Community Check-In survey to better understand how people are engaging with GOSH, what the status of community engagement is, and how we might adapt moving into the next decade. In this piece, I am excited to share what we learned, and hopefully start the process of thinking with you about how GOSH might respond.
The survey asked questions about community engagement and the length of time people had been involved in the GOSH community. While responses were limited, some strong trends shone through, suggesting clear take-aways. First, GOSH continues to be a community that people feel connected to, that they find relevant, and that they repeatedly choose to be a part of.
Engagement is and has been strong, particularly along those pathways that have a low barrier to entry. Respondents did report some trouble knowing how to find their way around the community and how to get more involved – particularly those who are new. However, those who have been around a little while reported high levels of interest in and capacity for building out the supports that might be helpful to newcomers, to fundraising, and to extended opportunities for collaborative work.
As we move into GOSH’s next decade, this is where I’ll be focusing my efforts as Community Coordinator. This role has evolved alongside the community, and is now oriented toward supporting and scaffolding engagement rather than driving it directly. In practice, this means facilitating clearer onboarding pathways, scaffolding lightweight structures for collaboration and exchange, and working with community members to extend and build on existing resources.
I am thinking now about how these might be deployed and sustained – possibly in the form of small, time-bound “pods” or similar pilots. I am looking forward to engaging those who want to be part of the process in some planning sessions later this spring, and to get the thinking started, I wanted to direct your attention to this Forum post, which shares links to both the survey data and my initial analysis of it.
I am looking forward to working with you on this and to thinking through how community engagement in GOSH might be more community-driven. Keep an eye on the Forum for next steps and, as always, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you would like to be involved!
Kind regards,
Jamaica Jones
Community Coordinator
