#CommunityInQuarantine with Traci Cappiello

All of us are seeking connection — especially in these times. I think we can all agree that it's now more critical than ever to maintain a sense of community and support.

In this #CommunityInQuarantine series, I’m interviewing guests from different walks of life to learn how they're currently creating and maintaining their sense of community during these unprecedented times. 

Traci Cappiello is a Community Program Manager at Google working on the Local Guides Community, which is a global community of over 120 million people who contribute great information on Google Maps. 

“It opens up this whole world of how we can better support our communities in ways that will essentially future proof how we build communities and sustain them in the future.” -Traci Cappiello

Traci and I chatted about her community role at Google and some creative ways that she's created virtual communities for her friends. Please read on below or listen to the Create Community podcast recording!

Listen to the episode:

Apple | Spotify | Google | Stitcher 

(Tune in at the 1:37 mark for Traci)

Transcript:

Marsha Druker 1:37  

Hi Traci, thank you so much for joining me. I'm so excited to chat with you today.

Traci Cappiello 1:41  

Hi, Marsha. Thanks for having me. I'm really thrilled to talk about community - my favorite topic in the entire world, next to Harry Potter.

Marsha Druker 1:48  

Awesome, me too! So let's start off with a really quick introduction of yourself. Tell us a little bit about who you are and where you are in the world.

Traci Cappiello 1:56  

I'm Traci Cappiello. I am coming to you live from my apartment in Brooklyn, New York. I'm a New York resident, I live five blocks from where I grew up. Professionally, I am a Program Manager at Google working on the Local Guides Community, which is a global community of over 120 million people who contribute really great information on Google Maps. 

And then personally, I've just been involved with community since I was at least 16 years old, and consider myself a veteran in the industry. 

Marsha Druker 2:25  

So now is definitely a very interesting time to be a community veteran and to be somebody that works in community professionally. Tell me a little bit more about how this COVID-19 situation is affecting your role and also you personally.

Traci Cappiello 2:42  

“It opens up this whole world of how we can better support our communities in ways that will essentially future proof how we build communities and sustain them in the future.” -Traci Cappiello

COVID-19 has made us all be a bit more sensitive in how we're communicating. I don't know how it is where you are, but in here in the streets, people are much friendlier, even if you're crossing there's just more warmth and kindness I think being demonstrated. So that has been something that has been really amplified professionally for me in the kind of conversations our community members are facing. What we're doing to help them enable those virtual connections have been really phenomenal. So it's definitely impacted us in that we have to use more care and communication.

It also opens up this whole world of how we can better support our communities in ways that will essentially future proof how we build communities and sustain them in the future. It's been really phenomenal just to see how it's changing. 

Marsha Druker 3:24  

I love the positive spin on that. How have you been maintaining your personal sense of community throughout all these crazy times?

Traci Cappiello 3:31  

So I’m not going to lie, the first week, I just worked really long hours. I manage a now remote team that's pretty large and they are several hours ahead of me. And so for me, I was just kind of working all different hours as we found our bearings. So that was something that was like, "Whoa, I'm going to need to set some boundaries here".

But, with that, also came a lot of friends being like, "I'm bored, what do we do?" So long story short, now I'm on week four at home and week three of hosting virtual Hangouts or virtual social activities, four out of seven nights of the week.

And to be honest, I'm sometimes I'm attending more than one of those because my friends are now hosting them and inviting me. Each week there's at least one trivia night and one virtual beer tasting.

I have a large group of friends who are beer tasters. Side note: that also is a great way to support local breweries. There's a feel good element to it. And we did coloring this week. Juliana hosted trivia for How I Met Your Mother. I have Harry Potter trivia tonight. I attended someone else's self care Hangout.

I’m maintaining a sense of community by continuing to offer activities for my friends in a more regimented manner and having these themes that really get a group of up to almost 50 people aligned.

It's just been really cool connecting people and I think my favorite thing is that I get to like geek out over Harry Potter with fellow Harry Potter fans, but it's those conversations that are happening before during and after the themed activities.

I leave every Hangout, feeling really proud of the friends [*gets emotional*] and the connections that we're making even at this time. It's been really heartwarming.

Marsha Druker 5:09  

That’s so sweet. Traci, I love how you're creating these incredible, creative themes for these Hangouts. I think a lot of people right now are hopping on Hangouts. But a lot of the time is just kind of like, "here's the time we're meeting, we'll just chat and we'll see what happens". I love that you're actually shaping these experiences for people and you're creating these fun and quirky themes. Such a great idea. I absolutely love it.

Do you have any advice for people that want to start implementing some of these ideas for their own friend groups? How can they get started?

Traci Cappiello 5:44  

Oh my gosh, yes, definitely. So it's been really great that friends are getting involved too, and they're hosting their own meetups, but my tips for someone who does want to participate would be to pick a topic that's really authentic for you. Did you binge watch Tiger King? Cool, do a Tiger King Bingo or conversation. Do you have a favorite movie? Do you have a favorite activity like beer wine tasting? Or if you're like many people who are kind of feeling like, "Hey, we're drinking a lot of alcohol lately", do something else - color (for example).

Just be authentic, be yourself and all else will follow. -Traci Cappiello

Just find something that's really authentic to you. And if you really need to feel super productive, you know, take a look at your bookshelf. Is there a book club that you can start? Have you been wanting to do puzzles? Just do that together! And the conversation flows and it feels really good. So just be authentic. I think that's like one of the major cornerstones of community anyway, is just be authentic, be yourself and all else will follow. 

Marsha Druker 6:36  

That's so true. That's been a big common theme throughout a lot of these interviews. Having authenticity is the only way you can really build a true community. I think everything else kind of feels forced.

I really hope that people take your advice and just start. I think that's the key - pick something that you like and just go for it. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Traci Cappiello 6:55

Yeah. And it's okay if you decide to do it one week and not the next because chances are someone else in your social group will want to do it themselves. Or your friends are going to be totally cool about it, because it's COVID-19. There's much more understanding out there. So ,what's the worst that can happen? Invite me, I'll attend your Hangout!

Marsha Druker 7:15  

That's awesome. We might have to hold you to that, Traci!

Marsha Druker 7:17  

What's something that you're grateful for during these crazy times?

Traci Cappiello 7:27  

I think people are rediscovering themselves and how we can better and more deeply connect with each other. So I'm really grateful that this is kind of giving us all a reset. There are obviously a lot of really dark things that are happening and you can't ignore that. But at the end of the day, I think that we're going to come out of this better than we ever had been. And I just hope that we can continue to maintain it. So I feel like I should take a pledge. I will keep doing what I'm doing and try to maintain this positivity long, you know, pass the resolution of the situation.

“People are rediscovering themselves and how we can better and more deeply connect with each other.” -Traci Cappiello

Marsha Druker 7:59  

That's such a great outlook and just so realistic but optimistic at the same time. Traci, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me. It was such a pleasure.

Traci showed that physical distancing does not have to mean social isolation! Stay safe. Wash your hands. Don’t hoard toilet paper. And keep creating your community.

Check out interviews with other guests at createcommunitypod.com/quarantine

*Originally published on createcommunitypod.com