#LinkedInLocal Turns One, and Why.

A year ago today I put up a post on LinkedIn, and it seemed small and insignificant at the time. Just another post, like one we see everyday on LinkedIn. They remain in our consciousness for only a few minutes, maybe a few days if they are thought-provoking, but in the end few will linger in people's mind or change human behaviour. The post I put up on LinkedIn a year ago was this, and little did I know that it would change my career, and that of many more. It was of course the post about a LinkedInLocal, and simple idea with a #.

Adding the # to the post may well have been one of the most important decisions I have ever made. Because hashtags encourage participation and invokes a crowd psychology.

LinkedIn meetups weren't new, but the simplicity behind the name #linkedinlocal meant something more. Bringing a "local" element to a global platform and a means for people to authentically connect, activating an online community offline, and putting the onus back on face to face relationships.

The background to this idea was simple. Using a Sales Navigator account at the time, I did I simple postcode search to see the level of activity in my local area. This task was easy for me as I live in an isolated regional city in Australia of 65,000 people so it was a simple search. I saw that there were 23,500 accounts, and around 280 were "active", a feature available on Sales Navigator showing who has posted and interacted in the past 30 days. 280 I thought, why so low? So the prior post to this one was to say to highlight to my local connections that we could do better! The comments on that post raised the idea of getting together as the "number was so small."

15 people came along to the first event in response to the post, but the online response was what surprised me. Three others that would see it and come to form the creative team were Alexandra Galviz in London, Manu Goswami in NYC, and Erik Eklund in Brussels. The initial idea was four people, four cities in four different countries. None of us could have predicted what was to happen next. Quickly overwhelmed with messages from people all around the world wanting to know how to set up their own #LinkedinLocal events in their towns, cities and villages an initial website was up and running with the help of Ryan Troll.

To use the analogy in Derek Sivers' TED Talk 'How to Start a Movement' it was the leadership of the first few dancers that got everyone dancing. I had an idea and the founding team sparked the ember for the start of what would be a community driven movement. A lone nut transforms into a crowd with a following, and a movement is born.

From those humble beginnings 12 months ago #LinkedinLocal has extended its reach into more than 250 cities in 36 countries thanks to the incredible efforts and enthusiasm of almost 450 hosts and co-hosts. The credit lies with the hosts and co-hosts around the world who, on top of their day jobs, find time to create these meaningful offline experiences. Proof that we as humans really do think global, but we still continue to act local. In the past 6 months since the website www.linkedlocally.com was launched we have been overwhelmed by the growing demand of the movement.

People continue to ask why it is so popular. So many people claimed it wouldn't last a year, that it was just like any other #. Vaguely memorable to some but forgotten long after it ceases to be used. I dare say we as both an online community and a group of offline communities have proved the naysayers wrong. Over the past year I've tried to find an answer to the question; why this, why now, and why is it so popular? The following I believe to form at least part of the answer:

• LinkedIn is the one social media platform that is truly built around people. Even LinkedIn's revenue model is built around people. Facebook is about advertising, Twitter is built around hashtags and avatars, Instagram is about hashtags and images. LinkedIn’s focus on people makes it ripe for a movement around people
• Its strength lies in its content that helps grow real connections between people– including photos and videos, for example Alex sharing her viral London videos, content that isn't yet a priority on platforms like Twitter. It's no coincidence that #LinkedIn Local has happened on a platform where users were only recently familiar with video and these events suddenly ‘came to life’ and people wanted to be a part of the movement
• We provided the opportunity and gave people the ability to take part in it, empowering them to get involved. People came to the creators of the movement for help, and we provided it. We built a host community for others to support one another. Up until now I have personally spoken to 80% of the 450 hosts. This movement was led, not just by me, but the other co-creators and the example set by the host early adopters.
• The timing is right – we are balancing technology and social media while getting back to basic human needs and thinking local right now. With social media comes incredible capacity for global connection, but with that comes social isolation.
• Alongside this our workforces are changing with freelancing, self-employment, un and under employment have resulted in less face to face contact at work than happened in previous traditional workplace arrangements. The need for authentic connections with real people in stronger than ever, the appetite is greater than even we could’ve imagined.

The efforts of the #LinkedInLocal community have even caught the attention of LinkedIn themselves, who last month introduced a new video filter for #LinkedInLocal. I have had a few conversations and they are very supportive of the efforts and want to continue to support our host community and its content in the future. I hope they can see an opportunity to look to our community as the 'Raving Fans' of the platform, and use our community in order to continue to develop this thriving platform.

In a recent article LinkedIn's new Head of International Product, Akshay Kothari, announced that he "aims to empower each and every market to think locally and create more value for every member on the platform, and wants to take LinkedIn to smaller towns and to make the networking platform accessible to the blue-collar workforce and knowledge workers." It seems what its users have been doing for the past year may now become a key focal point of the product.

Social media has changed the face of human interaction, with forecasts stating that more than 2.95m billion people will be using social media by 2020. The capacity to connect with people from different parts of the world is unprecedented. However, it is also increasing the human connection gap resulting in a sense of disconnection with actual human beings.

LinkedIn has always provided a great way to connect with people, but as we know, in order to truly build relationships and do business we need to talk with or meet people face to face. Meaningful interaction and connection are a core part of life we need to maintain, not just in business but in many other aspects of our lives. In the book 'The Village Effect' Susan Pinker states;

"In a digital age and at a time when people are living longer, more mobile, and in many cases more solitary lives, taking the time to build, sustain, and rebuild this village is crucial. We are happier, healthier, and more resistant to disease and despair if we satisfy the need for meaningful human contact. Our loads seem lighter, the hills literally less steep. Genuine social interaction is a force of nature; we all need some, everyday we eat. Given the powerful evidence, the capacity of intimate interaction to jumpstart learning and rejig lifespans is not that hard to fathom, and not that hard to integrate into our daily lives. All we need to do is picture what our own real, in-person villages might look like, and then reach out to create them."

#LinkedInLocal is exactly this, the recreation of a type of village, and has been the right option at the right time for many, and I believe the right time for LinkedIn as a company. Its revolutionising LinkedIn itself through the content in the online community and its ability to nurture communities offline.

Looking to the future, #LinkedInLocal will remain a community driven initiative for its users to create, host and participate in local in-person, meet-ups ranging from small gatherings to large events. Planning and development of version two of the LinkedInLocal website is well underway, and it will have all the bells and whistles we didn't anticipate needing the first time around. A big movement to bring our connections offline and activate them locally is happening, and I know its only getting started. What has been so inspiring to see is the social impact of the movement, not only supporting local charities, but also with events having conversations around mental health in the workplace, women's participation in the workforce, and most recently, #newtocanada to help new migrants to Canada network and understand the importance of LinkedIn.

It all began a year ago, on May 22nd 2017, with a single post and its a story worth remembering, as the story of #LinkedInLocal is a story of the power of LinkedIn itself. You never know where a single post, comment, interaction or conversation will take you.

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For more information about LinkedInLocal and to find listings in your area visit www.linkedlocally.com.