A quick update

It’s been a whirlwind few weeks since inviting expressions of interest in Collaborative Residencies last month; I’ve been overwhelmed by the response, if I’m honest!

I’ve been attempting (and not quite succeeding) to stay on top of the many wonderful messages that have been landing in my LinkedIn inbox, in-between my other commitments.

Apologies if you’re still waiting on a reply — I’ll get there eventually…

In the meantime, I just wanted to share this quick status update.

Over 130 people — from every continent except Antarctica — have completed the expression of interest form and joined the mailing list. If you haven’t already, you can do that here 👇

Roughly HALF of the people signed up so far have said they would consider being a host as part of this network.

That’s a pretty good start, if you ask me.

It’s been such a joy reading all the reasons people are feeling drawn to the concept, and sensing the abundance and generosity that we might be able to share with each other.

The temptation is to jump feet-first into launching a full-blown membership platform — to fling the doors open and start connecting people right away. We’re all clearly craving this kind of connection and community, and in many ways the more the merrier!

But if I’ve learned anything about community and collaboration over the years, it’s that it’s essential to build trust from the beginning, and that a healthy and resilient culture ultimately takes time.

Another lesson I’ve learned is that community networks need to be resourced if they’re going to be sustainable long-term. I’ve seen plenty of promising initiatives fall flat after 18 months because they tried to sustain themself through spare time and good intentions alone.

The wise thing, then, is to walk before we can run. To grow trust and community organically — through conversation, connection, collaboration. To be innovative about how we can share and distribute resources, so that none of us are giving from an empty cup.

The short answer is: I’m not quite sure, at this stage. There’s much about how this might work that is uncertain, but I’m excited for us to explore and innovate together!

I’m starting to think about ways of piloting a model with an initial cohort of people — though we’re probably looking at the new year before this gets going.

In the meantime, there are a couple of things you can do.

I’m currently working on Collaborative Residencies with what little spare time and money I have available (which isn’t much).

If you feel called to offer some early financial support to get this off the ground, that would be hugely appreciated. Even a small contribution will go a long way!

You can also simply continue to read the ideas, stories, models and learnings — from my own Collaborative Residency experiences, as well as from other sources of inspiration — that I’ll be sharing via the newsletter.

Indeed, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel with this project. There’s an abundance of wisdom and best practices out there from people who have done, or are doing, similar things, perhaps in slightly different ways or contexts.

Since such wise people almost certainly include many of the people who have expressed interest, I’ll also be reaching out for some one-to-one conversations, where possible, so that we can explore ideas, desires, challenges and possibilities together in more detail.

I’m going to try and share progress updates like this at least once a month, and to post stories and resources perhaps a little more frequently, as and when I have capacity.

Thanks again for being here!

All best,

Will
Collaborative Residencies

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