A list of 9 books to kickstart your professional development in community.
Gather Community Consulting is a Seattle-based consulting firm that specializes in community building.

Gather Community Consulting is a Seattle-based consulting firm that specializes in community building.
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A list of 9 books to kickstart your professional development in community.
As more of the world comes online, our approaches to design and leadership will need to grow more decentralized and localized to remain both inclusive and effective. That's probably not news to you, but the idea does feel more urgent today as the next billion people are quickly coming online.
A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of attending an annual community ritual hosted by a small business located near Seattle, WA. A new friend invited me to observe but told me he didn't want me to know what was going to happen at the event until I got there.
As Priya Parker says: "You will have begun to gather with purpose when you learn to exclude with purpose. Over-inclusion is a symptom of deeper problems -- above all, a confusion about why you are gathering and a lack of commitment to your purpose and your guests."
Can gamification be powerful for incentivizing social connection, rather than group competition, meaningless engagement, or task completion?
The contrast between the natural world and the Internet world - from the middle of the rain forest to the bustling XOXO conference - lead me to ask, What is the real world?