Ethical Event Funnels

For last month and a half I’ve been helping a few people start communities and showing them the beauty of leveraging in-person events with local media (*cough local newsletters).

And through this process, I stumbled upon an idea I am calling Ethical Event Funnels (EEFs).

I want to share why I believe in this idea based on my experience helping folks out and also starting and running my own communities with in-person meetups (e.g., AITX).

Before getting into why you should consider EEFs for yourself, let me explain what they are in more detail first.

What are "Ethical Event Funnels"?

Ethical Event Funnels represent a paradigm shift in how businesses approach marketing and customer relationships. 

At their core, these are events hosted without an attachment to immediate outcomes or forceful sales tactics.

Instead, they prioritize genuine community building and value creation.

Key aspects of ethical event funnels include:

• Offering value for free, especially in the beginning stages

• Creating social spaces where people can experience a sense of belonging

• Hosting events with a genuine care for the community being brought together

• Maintaining transparency about your business, but in a non-pushy, natural way

• Facilitating real, in-person connections, supported by digital tools rather than replacing them

The "Ethical" in Ethical Event Funnels stems from the authentic intent behind them. 

EEFs focus on nurturing relationships and building trust over time rather than only prioritizing conversion.

They acknowledge that business growth can occur organically when you prioritize creating value and fostering genuine connections.

Now that you have a grasp of EEFs, let’s learn why in-person events are important.

The Power of IRL (In Real Life) Connections in a Digital World

In our current digital age, the power of in-person, real-life (IRL) events cannot be overstated. 

Several factors contribute to their growing importance:

1. Combating the Loneliness Epidemic: Many people today are experiencing higher levels of loneliness, and IRL events provide the cure through opportunities for meaningful human connection.

2. Rebuilding Social Skills: With so much communication happening through screens, many individuals are losing the art of in-person interaction. Events allow people to practice and refine these essential skills in a supportive environment.

3. Deepening Connections: While digital tools can facilitate initial connections, in-person meetings allow for a depth of interaction that's difficult to replicate online. Non-verbal cues, shared experiences, and the energy of physical presence all contribute to stronger, more memorable connections.

4. Humanizing Business Relationships: In a world of targeted ads and algorithm-driven content, IRL events bring back the human element to business relationships. They allow for spontaneous conversations, serendipitous meetings, and the kind of trust-building that happens best face-to-face.

5. Creating Memorable Experiences: Physical events engage multiple senses and create shared experiences that leave lasting impressions. These memorable moments can foster stronger brand loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing than many digital campaigns.

By leveraging the power of IRL connections through ethical event funnels, businesses can create a marketing approach that not only drives growth but also contributes positively to their communities and customers' lives. 

This strategy represents a return to relationship-based business practices, facilitated and enhanced by modern digital tools.

Okay okay…

That’s a lot of explaining but I’m if you’re anything like me, you might be wondering “Okay HOW do I do this?”.

And I believe we can learn a lot about a why through observation of the how.

Let’s get into it.

How To Use Events as Funnels

We’re going to lay this all out on the line.

I’m going to walk you through my thought process of the mindset you should have, how EEFs work, the results you can expect, and a quick start guide to try yourself.

Mindset: We All Can be More Self-Honest

First thing to do is be honest with yourself—you’re doing these for more than one reason and that’s okay.

Yes, you want deep connections.

Yes, you want to meet people interested in what you’re interested in.

But…

If you’re going to say that you don’t have any underlying ulterior motives (no matter how subconscious they may be), I would call BS.

Don’t take this the wrong way but we all have plenty of reasons for everything we do in life.

We like to look at only the good reasons.

But from personal experience, I have found having as much self-honesty about yourself reminds you to be humble and to watch yourself from straying too far from the true good reasons.

How Does it Work?

There are three components to consider in the system of EEFs:

• The Commitment Curve

• The timing

• Communication

Shout out to David Spinks for showing me the idea of the Commitment Curve through the lens of community.

Although it may not map 1-to-1 exactly with his version, the commitment curve is a similar concept in that it illustrates how individuals become increasingly invested in a community over time.

It represents the journey of a member from initial curiosity to deep, active engagement.

Timing of events is also a crucial component of this system.

If you space them too far apart, it can be hard to get momentum in the community growing.

If you put events too close together, it can get overwhelming to members which could lead to less momentum.

Communication with your community (both in the literal and digital sense) is a non-negotiable because it is your way of reach the people you’re interested in outside of events.

I recommend incorporating a community newsletter for a means of communication and here’s why:

• it’s an email list

• you can attract sponsors as your list grows (monetize without directly impacting members)

• you can reach them in their inbox

And there are four pillars of community newsletters that I consider when thinking about how I start them:

1. Utility—the newsletter is useful to your community (event updates, community news, etc).

2. Education—the newsletter teaches something relevant to your community.

3. Entertainment—people like opening their inbox to something that makes them smile, laugh, etc.

4. Community—the newsletter promotes community members, values, etc. I put this in a category of itself because it should be given its own space to make it feel special to the community.

You don’t need all of these pillars but at least 2 with one being Community is my recommendation for starting out. This lets you keep the newsletter relatively simple and manageable, allowing you to iterate and improve before expanding the newsletter’s scope.

What Results Can You Expect?

I’m going to be honest: I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all projection of community growth.

Instead of looking for the results, focus on the input.

I’ve learned to focus on being consistent with meetups, communication, and improvement of the overall community experience.

Do this, and you will turn around after 6 months and say “Damn when did that happen?”

If you can be consistent.

If you can communicate with transparency.

If you focus on improving your skills for the sake of the community.

If you do these things you can expect to see your community grow.

Quickstart Guide to Starting Event Series For A Community

This guide will not go into too much detail, but it will give you a broad understanding of how you can get started:

Closing Thoughts

This concept of Ethical Event Funnels is still a working theory but I’m very confident that there is something here.

My goal is to show people they don’t need to be transactional in business—they can be human too.

Showing people how implement communities in this way is my way of reaching that goal.

if you liked this, let me know what you think by responding or DM on X.

That’s all for now. ‘Til next time, much love and peace y’all 🤠 

P.S. if you want to start your own newsletter on beehiiv, use my partner link HERE.

You get a 30-day trial + 20% off for 3 months.

If you use it, you will be supporting me and what I do so I would very much appreciate it.