Tatia Zuolaga

Membership growth is one of the first metrics community leaders celebrate and understandably so. New members represent new opportunities, new perspectives, and the potential for a stronger network. But growth can also create a false sense of security. I’ve worked with communities at every stage of maturity, from organizations building their first structured engagement program to established networks with tens of thousands of members.

Alumni and membership groups as well as organizations of every stripe are moving quickly to incorporate AI into their communities. Intelligent recommendations, automated outreach, and AI-powered matchmaking promise to increase engagement and make networking more efficient. Those are worthwhile goals, but they miss a larger point. Engagement was never the destination. It is simply the first step.