CMAD Celebration: Honoring Community Excellence & the CCIAs
Actionable Takeaways from Christina Hug
“Small Moments, Big Impact: Rethinking Scale in Community”
✳️ Build Small Containers That Create Big Belonging
Christina’s central message: the future of community isn’t just bigger — it’s smaller and more intentional. The most powerful community moments often happen in curated, trust-based spaces within the larger ecosystem.
Action: Create micro-containers (clubs, circles, niche meetups, small recurring gatherings) that give members more ways to participate and feel seen.
Measure: Frequency of participation and depth of connection — not just total member growth.
🔁 Extend Trust to the Next Layer of Your Community
Scale doesn’t have to mean doing more yourself. Christina shared how inviting members to step into builder roles transforms passive participants into hosts, gatherers, and leaders — multiplying community energy.
Action: Develop a simple member-led pathway (toolkits, light structure, clear norms) that empowers members to self-organize.
Measure: Member-led gatherings, repeat hosts, and connections happening without your team at the center.
🎯 Shift from Acquisition Metrics to Return + Transformation
Why someone joins a community is often different from why they stay. Christina encouraged teams to design less for top-of-funnel acquisition and more for the moments that create ongoing value, relationships, and belonging.
Action: Ask: “Why did they sign up?” vs. “Why do they come back?” Then design experiences around the latter.
Measure: Retention, repeat attendance, and member-to-member engagement over vanity metrics like likes or page views.
Christina’s talk was a powerful reminder that community impact isn’t just measured in size — it’s measured in the meaningful moments and connections we create for people, which feels especially fitting as we continue celebrating community excellence through CMAD and the CCIAs.
You can rewatch the session and revisit the highlights below!
Access the Complete Webinar Replay
Actionable Takeaways from Christina Hug
“Small Moments, Big Impact: Rethinking Scale in Community”
✳️ Build Small Containers That Create Big Belonging
Christina’s central message: the future of community isn’t just bigger — it’s smaller and more intentional. The most powerful community moments often happen in curated, trust-based spaces within the larger ecosystem.
Action: Create micro-containers (clubs, circles, niche meetups, small recurring gatherings) that give members more ways to participate and feel seen.
Measure: Frequency of participation and depth of connection — not just total member growth.
🔁 Extend Trust to the Next Layer of Your Community
Scale doesn’t have to mean doing more yourself. Christina shared how inviting members to step into builder roles transforms passive participants into hosts, gatherers, and leaders — multiplying community energy.
Action: Develop a simple member-led pathway (toolkits, light structure, clear norms) that empowers members to self-organize.
Measure: Member-led gatherings, repeat hosts, and connections happening without your team at the center.
🎯 Shift from Acquisition Metrics to Return + Transformation
Why someone joins a community is often different from why they stay. Christina encouraged teams to design less for top-of-funnel acquisition and more for the moments that create ongoing value, relationships, and belonging.
Action: Ask: “Why did they sign up?” vs. “Why do they come back?” Then design experiences around the latter.
Measure: Retention, repeat attendance, and member-to-member engagement over vanity metrics like likes or page views.
Christina’s talk was a powerful reminder that community impact isn’t just measured in size — it’s measured in the meaningful moments and connections we create for people, which feels especially fitting as we continue celebrating community excellence through CMAD and the CCIAs.
You can rewatch the session and revisit the highlights below!
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CMX Global 2026
The premier event for community professionals is back! CMX Summit 2026 is where the brightest minds in community building, marketing, customer success, and leadership come together to shape the future of community-driven business. Expect world-class speakers, interactive workshops, hands-on networking, and real-world case studies designed to help you engage, retain, and grow your community like never before.
