As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, the importance of community cannot be overstated. It is through our connections with others that we find support, share knowledge, and create meaningful change. That is why, we sat down with our new Community Manager Laoise Rodgers, and asked about her ambitions and next action steps to bring the community closer together and spark valuable collaborations.
As our Community Manager, Laoise is the face of our hub and has the responsibility to create a seamless experience for our members and event organizers, while also having an open ear to ongoing challenges, feedback and new ideas to enrich our community. In her previous role, as Community Manager at AIHR, an online community with more than 15.000 members, she gained in-depth knowledge into customer insights, and service design, and helped build a vibrant online community. What was missing was the face-to-face interaction and feeling of connectedness that only the real world can give.
When stumbling across our Tech Community, Laoise saw the perfect opportunity to utilize her skills in a new environment and help our community to grow and improve. What sparked her interest immediately, was the social aspect of our hub. How people attend our monthly events, support one another, and tackle challenges together as one. Laoise would like to build upon this and see more tech activation to push the exchange of ideas and tips within The Hague Tech’s sub-communities, such as fintech, MedTech, and edtech. By focusing on community mapping, she wants to take the initiative in getting to know our members, the systems, and the different tech clusters we have. This way, she also wants to bring attention to the diverse talent and genius in our community and showcase it, not only within our hub, but also in the surrounding ecosystems. Her ideal vision for our community would be that the sub communities would operate independently and with her support meet up to share insights, and common business challenges, and find matching solutions together.
Next to connecting our members and offering a platform to show their expertise, Laoise believes that it is important to continue opening The Hague Tech’s doors to external events and members to share the knowledge with the world, rather than keeping it isolated for hub members only. “A lot of what we do is Tech for Good and Impacts. And that's impact on the greater world. So inviting people into this, sharing it, showcasing what we do, and creating conversations around it is crucial ”, Laoise explained.
Creating processes and implementing changes that feel organic and comfortable for everyone involved is a paramount aspect for Laoise. As she is currently ideating new proposals, she would like to give our community members the chance to be heard and share their perspectives and ideas with her. If you want to join in on improving our community, simply invite her for a coffee chat or send an email to community@thehaguetech.com! And if you are looking for an icebreaker, feel free to ask about one of the many animal poems that are stuck in her head since childhood, and can lighten anyone’s mood on a gloomy day.
