Interviewing Swarm Speakers is continually a pleasure. They always come to us with such enthusiasm, and so much community management knowledge they want to share with Swarmees.

In our latest Swarm speaker interview, we chatted with Hugh Lashbrooke of Discourse. Hugh joined Discourse in January as a Product Manager, but you may recognise him from previous Swarm appearances in previous roles.

This talented and insightful community manager has been part of Swarm for quite a while now. We’re delighted to have his presentation, “Managing Your Community Like a Product,” in the Swarm lineup this year.

Before we get to that though, enjoy reading the following Q&A with Hugh:

 

Tell us about your community management history:

“My entry into community management was in the open-source WordPress community. I had been working in that space as a developer for a number of years and made the switch to full-time community work around 2014 after seeing how powerful an open-source community can be. I worked in various parts of the WordPress project for many years, developing skills and growing into my passions.

“Over the course of that time I realised that my background as a software developer gave me tools for community work that I would never have had otherwise, particularly relating to how I manage community programs. Coming to that realisation made my whole experience of community work far more satisfying as I realised I bring something unique to the role and my work.

 

 

And what has been your favourite role/community?

“Some of my favourite work has been in launching and managing new initiatives and programs, both in WordPress and Discourse, and seeing those initiatives grow into flourishing programs.”

 

What would you say is unique about working on your current community?

“While I’m currently working as a product manager, I’m doing so at a community-focused open-source company that I love being a part of, so I get to bring my community expertise into my product work. It is immensely satisfying working on building and growing one of the top community platforms on the market.”

 

What community platforms, socially or professionally, do you personally engage with?

“I’m primarily on Discourse and Discord, with some time on Slack as well (although that is steadily dwindling). I’m quite involved in the broader tabletop gaming community, and many of the communities in that space use Discord.”

 

What is your favourite aspect of community management?

“All of the gaming communities I’m a part of are exceptionally supportive and collaborative – they’re full of people working together to help each other and create great new things. That epitomises what good community is all about.”

 

How are you adapting to the constantly changing social media landscape?

“I generally prefer on-platform community spaces – communities that meet on a platform that they manage and moderate themselves. In terms of broader social media, I’m on Twitter and Mastodon, but tend to not think or worry about it all that much, and honestly, I don’t find that I get a huge amount of direct value from being active on them as much as I used to.”

 

When asked what he is currently reading, watching, or listening to that all community professionals should explore, Hugh provided these three insights:

“Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of new tabletop RPGs. That might not seem immediately relevant, but these games work on the basis of a group of people with shared interests working toward a common goal, making them a direct embodiment of what community is all about. I would strongly encourage community professionals to take some time to learn from these games and spaces.”

 

And to close out, we asked Hugh “What are you most looking forward to about Swarm? “

“’ve spoken at and attended Swarm online the past few years, and this will be my first time attending in-person. I’m incredibly excited to meet everyone IRL and can’t wait to connect with Swarmees and community professionals from all around Australia!”

 

In welcoming Hugh Lashbrooke to Swarm Conference 2024, we eagerly anticipate the invaluable insight he will provide community managers as both a product manager and communtiy professional.