How Small Networking Events Can Grow Into Valuable Communities

In a recent LinkedIn post, Callum Laing discusses how building communities can create value for members and open professional opportunities for organizers. This article reports on Laing’s post and examines the ideas he shares there; it is not written by Laing.

“All of them start with the premise of how do you create value for the target member.”

Value comes before revenue

Laing says he runs several kinds of communities, including private groups, public networks and a five-a-side football community. He notes that each has revenue streams, but describes member value as the starting point. That framing puts the needs of participants at the center of community building, rather than treating a group simply as a channel for sales.

As Laing notes, communities also bring a mix of active contributors and dissatisfied members. He describes the work as challenging but rewarding, and argues that learning to run communities can itself be a valuable professional skill. His post refers to a screenshot of salaries, but does not provide figures in the text.

Experience built through repeated gatherings

Laing traces his own experience to a networking event he organized in Bangkok in his late 20s, which he says he later wrote about in Progressive Partnerships. He estimates that he has since run thousands of events and that tens of thousands of people have met connections, friends or business partners through the communities over two decades.

“And as the organiser of those communities it has attracted more opportunities to me then I could possibly have imagined.”

That account is Laing’s reflection on the personal and professional effects of organizing. He presents the relationships formed among members as part of the value, while also saying that the role brought him opportunities he had not anticipated.

Starting small, then learning by doing

Laing says he turned his experience into a six-week programme last year. In the post, he names participants who have brought together groups for IT directors in Singapore, family offices in Switzerland, technology professionals in Madrid, impact investors in London and directors in Dublin. These examples illustrate the range of communities his programme participants are pursuing, according to Laing.

A modest first event

For people intimidated by event planning, Laing offers a deliberately low-barrier starting point:

“It doesn’t need to be a big deal, 5 people sitting in a hotel lobby can be the basis of something incredible.”

He compares organizing a networking event with arranging birthday drinks, suggesting that a small gathering can be enough to begin connecting a group. His point is practical: organizers need not wait for a large venue or elaborate format before testing whether a community can take shape.

Laing closes the post by describing the Get Launched programme’s listed price as $3,550 and inviting interested readers to comment with the group they would like to assemble. He says he may offer a steep discount and run another live cohort if there is sufficient interest. The invitation ties his broader argument about community building to a specific opportunity for readers to learn the work themselves.