Engaging is about fostering conversations they are interested in...not force feeding what your company wants to hear/talk about - Lauren Vargas

Love that, Lauren. And wouldn't you agree that it takes WORK to do it well?! - Angela

To communicate with them on their level, not as someone who stands over-top of them, trying to control things. Be welcoming and open when engaging. - Sonny Gill

For sure...constnat...and the encouragement of fresh voices. - Lauren Vargas

* Active listening - Thomas Knoll

sharing an interest in individuals - Thomas Knoll

How do you engage with a very large community, Angela? - Sonny Gill

Hi Thomas: Listening and letting them know you're listening by acting when possible. - Angela

Agreed. Engaging isn't a listening post or a soapbox... but rather hearing, questioning, remixing - Thomas Knoll

Like you're doing right now =) - Thomas Knoll

I focus on high level interests with a large community, Sonny. Something I know will affect or interest most. - Angela

Active listening and unscripted conversations. Staying humble and available for the community (reminds me some servant leadership ideas) - Lilian Mahoukou

Well Thomas, you're engaging me right back. :-) Hey Lilian. Always good to see you! - Angela

Thanks for being our moderator today :) - Lilian Mahoukou

It is a pleasure to serve the #cmtychat community. - Angela

I feel like there is an implied level of commitment in an engagement. So, probably best to follow through when engaging. - Thomas Knoll

What about asking for feedback about future changes? Anyone do that? - Angela

I think "engaging" depends on a number of factors--how new the community is; how well people know each other; what the goals of the group are; if the original reason for the group has changed; how outgoing some of the members are; and how the group has evolved over time, among other factors. -- What I have seen for many groups is that over time things kind of sag and the CM needs to put some thought and effort into bringing things back to life. - Brenda Young

I think we could also map the different kinds of engagement depending on the context and the level of commitment as Thomas mentioned - Lilian Mahoukou

Engagement: inviting, encouraging and facilitating conversations which includes active listening. Not controlling a conversation yet spurring and acting as a conduit and catalyst. I call engagement a dance of two souls. - Jeff Hurt

What I'm hearing from you Brenda is that we need to recognize the changes in the community and do things accordingly. I know that my community is not what it was a year ago. - Angela

Engagement: A dance of two Souls. By Jeff Hurt. There's your book title! I'll write the foreword if you ask nicely. - Angela

If I was going to put engage down to one word, it comes down to "listening". (the first step) - Owen Greaves

Thanks Angela! I'll have you and sonny as special chapters on how to do it right! - Jeff Hurt

@angela Yes that has been a problem in different forms for different groups and some of my clients. What worked a while back may need to change. -- It can also reflect that some of the members have become 'disruptive' and the group needs to decide how to manage this. - Brenda Young

In addition to this, how do you get people to engage in the sub-groups that get created - usually there are only a few - how to you encourge optin to the opt'd in? - Mark Sylvester

Mark, are you creating the sub groups or letting them form organically? I learned a rel lesson about that I would be happy to share. - Angela

@jeffhurt - the conversation is a dance of two souls - lovely sentiment - Mark Sylvester