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[LBC #170] Marketplace Showcase, Loop Playbooks & What’s Coming Up

Explore new tools, revisit Loop, discover fresh community resources, and see what’s happening next.

Author

Francisco Opazo
September 02, 2026

Hi friends!

A few things we’re excited to share with you this week:

🛠️ The Marketplace Showcase is happening today! Join Francisco to explore new tools for Discourse communities and see what’s new in the Marketplace. Don’t miss it.

🇮🇳 Delhi NCR & Mumbai, see you Saturday! Meet fellow community professionals at our local meetups on September 5. Come along, connect, and share what you’re working on.

🎙️ Next up in Talks & Pros: Join Alice Paul on September 17 for “From Audience to Pipeline: How Influence-Led Community Drives B2B Growth.” Save your spot.

🧡 Loop is now available to revisit! Explore the new Loop Playbooks and Action Guide, bringing together key ideas, practical takeaways, speaker slides, and session recordings.

📖 If you missed Jillian Bejtlich’s session last week, the playbook is here, alongside the recording of “The Half-Life Problem: Your Members Are Decaying on Schedule.”

🇵🇹 Lisbon Community Week is coming up! Join us on November 13 for a day of community, connection, and learning. Super Early Bird tickets are available.

✍️ Have something to share with the community? We’re always looking for stories, ideas, and lessons from people doing the work. Share yours with us!

🤖 The AI Skills Library now has 75 skills for Claude and ChatGPT, built specifically for community professionals. Explore the library and find a few skills to try.

📚 Discover fresh ideas and insights from Evan Hamilton, Martha Essien, Bill Johnston, Simon Tomes, and more across the community.

💼 Looking for your next community role? Check out the Job Board and opt in to the weekly Jobs Edition to get new opportunities delivered straight to your inbox.

There’s plenty more waiting for you below.

With love,
Francisco, Paôla & the Led by Community Team

Want the new weekly Jobs Edition?

The Jobs Edition now has its own weekly email! Every Monday, you’ll get a roundup of community jobs delivered straight to your inbox.

Choose “Led by Community Jobs” in your email preferences to start receiving it. Your main Led by Community subscription will stay unchanged.

📈 Strategy, Operations and Analytics

Community Is Incredibly Well-Positioned for the AI Era

Explore how community engagement is essential in the AI era, fostering human connection and maximizing the potential of AI tools for sustainable growth.

www.evanhamilton.com/blog/community-is-incredibly-well-positioned-for-the-ai-era

  • From Stateshift: Why Most GTM Strategies End Up In The Garbage Bin. Read

  • From Rosieland: Rambles, Saving Your Town and Citizens Building the Future. Read

  • From Two Failing Cohorts to One Thriving Circle Community by Nikita Heyland. Read

🧑‍🎨 Community Creators

How to Price Your First Paid Community

Stop guessing your community's price. Learn the value-based pricing framework that connects your fee to member transformation, attracting committed members and ensuring your long-term success.

Led by Community • Led by Community

  • How to Design a Founding Member Programme. Read

  • The Solo Creator's Automation Playbook. Read

  • The Sustainable Community Content Cadence. Read

🎯 Customer Marketing

A Guide to B2B Community Gamification Strategy

Most B2B community gamification is broken. It relies on cheap points and swag that don't motivate professionals. A better strategy focuses on intrinsic rewards like status, access, and influence to drive meaningful behaviour.

Led by Community • Led by Community

  • Customer Marketing KPIs That Prove Your Value. Read

  • How to Run a B2B Customer Council for Product. Read

  • A Guide to Customer Proof for Sales Enablement. Read

🤝 Associations and Memberships

The Community Programming Calendar Template

A community programming calendar is your culture made tangible. This guide provides a framework and template for planning a balanced quarter of events and rituals that drive member engagement and create a predictable rhythm.

Led by Community • Led by Community

  • The Community Manager's Member Data Ethics Playbook. Read

  • How to Run a Community Manager 'Office Hours' Ritual. Read

  • A Peer-Led Member Onboarding Playbook for Associations. Read

💻 From Community Platforms

  • The Hidden Cost of Community Platform Fragmentation for Enterprise Teams by Bevy. Read

  • The Slack Community Operating System: a Practical Blueprint for 2026 by HubPlus. Read

  • How to use Discourse for Customer Support by Discourse. Read

  • 5 Quick Ways to Use AI to Build a Leaner Creator Business by Circle. Read

  • Using Social Learning To Strengthen Your Member Community by Higher Logic. Read

📨 Newsletters from Pros

We love to feature Community Professionals sharing their wisdom with the community. This week we have a few:

  • Research Invitation: The Connection Between Community Participation and AI Answers by Bill Johnston. Read

  • Sometimes the Best Operational System is the Boring One by Martha Essien. Read

  • The Average Lies by Jillian Bejtlich. Read

  • Why Building Community Alone Sucks by Paz Pisarski. Read

Are we missing a newsletter? Let us know!

Francisco OpazoBuilding Community one day at a time.
Community WeekCommunity Week is the new home for evolving community leaders.

🎙️ New Podcast Episodes

This week, we have a few new podcast episodes available:

  • From Community ROI Podcast: How to Build Community Programs That Actually Grow the Business | Community ROI with Alexis Brown. Listen

  • From Higher Logic Podcast: A Value-Informed Approach to Using AI with Cate Sauer. Listen

  • From Shana Lynn Podcast: How to Be Your Best Community Member. Listen

🤯 More Resources for You

And more worth reading below:

Lori launched a paid community for professional executive women and hit a structural wall fast. Here is how Ember helped her rebuild a scalable Circle Community

Lori launched a paid community for professional executive women and hit a structural wall fast. Here is how Ember helped her rebuild a scalable Circle Community

Ember • Brianna Leever

  • Rethinking the Transaction: Designing Associations for Participation and Belonging by ASAE. Read

  • From The Community Collective: The CC Coffee with Helen Lawson Williams. Read

  • Stay Sharp After AI: 11 Human Skills for a Post‑AI World by Simon Tomes. Read

Become a Member of Led by Community

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Community Tools Available for You

Spend less time on repetitive admin and more time building meaningful connections. This collection of 25 ready-to-run ChatGPT and Claude skills helps community professionals with onboarding, engagement, moderation, events, reporting, and more. Built from research specifically for community work, the AI Skills Library gives you practical tools to use across different types of communities. Join our community to access the library, exchange ideas, and work smarter.

Create Your Professional Portfolio

Showcase your expertise, services, and case studies in a beautiful, shareable portfolio built specifically for community professionals. Highlight your positioning, skills, tools, and real-world work — all in one place.

Want the new weekly Jobs Edition?

The Jobs Edition now has its own weekly email! Every Monday, you’ll get a roundup of community jobs delivered straight to your inbox.

Choose “Led by Community Jobs” in your email preferences to start receiving it. Your main Led by Community subscription will stay unchanged.

📅 The Global Events Calendar

🗓️ Sep 02nd, New Tools for Discourse Communities. Save your spot

🗓️ Sep 05th, Community Conversations: Delhi NCR. Save your spot

🗓️ Sep 05th, Community Leaders Connect: Mumbai Edition. Save your spot

🗓️ Sep 10th, AI Sharing Notes: What We're Testing & Learning. Save your spot

🗓️ Sep 17th, From Audience to Pipeline: How Influence-Led Community Drives B2B Growth. Save your spot

🗓️ Sep 23rd, Aligning Community Value with Organisational Goals. Save your spot

🗓️ Oct 08th, Top 5 Mistakes You're Making in Your Ambassador Programme. Save your spot

🗓️ Oct 13th, Remote Work Needs Community. Save your spot

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