REPLAY: How to host a gathering you actually want to attend

Become a GROUP LIFER with 10% off before Tuesday!

As part of my new Substack, GROUP LIFE, every two weeks, I will be leading a 60-minute live GROUP HELP Session on Zoom for paid subscribers to build your GROUP LIFE skills in community. These GROUP HELP Sessions are my deepest and most practical offering to SKILL YOU UP and grow your group intelligence. As part of our launch celebrations on SUBSTACK, I’m making this week’s webinar (and the replay!) available to all. Starting in October, these bi-weekly sessions will be for paid subscribers only (GROUP LIFERS!) — live every other Wednesday at noon EST, with replays included. If you are ready to take the plunge with me, consider upgrading to become a GROUP LIFER. I would LOVE to see you in there!

This past Wednesday, 450 of you joined me for a lively Zoom GROUP HELP Session to break down the 5 biggest blockages to gathering and learn how to host a gathering you actually want to attend. (Hint: Focus on meaning over money. And if you don’t know what that means, watch the webinar.) You filled the chat with hilarious, doable gathering ideas, we got a *great* question on how to gather when everyone is so dang busy, and I shared the brilliant question a CEO asked her senior team at a retreat after they had collectively made a big, public mistake (and how it rebuilt the team’s trust).

I’m sharing this week’s full webinar here with the full community. It’s a great example of what these sessions feel like, what you’ll learn, and how you’ll build skills with me together. If you like what you see, consider upgrading your membership to becoming a GROUP LIFER.

My first two webinars were The #1 secret to thriving group life — and how to harness it and Getting Unstuck: How to host a gathering you actually want to attend (which you can now watch below).

These first two sessions were open to everyone. Beginning in October, GROUP HELP Sessions will continue for paid subscribers only (aka GROUP LIFERS). And here’s a sneak peak at some of our upcoming webinars:

• OCT 8 at 12pm EST: How to Get People Not to Flake (Step 1: don’t be a flake yourself 😏)

• OCT 22 at 2pm EST: GROUP HELP Work Edition: The #1 Skill of Virtual Meetings: Creating Psychological Togetherness When You’re Not in the Same

As a group dialogue facilitator, I work with and train leaders within organizations and family businesses and civic movements on their high-stakes gatherings and moments of transition. And I adore that work. But I’ve been wanting to also have a straightforward way to train more people at a much more accessible cost. Think of these sessions as a practice gym for building our group life muscles together.

If you’ve been circling the idea of joining, come build your group life muscles with me. And take advantage of that special discount of 10% off through September 30. For the cost of a sandwich a month, your people will thank you.

And for those of you who are already GROUP LIFERS, thank you for being here. Your support makes this work possible, and it means I get to spend my time not just thinking about group life but practicing it with you.

I hope to see you there.

As always,

Priya

Here’s what’s coming up in GROUP LIFE this month:

Live Conversations:

📅 Tuesday, September 30 at 12pm EST

Live Conversation on Substack with the authors of TALK TO YOUR BOYS: 16 Conversations to Help Tweens and Teens Grow into Confident, Caring Young Men

Join me for my very first book talk on Substack Christopher Pepper and Joanna Schroeder. TALK TO YOUR BOYS is a deeply practical and useful guide for parents, adults, and teachers to create meaningful connection with teen and tween boys. Why am I doing a conversation on this topic? Because part of group life is figuring out how to create meaningful connection between people despite obstacles. And many of our current assumptions of what boys are capable of and want in terms of connection and friendship is distorted and outdated. Come join us. You don’t need to have a kid. Underneath this conversation, and why I love this book, is a deeper invitation to shift our own assumptions of who is capable of, wants, and is worthy of connection.

📅 Friday, October 3 at 4pm EST

Live Conversation on Substack with Liz Plank

Taylor Swift IMHO is a brilliant gatherer. Come hang out with me and Liz Plank as we break down the science of Taylor Swift on the occasion of her album drop, The Life of a Showgirl.

📅 Monday, October 27 at 12pm EST

Live Conversation on Substack with Austin Kleon

Many of the best gatherings start as jokes. Many of the most effective rituals that last for many years, start as someone “just messing around.” Gathering is a creative practice. And I couldn’t be more excited to be in conversation with Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work!, and Keep Going, and a student and teacher of creative practice.

To join these Lives: Subscribe to GROUP LIFE and Substack will automatically send you a link to join when I go live. You can join right from your phone or desktop. The link will come from Substack so make sure you check your Spam folder. And if you don’t see it in your inbox, you can head to priyaparker.substack.com and the video will pop up. (Anyone can join these Lives, but starting in October, replays will only be available for paid subscribers.)

GROUP HELP Sessions (for GROUP LIFERS only):

📅 Wednesday, October 8 at 12pm EST
GROUP HELP Session: How to Get People Not to Flake (Step 1: Don’t be a flake yourself 😏)

Tired of planning a gathering only to have half the guest list bail? In this Group Help, I’ll show you how to set the tone so people actually show up—and want to.

📅 Wednesday, October 22 at 12pm EST
GROUP HELP Work Edition: The #1 Skill of Virtual Meetings: Creating Psychological Togetherness When You’re Not in the Same

This one’s about creating psychological togetherness online. It’s the new leadership skill of our time, and I’ll teach you how to do it.

To join these GROUP HELP Sessions: Become a GROUP LIFER and we’ll send you the RSVP links ahead of our sessions.