From Audience to Community: Designing Events People Help Shape
NOTE: Right after this workshop, we are hosting an AI Hackathon for Event Operators at the same venue; you are welcome to stay with us the whole day! RSVP HERE
From Audience to Community: Designing Events People Help Shape
Thursday, 20 August 2026
9:45 am to 12:00 pm
What changes when we stop treating people as an audience and start designing an event with them as a community?
In this practical two-hour workshop, we will explore how community thinking can strengthen the experiences they already create. We will look beyond networking sessions and engagement tactics to consider how people can contribute, connect and develop a sense of shared ownership throughout the event journey.
Participants will examine an existing event or experience, identify where community is already present and find opportunities to involve people more meaningfully before, during and after the event.
They will leave with a clearer community purpose, practical ideas they can apply to their work and one small experiment they can test at an upcoming event.
Who it’s for
Conference and event producers, programme leads, community builders and anyone responsible for designing professional gatherings and participant experiences.
Workshop flow
9:45 am | Doors open and coffee
Arrive, meet the other participants and get settled.
10:00 am | What makes a group feel like a community?
We will begin by exploring what community means and the conditions that help people feel that they belong.
10:15 am | Audience, network and community
We will look at the differences between delivering content to an audience, connecting a network and creating the conditions for a community to form.
10:35 am | Mapping an event through a community lens
Participants will examine an existing event and identify where community is already present, where it is missing and where people could play a more active role.
11:00 am | Break
A 15-minute break.
11:15 am | Designing meaningful participation
We will explore ways to move beyond standard networking and give people a useful role in shaping the experience.
11:35 am | Applying the ideas to a real event
Participants will use the ideas from the workshop to develop one practical change or experiment for an event they are working on.
11:50 am | Ask Me Anything with Francisco Opazo
An open question-and-answer session about community-led experiences, participation and applying community thinking to event production.
12:00 pm | Close
Meet Your Host
Francisco Opazo
Growth & Community at Softr.io, Founder, Led by Community
Francisco Opazo is a community strategist and marketing leader with over 14 years of experience helping fast-growing startups grow through community-led strategies, demand generation, and strategic partnerships.
He is the Founder of Led by Community C.I.C., a UK-registered Community Interest Company that supports community professionals around the world through education, peer connection, and career development, with a thriving private network, cohort-based courses, and a year-round event series.
Francisco is the driving force behind Community Week, a global celebration of the community profession, featuring conferences in London, Toronto, Lisbon, and New York. These events bring together thousands of professionals each year to share ideas, strengthen their practice, and shape the future of community building.
His career includes leadership roles at high-growth platforms such as Circle.so, BuddyBoss, and Bettermode, where he helped scale revenue and engagement through community-first growth strategies.
Francisco also leads initiatives like Speaker Dream, an AI-powered platform for speaker and agenda management, and regularly hosts mentorship programmes, AMAs, and workshops for community professionals worldwide.
Based in London, Francisco is deeply committed to building people-first ecosystems where community leaders can connect, grow, and thrive.
About SpaceMade & Studio Y
Studio Y is built for the way modern businesses work today — flexible, collaborative and evolving.
We’ve designed a space that balances focus and connection, bringing together people across industries who are serious about what they do. It’s not about being everything to everyone, but about creating the right environment for people doing meaningful work.
More than just a coworking space, Studio Y brings together private studios, flexible offices, meeting rooms and shared workspace under one roof all within a thoughtfully designed setting and a supportive professional community.