Community by Design: The Essential Foundation Framework

Community planning doesn’t start at launch. It starts the moment you define its purpose and role in your customer experience.

In this session, Izzy Neis, Head of Digital at ModSquad, and Heather Wendt, Senior Community Strategist at Higher Logic, walk through the full arc of community building, from early structure and investment decisions to the day-to-day work of sustaining engagement over time.

They cover the moments that shape member experience but often get overlooked, like registration flows, designing for connection (not just content), and creating scalable systems that don’t burn out your team.

Topics include:

• The early choices that shape how your community grows and who it serves
• Small onboarding moments that lead to stronger long-term engagement
• What sustainable support for community managers really looks like
• How to build a steady rhythm of participation through content, events, and interaction
• How to read behavior and sentiment to know when it’s time to evolve