ChazEevee: "Community isn't babysitting Discord"

Waking up in the cold, lol! Every day I wake up between 7-8am, refill my water bottle, make some coffee, give myself time to relax and ease into my day before 9am where I get into what I need to do for the day.

I think working at Apple really solidified my sort of approach to work. I always want to make everything as personable as possible. If I'm the community manager of a project, that's just a title for me. I still want to be in general chat welcoming everyone and saying hi/supporting best I can. At the Apple Store, the store owner I worked for would help greet people at the door and people never knew their title lol. Also full time streaming on Twitch made live events really special to me. I love to create amazing, intimiate, memorable moments that people can share in and remember as they continue in their lives.

It was Winter 2020 I believe, but I was in a dark place and I was desperate for something new. I followed a YouTuber called Sri Akarshana and actually ended up minting two of his "Creator" NFTs. The people I met from that community were pretty wonderful, but the experience scared me at first because I thought I was getting caught in a huge scam lol.

The mint was .333 ETH each at the time, luckily I sold for 1 ETH later down the line so I made a bag there. After that project I found a community called Techie Club, and this would be where I'd begin my web3 career experience.

Honestly I find so much enjoyment in connecting with people, to the point that it doesn't feel like work. When Re's community was flourishing, every day didn't even feel like work. I was so happy to support everyone's content, while creating fun events for people to join in - and also give creative freedom to whatever the community wanted to implement as long as it was feasible.

The culture before the big shift was big to me. I made sure to appreciate and acknowledge every single volunteer helper & our community members as well. Just the moments of me chatting in general chat, connecting with people and getting them to learn more about Re, in those small moments I really felt like I was having a blast.

The perfect web3 community is one with the most creative freedom - and the discord has to not be strict at all. I always love an open environment where anyone is able to express their thoughts/ideas without being "clowned on".

Community and connections is always key. (And this helps you find work down the line too) Despite all of the major shifts that happened, I'll never forget the meaningful connections I've made - and I happily still get to connect and mingle with people that were there when I was active.

I wish founders understood the nuances of what community builders do and go through. To them, it might look like we're just babysitting the community chat - but there's so many layers to this.

Whether it be discord security, setting up bots, hosting live events like AMAs/server events, supporting and taking care of volunteer mods and relaying information from the team to the volunteers/community, ect.

I remember doing so much and I loved doing it too. It's just unfortunate that my feedback wasn't as valued over an investor that had millions more in his pocket than me. (all I had to offer was 5 years of web3 communtiy experience)

Honestly, I'm trying to find that sort of opportunity where I can create what we lost. It truly was special to me - and this might sound biased, but I believe we really did have one of the best web3 communities at the time.

If another project in web3 or web2 ever takes me in, my goal will be to take them to greater heights than what I did for Re. and at Re, I built that community from 3k to 120k members, so I know I can do better.

Might be cheesy as hell, but "wherever the winds take me" I know there's a project/community out there that really wants and needs what I have to offer.

I want people to know that despite being a volatile uncertain industry, web3 still has positivies to it. Real people, real connections, real activities. I remember feeling so alive in my role at Re, what we had was special. That sort of community with open expression, creative freedom - it exists out there.

Volunteering is the best way to get your foot in the door. When I did my first gig for Techie Club in 2021, I was actually a volunteer for a year - and then before the founders decided to quit the project they paid me about $400, but that $400 was a start and a belief check ngl, like oh okay so people really do value what I do here and I can possibly look for better opportunities with people who really need what I offer.

Also, connections are 100% key. Every single time I got a paid gig in web3 it was always from someone that referred me, unfortunate but that gives you an edge these days if you have a reference. Always create genuine connections. You never know where opportunities will come up.

Favorite web2 product: Steam. As a gamer, I love using steam as my main platform for gaming these days. and those holiday sales are amazing lol.

favorite non-crypto hobby: I like playing my guitar and ukulele from time to time.

Infinite funding: I would re-create what Techie Club lost - a project that trains people for gigs in web3, while getting their portfolios ready and helps them look for active openings as well. Basically a web3 LinkedIN