What organizers can do to be more approachable

In our work with the beatbox community we have noticed a common complaint of people towards the community. Organizers seem too unapproachable to many people. So here is what organizers can do to be more approachable.

Have a representative for community development or safety

Having one person that is interacting with the community a lot already and that seems approachable is important. Showing that people can talk to this person if something is wrong – in the form of feedback or reports – can be very helpful to have a better connection to the community as an organizer. Ideally having that person trained in de-escalation as well as by an organization like RAINN will improve their skill set as well. 

Have ways to contact you about issues and make clear those exist

It is important that every organization has an email address and/or phone number that people can easily reach out to. Especially during events this should be monitored even more. Some organizations have these forms of contact but don‘t make them clear anywhere before and after events especially. That way many people are left to deal with what happened alone. If a smaller organization doesn‘t have the capacity for handling this, they can contact us at Beatbox Safe Space and talk about using us as a point to refer to for reports.

Interacting with both artists and fans publicly & supportively

It‘s important to interact with both artists and fans publicly and supportively. This should not always be commercially driven or very corporate. Genuine connection to the community is driven by interaction for non-promotional purposes. Replying to excited fans and commenting under an artist’s independent post makes everyone feel like an organizer is more approachable. With smaller artists it can also be the push to keep going, so this is not only about being approachable.

Having a public-facing code of conduct for your organization

It is important for people to know that there is a process for reports an organizer is getting. That way someone unsure can report with the knowledge of the guidelines and feel less afraid of how their situation will be handled. Making it clear that a code of conduct exists is also essential. Having it linked in the footer section of the organization’s website and mentioning it in FAQs & Social Media highlights is simple and easy. You can contact us for a template code of conduct or check if it is available on our „Resources“ page.

Improve communication within the community

A big issue in the community is communication or rather the lack thereof. It is important to expect good communication and boundaries from artists and also practice these things yourself. Misunderstandings, rumors and resentment are the community‘s biggest core issues, which is sad when we think about the fact that hip hop was made as a form of communication. It‘s also important to connect to other organizations about issues and mistakes. That way all organizations grow faster and handle difficult situations better.

Ask for feedback from the community every now and then

More importantly, act on the most common threads in the feedback you get. If people supporting you feel like they can‘t suggest things to make their experience better, they will feel like an organization isn‘t approachable. Sometimes changes aren‘t possible, but being open and honest about why is usually a plus in the eyes of a community. Just another reason why communication is key.

What organizers can do to be more approachable is obviously not limited to these points, but we were heavily inspired by feedback we got for Safe Space as well as most of the bigger organizers in the beatbox community.