Switchboard Hearts: Reflections

What a trip this has been! In just four short weeks, we visited Chicago, Oberlin, and New York City; threw four different parties; met individually with close to 20 people; and talked with more than a hundred. We met current students, recent grads, older alumni, wheelwomen, Switchboard operators, school administrators, and community managers. We made old friends and new ones. Veteran Switchboarders and Switchboarders-to-be hosted us, fed us, and shared their stories.

In one month, across the span of the midwest and northeast, we met with these hundred or so users, supporters, and friends—members of the Switchboard family. Whenever you step out of your office and into your community, when you open your ears to your users and build on your relationships with friends and customers, you are bound to learn something. It turns out you learn a lot, perhaps more than you know at the time. We wanted to share a few of our favorite lessons with all of you.

We learned that Switchboard is something people can believe in. It isn’t every day that you ask your users to let you buy them coffee and they come knocking down your door with their success stories, their feedback, and their overwhelming support. More than a few people who told us that they “loved Switchboard and would be happy to do whatever they can to help.” It might be because, as one user said “It’s not always about achieving the task [of your ask or offer] but about connecting with people.” Or it could be because Switchboard, as one young alumni put it, “helped [them] be less afraid about life.” But for all of the praise our users had for us, we can return it twicefold. We are so lucky to be able to say that our users are some of the most thoughtful, brave, generous and optimistic people we know. Across the board, the Switchboard family is a family of doers, builders, and helpers—every single one of them.

Our customers have told us that Switchboard is special because it can be integrated into almost everything they do. They love it because Switchboard lets their community define success for themselves. And they embrace Switchboard because they understand that most good things emerge from strong relationships. Whether these are the relationships between students and professors, older alumni and recent grads, peers sharing with peers, or between people anywhere that share your passions and experiences, these relationships are what build communities. We are immensely grateful to have found partners in academic administrators and in individual community leaders who completely believe in what we do.

From our mentors we have learned that there will never be a substitute for the human touch. In spite of membership numbers in the millions, companies like Etsy, Kickstarter, and Meetup continue to support their users with dedicated community managers every day. After talking with our friends, we can confirm that maintaining a high quality of community involves talking directly with people, listening to what they need, and showing appreciation for their contributions. At Switchboard we are human first. It’s in our writing, it’s in our customer support, it’s in the way we appreciate our users, and it’s in the standards of care and connection we set for all of our communities. And we have yet to be let down. Care begets care. Generosity leads to generosity. Be more human than company, and you won’t have a user-base, but a family.

If every Switchboard is greater than the sum of its parts, then Switchboard the company, the dream, is greater than the sum of each of our individual communities. We are nothing but for you. Here at HQ we are trying to build a house, and you have made it a home. And what a bustling and productive home it is! The Switchboard Hearts tour may have come to an end, but you fill our hearts constantly. The parties are over, but we want to carry the spirit of celebration and of appreciation through every year. If you are in Portland, I invite you to reach out and join me for a cup of coffee. Send us your thoughts, your hopes. Send us a postcard, a love letter, or list of ways we can improve (you can reach us here). A home is a place with an open door. We’d love it if you stopped in to say hi!

Switchboard Goes to NYC to Engage Oberlin Alumni

Last week’s Oberlin Switchboard party was something special. We not only had an incredible turnout, a great location, and free flowing beer and food, but were also joined by Switchboard’s CEO, Mara Zepeda. After falling in love with Oberlin during my campus visit, I was confident that a gathering of Obies would impress her as much as they had impressed me. And sure enough, more than 25 Obies joined us at the lower east side’s Hill & Dale for pitchers of beer, fresh oysters and celebration and nearly knocked our socks off with how awesome they all were.

With over 40 years between the oldest and the youngest alumni, the range of experience and interest in the room was almost dizzying. There were Japanese cooks and restaurateurs, international publishers, real estate agents, programmers, radio journalists, political organizers, entrepreneurs and even the future president of the United States. There were experienced Switchboard askers and offerers, success loggers, helpful commenters and total newbies. Our happy hour celebration perfectly encapsulated the dream of Switchboard, to bring members of the Oberlin community, all ages, interests, skills, and experiences, together in one space to share and connect.

The overwhelming consensus seems to be that Obies don’t just aspire, they do. From talking to them in person and from watching them connect on Switchboard, I have come to add another important quality to their reputation. Obies are unbelievably helpful. In the last week alone I met so many warm, generous and active alumni and a couple of cases really stood out:

Kristen ‘04 asked the Switchboard for help with her new fashion company and was directed to Oberlin’s own small business accelerator, Launch U. Switchboard helping Obies help Obies start companies! I love it.

I met another young Obie at the happy hour who had chimed into the now famous “law school post” to share her insight, taking the opportunity to add her voice to the 16+ person conversation about the merits (or demerits) of law school. Just going to show that every bit of help helps!

During the week, I met with Evan ‘14 who found his current internship at Columbia’s School of Journalism through the father of another Obie. We absolutely love when parents can be part of the network.

I also met with Naomi ‘14, who joined forces with two other alumni to create a web development collective, and who have been building things for Obies (like your homepage!).

The Oberlin Switchboard may have only been around for a few short months but the Oberlin community gets it like it was what they were born to do. From its first breath, the Switchboard has been a thriving hub for compassion and connection across generations, time-zones and disciplines. We couldn’t have been more grateful to cap our Switchboard Hearts tour with a final party for the Oberlin community!

Switchboard Hearts Oberlin!

It’s true, we love them.

This last week we visited the place from which all Obie magic originates. It was such a treat to get to know the campus responsible for shaping the Oberlin community during their four years and beyond. As Switchboard’s first institutional customer outside of Oregon, we are so glad we got to include them in the Switchboard Hearts Tour.

Some highlights from our visit:

We hand wrote thank you cards for every current student who was among the first 100 Obies to sign up for Switchboard last May. We stayed up into the wee hours of the night writing and delivered them to their mailstops the next morning. We got to meet one of these students later in the week who thanked us for such a beautiful card.

Each night we posted up in the library cafe and handed out candy, cards and stickers to students interested in Switchboard. Besides being grateful for a study-break sugar kick and free swag, everyone we talked to was genuinely excited by the site. Our favorite response, however, was a student who came up to us and said “Oh Switchboard, I think my dad just tweeted at me about this.” That’s a cool dad!

Other students told us that of all the senior resources they’d heard about, Switchboard was their favorite so far. Another just exclaimed “Oh, f*cking cool!” The folks who stuck around a little longer were kind enough to tell us a little about themselves. For every interest and need they shared, we encouraged them to “Switchboard it!” New asks started popping up in real time.

From the other side of our visit, we had an awesome meeting with Oberlin’s Career Services office. Recognizing that “careers” emerge from experimentation, exploration, and chance as much if not more often than from formal “networking” we began thinking about what keywords the career center should set alerts for. Richard Berman, director of Career Services showed his Oberlin expertise when he suggested setting an alert for “the man,” as in, “I don’t want to work for the man.” More seriously, Richard is captivated by the word “curious.” I’d say reaching out to curious Obies on Switchboard is the perfect way to help!

Since launching just a few months ago, the Oberlin Switchboard now boast 750 helpful Obies and counting. With nearly 300 asks and offers, it can be seen as a kind of mirror, reflecting back the image of an active, passionate, and generous community for all to see. Even more exciting is that the success stories are already rolling in. It’s clear you can count on Obies to help Obies - all you have to do is ask.

After a bittersweet departure, the Switchboard Hearts Tour continues on to New York City. We’ll be throwing a little party to celebrate our members in the Big Apple in the coming weeks so keep your eyes open for an invite! We’re looking forward to meeting you!