Back in July, I received an invite to the new, invite-only social audio network, Clubhouse. I worked hard to engage the rooms… but they seemed to only be at most inconvenient times when people weren’t at work or with family, which was during dinner time and late through the night. So, I shelved the platform for a few months and turned off its notifications.
4 months later, I took the platform off the shelf and re-engaged.
I came back to a very different platform than when I left. The demographics had shifted considerably from what seemed to be a venture capital, start-up community talking about investing and start-up’s to a community that shifted to fashion, culture, music, cannabis and more. I was excited to see this shift and was immediately cast into rooms hearing from Virgil Abloh talking about his design ethos or Jerry Lorenzo on the day it was announced he was going to Adidas. The aperture of the experience had widened considerably and I was psyched.
Until now, Clubhouse is different than other platforms in many ways. People seem to be gracious with their experience, knowledge and perspectives much more than other social platforms. Celebrities, pro athletes, recognizable executives and others don’t hide behind a fake profile and are open to mixing it up with common folk. Where else can this happen? The platform is what you make of it by deciding who to follow, which rooms you engage, what topics you follow and what you seek to learn. I am a big proponent of keeping mastermind and mentor groups, and so far, Twitter has been the platform for how I’ve done this on social media but even then that’s an anonymous, less spontaneous platform. On Clubhouse, I can drop into a room discussing venture capital and listen to a person like Jason Calacanis and then switch over to a room discussing the future of the cannabis business from a CEO like Al Harrington and jot down some investing or product development tips.
But above all, I am using the platform to have open discussions about the culture of hockey and our efforts to promote and build a more diverse and inclusive game at all levels. In fact, what’s crazy is that there hasn’t been any hockey discussions on the platform that I’ve been able to find and we may have had the first one last night with Anson Carter, Jamal Mayers and others discussing the NHL’s efforts. Our goal is to have the most active and powerful hockey discussion on Clubhouse and tapping into the wisdom of this crowd to bring ideas and solutions to the table to advance the agenda. Club Hockey Culture jumps off at 6ET Friday’s on Clubhouse with myself, Anson Carter, Jamal Mayers and many guests each week. It will be an open room where we will be seeking ideas from the audience.
Clubhouse is different because at any given moment of any given day we can choose to learn from incredible people from all around the world with a real voice to voice discussion and we can share our ideas and thoughts freely at the same time. If you have a growth mindset and seek to learn always, this platform will become addictive to you and if you live with someone they will constantly be asking you why you are on a conference call at 10pm or 6am…. :)