The Observatory #3: Hot takes and cool tools for building community remotely 
Tags: devrel, community
Published: 2020-03-24 22:54:21

---
title: The Observatory #3: Hot takes and cool tools for building community remotely 
published: true
description: 
tags: devrel, community 
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/yjy2bui81fyjqeie69wi.png
---

As community leaders grapple with the fallout from cancelled events worldwide, tons of folks have shared in-depth guides and tutorials for ways to move events online. 

Below, we've pulled together a few shorter reads—call them hot takes and cool tools—that bring a unique perspective to the conversation and hopefully inspire some creativity and energy for your own communities. 

### 🏎️ On the move 

*But first, our regular round-up of comings and goings in the DevRel and Community space. Have a tip for us? Drop a note to observatory@orbit.love.*

* [ Stefan Judis](https://twitter.com/stefanjudis) joins **Contentful** as head of DevRel from Twilio [(more)](https://twitter.com/stefanjudis/status/1242409366088749059).
* [Vishwa Mehta](https://twitter.com/VishwaMehta30) joins **Hasura** as as Community Associate [(more)](https://twitter.com/VishwaMehta30/status/1241940479534497793).
* [Domitrius Clark](https://twitter.com/domitriusclark) joins **Cloudinary** as Advocate Engineer [(more)](https://twitter.com/domitriusclark/status/1242149259916476418). 

### The 🔥 takes and ❄️ tools

Have you tried [AuxParty](https://auxparty.com/)? It's a super fun social listening room where you can enjoy music live-curated by others, or step up to the DJ booth yourself. 

👌 Try spinning-up a room and asking community members to take turns DJing throughout the workday. 

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/yjy2bui81fyjqeie69wi.png)

Speaking of jams, TIL how to add a little ambiance to status meetings: 

{% twitter 1241120485397549056 %}

I for one am looking forward to surprising, even delighting, our community members with unexpected background music on future calls. 

The biggest question now will be how to pair Zoom background *music* with the perfect Zoom background *image.* To spruce up your space, [check out this Zoom background gallery from Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/collections/1887152/zoom-backgrounds) 🖼️

While we're at it, I'd like to give [Josh](https://twitter.com/dzello) a shoutout for always staying way ahead of the curve, and using Zoom backgrounds well before they were cool: 

{% twitter 1204438096214818816 %}

On a more serious note, as more events move online, though, organizers need to stay vigilant against bad actors. As we've seen, lots of folks are hosting large Zoom events without realizing these potential risks, so here's a 🧵 about how to configure Zoom for community safety: 

{% twitter 1240073789586714626 %}

Finally, everyone's trying to figure out how online events can create the impact of their offline counterparts. For many, the answer seems to be something like, "The same great content, _now online!_" 

**But David Spinks challenges community leaders to reimagine events for our new online reality:** 

{% twitter 1238207050410319872 %}

I hope you've enjoyed these tips and takes. If you've come across something interesting or useful we should share, please post in the comments. 

### 📐 Measure your community with this Orbit Model Airtable template

![Orbit Model Template](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/n8h7zw1qsqa83xi736xq.png)

Measuring community ROI has always been a crucial topic among DevRel and community practitioners, but with the specter of tightening budgets on the horizon, the best teams will find ways to clearly demonstrate their impact. 

That's why we made this detailed Airtable template to help communities measure their impact, communicate their value, and focus on what's working for their communities. 

> [Read the blog post and download the template](https://orbit.love/blog/introducing-the-orbit-model-airtable-template) 🚀

### What tips or resources have we left out?

Share your own advice for building remote community in the comments below, and **please reach out to us at observatory@orbit.love if we can be helpful in any way** 💜

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### 🗞️ Previous editions 
* [The Observatory #2: What's in it forum me?](https://dev.to/orbit/the-observatory-2-what-s-in-it-forum-me-pd2)
* [The Observatory #1: High Gravity](https://dev.to/orbit/the-observatory-1-high-gravity-4kp2)

**Don't miss the next edition of The Observatory 🔭**
* [Subscribe here](https://orbit.love/subscribe) to get an email for each new edition.
* [Follow Orbit](https://dev.to/orbit) on DEV to see all of our posts.