Member Since June 2021
Skills
About
Hugh Weber is a senior executive, network theorist, community organizer, and strategic advisor who counsels established leaders facing uncertainty across multiple industries including design, media, government, and business. After spending more than a decade leading political campaigns throughout the United States, Weber founded OTA, a cultural organization focused on connecting creative disciplines across North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota; and We Must Be Bold, a community design collective working with global brands to design relationships of impact. In 2019, he acquired The Great Discontent, a media company and thriving community featuring emerging artists, designers, and culture creators. Hugh Weber previously served on the National Board of AIGA, the professional organization for design, and the advisory board for Design for America, a network of campus studios that harnesses design to create local and social impact.
![Hugh Weber's avatar](/profile/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Fcco-avatars%2Fbccc4faf-233f-4ade-9fec-a825c6f7f9f2.png&w=128&q=75)
Hugh Weber
Published content
![Stop feeding the content beast and start planning a potluck](/profile/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.fastcompany.net%2Fimage%2Fupload%2Fw_1280%2Cf_auto%2Cq_auto%2Cfl_lossy%2Fwp-cms%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F11%2FStop-feeding-the-content-beast-and-start-planning-a-potluck.png&w=3840&q=75)
article
Instead of setting up a restaurant, you are inviting a specific subset of customers to a potluck.
![Why community design makes brand managers squirm](/profile/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.fastcompany.net%2Fimage%2Fupload%2Fw_1280%2Cf_auto%2Cq_auto%2Cfl_lossy%2Fwp-cms%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F09%2FWhy-community-design-makes-brand-managers-squirm.png&w=3840&q=75)
article
Overcoming these barriers is key to building transformational brand loyalty.
![Want a following of loyal fans? 15 ways to build an engaging customer community](/profile/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.fastcompany.net%2Fimage%2Fupload%2Fw_1280%2Cf_auto%2Cq_auto%2Cfl_lossy%2Fwp-cms%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F08%2FWant-a-following-of-loyal-fans_-15-ways-to-build-an-engaging-customer-community.png&w=3840&q=75)
expert panel
Building a successful brand is all about creating and engaging a community around your business. Loyal customers benefit a business’s bottom line, but avid fans can actively increase it. Not only are they loyal customers, but they will often share their passion with others and attract new customers to your business. The secret to creating genuine fans is not just providing an outstanding product or service (although that’s an essential first step). It’s building a community that draws them together based on the interests, values and vision they share with both you and each other. Fortunately, now that the public can easily learn more about you and your company online, building a community of fans is easier than ever before—if you take the right steps. Below, 15 members of Fast Company Executive Board share their best tips for building an engaging community for your customers.
Company details
We Must Be Bold
Company bio
We Must Be Bold is a statement of intent, a call to engage and a community design studio. We discover, design and launch communities for courageous people and the organizations they love. Our shared work includes a passionate community for cheese lovers, a movement to exonerate the wrongfully convicted, a platform sharing untold stories of creativity and a collective of individuals who design the systems, storylines and symbols that redesign our world for connection. The Great Discontent (TGD) is a media company and thriving community committed to celebrating the untold stories of today’s artists, makers and risk-takers. Focusing on beginnings, creativity, and risk, TGD provides a memorable look into the lives of creatives via long-form interviews in digital and print, short features, film-based projects, podcasts, and events. The Institute of Possibility (IOP) is a collective of individuals who design the systems, storylines, and symbols that inspire movements towards deep, generative connection. While our Guides have been recognized for their high achievement, we are united by our shared intentions rather than our individual accolades. Our unique perspectives on community amplify fierce commitments to diversity & inclusion, social entrepreneurship, and generational change.