Written by Olabode Otolorin (ViewsfromtheBod)

On the 3rd of June. I had received a call as early as 7:00am from ElPhemo. The previous night was a lengthy one, one spent in front of an HP laptop, and so when my phone vibrated that morning, I hadn’t even woken up. The screen read the caller ID as “Bee,” and I wondered who this was.
Talking gently, the raspy voice on the other end was ecstatic.

“Hello Bode, this is Femi.”

I already knew what had happened.
The previous night was filled with cruise. I had decided to hop into the COLOGENY group to know what was going on as I saw messages trooping in. Closed my laptop and laid on my bed. The land of COLOGENY beckoned to me.

A message from IBK, had prompted people to nominate their desired choice for the next CM, and the usual thing Bode will do at that point is to put up a friend. Before I dropped my comment, no one had put me up.

“Duayosam.” My choice.

What came in next indicated I might have made a wrong choice by commenting at that critical moment. In a rush, members typed my name. Swiftly, Pablo began an election campaign. Bro was leading the charge like he was being paid. My heartbeat tripled. I didn’t want this, God please. Yet I was unafraid.

“Guy, people will vote in other nominees.”
But they didn’t. So when El Phemo asked that morning if I was accepting the position. I couldn’t refuse. The people wanted me.
The next 30 days proved to be a daunting task, but here are the lessons I learnt.

1. People Will Engage If They Can Relate
   The first two days had me confused. What will I do to sustain the work laid by previous CMs. How will I implement my own idea into this group? A conversation with Naima on the third day eased my worries. “Just have fun” was the key phrase. And I did. A music Q&A happened that day and got everyone talking. Afterward, I reasoned, people might not be engaging, perhaps they don’t understand or can’t relate to what’s being discussed. But music? Everyone listens to that. And that was what birthed Colo Music Fest.
2. People will accomplish a task if there’s a reward
   You’ve maybe put up an investment image just because the CEO promised a reward. “5k for ten people who retweet this”. Not done any of this? But I know there are chances you’ll stop working for your company if your boss says “We can’t pay you for the next one month, we ran into a loss”.
   I get that people are always tired after a long day at work. They most times come to WhatsApp to catch cruise and relieve the stress. I understood these pain points. To make sure community members take part, I had to attach a reward to appreciate their efforts. On the eve of the newsletter launch, we needed retweets and engagements on a tweet. I made a promise of a special gift to the first 50 people. Did it work? Yes. But it couldn’t be a sustainable strategy.
3. You Can Have Ideas, But Execution Is Key
   At the start, I had ideas running through my mind. “We can do this thing this way,” but then I won’t end up doing it. Execution was my bane.
   It was then I realised how many ideas and strategies we keep drawing up as individuals, but are we executing?
4. You Can’t Do It Alone; You’ll Need People.
   The first week in office had me running mad. I would conceive an idea. The board will sit on it and pass their opinions. The reformed idea will then be communicated to the graphic designers.
   You see. This is where we have issues. Don Genius and Elijah are scarcely available because of 9-5 and individual projects. But then, they come through to save me most times.
5. There are some fine girls in that group who rarely talk
   Duayosam made this discovery.

What was your most interesting activity in June in the community? How many ladies do you know on the group? Feel free to share your views in the comments section.

Written by Olabode Otolorin (ViewsfromtheBod)