Are you on Clubhouse yet? Clubhouse (www.joinclubhouse.com) is a new and engaging way to speak with new connections around the community and world. It can be a wonderful way to find new clients, resources and partners to grow your business. Global Chamber® has been in Clubhouse the past few months, and now our presence is primarily through the “Global Tribe Club,” with rooms being hosted one to five times a week. Join us!
What is Clubhouse? It’s a way to jump into a virtual room with a group of other people from anywhere in the world to talk about pretty much anything. It’s voice only — so don’t worry about how you look at the time or what you’re doing. I often work and listen at my desk. As I’m writing this article, I’m in a Club called “The Rundown” and the title of the room is “Crypto Talk: Dogecoin, Bitcoin, Eth, Shiba… All Are Down!” with 525 other people. Each person in the room is shown in a static picture on my iPhone as either on the stage or in the audience, and the audience is further segregated by those who are followed by people on the stage and the general audience who are not yet followed by anyone on the stage. Only the people on the stage can talk, usually one after the other, in a conversation. Anyone in the audience can raise their hand to speak, and one of the moderators on stage can bring anyone up to speak and or ask a question. It’s better to have a solid profile when you raise your hand so they know you’ll be a respectful speaker and not a troll. You are also able to click on any picture of people in the room and see what they’ve written there. Unlike other social media forums, in Clubhouse you can actually hear people speak and have a conversation, most still in English.
Some of the rooms held last month by Global Chamber in the Global Tribe Room are illustrative of what our members wish to hear. Those topics were “Fearless Global Leadership,” “Effective Global Expansion,” “Business Opportunities in Latin America,” “How to Use LinkedIn in Global Business Development” and “How to Stay Innovative in the Post-COVID Global Business Environment.” Listen or engage — it’s up to you. If I’m working, I’ll stay in the audience and listen; If the topic is interesting and I want to say something, I raise my hand.
Trolling is not allowed, and trolls are reported by other users. They will be reviewed and kicked off the platform. Also, as you might imagine, if you’re in any room on any topic with men and women and people of different styles and cultures, conversations can heat up and get a little interesting in both good and bad ways. There are general ground rules of letting each person complete their thought with no interrupting. There are non-business rooms, too — and so imagine any topic with anyone on the stage, talking it through. One recent room about Israelis and Palestinians got a little heated. I heard that politics was not allowed, but some of the early rooms with people from China were centered on politics — and the Chinese government quickly banned Clubhouse. I stay mostly in the business rooms, but where you go will be up to you.
Jump in and follow the Global Tribe Club and check out our talks on global business. Follow our CEO Doug Bruhnke at @dougbruhnke and the Global Tribe Club, too.
Yvonne Luker is managing director of Global Chamber®.
