S6 Ep4: Finding Community through Entertainment

Seattle Growth Podcast

Today’s episode features John Barr, founder of NHLtoSeattle. Barr shares the story of how his love of hockey evolved from a hobby newsletter to an expansive online community on Facebook and Twitter, to a rich Seattle community that brings people together to watch hockey and advocate for Seattle to join the ranks of NHL cities. Barr discusses what motivates him to pour his effort into the community and how he felt seeing Seattle realize his dream of being awarded an NHL franchise. Today’s episode also features Alex Grindeland, owner of CSZ Seattle. Grindeland describes how he was able to build and maintain a community of improve comedians. He shares how passion for improv comedy has evolved into a business that plays home to ComedySportz, a fast-paced comedy show pitting two teams of comedians against each other. To show just how important practice and skill are, he and host, Jeff Shulman, engage in the least funny improv of all time. If you are looking for a community that’s right for you, you just might find it in today’s episode of Seattle Growth Podcast. If you are looking to build your own community, you will hear lessons of how to start and nurture a group.