# About the Community Groups category **URL:** \ **Category:** Community Groups\ **Created:** [September 9, 2022, 8:24pm UTC](https://gov.near.org/t/about-the-community-groups-category/28628 "2022-09-09T20:24:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ori-near](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/gov.near.org/ori-near/32/39049_2.png) [@ori-near](https://gov.near.org/u/ori-near)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 8:24pm UTC](https://gov.near.org/t/about-the-community-groups-category/28628/1 "2022-09-09T20:24:36Z")
The community that has formed around NEAR is remarkable. In nearly every country, there are enthusiastic, creative, and savvy individuals using and building on NEAR. Many developer community groups have formed around shared ideas and passions for evolving the NEAR ecosystem. The [Developer Community Group section](http://gov.near.org/c/dev/community-groups/103) makes it easier to find such groups and learn best practices from others. * * * **Overview** Community Groups (CGs) are self-organized groups of people interested in a specific topic, such as Zero Knowledge or Wallet Standards. They are not controlled by anyone but the people organizing them. They offer a great opportunity to meet and discuss ideas with like-minded people. Most groups have a dedicated social channel, like Telegram, as well as regular video calls or in-person events. * * * **How to start a Community Group** 1. Identify purpose: Decide on an area of specialization, such as Python tools or Privacy. 2. Create a communication channel: Create a communication platform, such as a Telegram channel or mailing list, to help keep members informed. Tips: 3. Introduce group: Create a new forum thread on the [NEAR Gov Forum](http://gov.near.org/c/dev/community-groups/103). This will prompt the NEAR Developer Governance to add your group to its [website](https://www.neardevgov.org/) and to help people discover your group. 4. Build a core group: Seek an initial group of people who are interested in your topic. You can advertise your group in other existing CGs or general-purpose places like #NEAR Discord or Twitter. Some of the newsletters, like [https://twitter.com/NEARWEEK](https://twitter.com/NEARWEEK) can help with the initial announcement. Having even 10 people joining your initial group is a good start. 5. Encourage participation: Encourage participation and foster an environment of open discussion. Share your ideas and seed other topics. Use the Telegram group to present your initial thoughts and pitch your ideas. Engage in the conversation when others present their ideas and thoughts. 6. Plan events: Consider organizing the first community group meeting once you see some recurrent topics, deep technical discussions that you want to drill into, or topics that are hard to discuss over text. 7. Celebrate successes: Recognize the contributions of members and celebrate wins to encourage continued engagement. * * * **How to organize a Community Group meeting** 1. Invite the right people: Invite the key stakeholders you want to attend and propose a meeting time that works. 2. Set up meeting tool: Create a meeting invitation link, e.g Zoom or Google Hangout 3. Advertise the meeting: Announce the meeting several times in the CG communication channels. Post it on Twitter and tag @NEARDevGov for them to retweet it. 4. Run an effective meeting: 2-3 people attending besides yourself is already a win! 5. Follow up: Share the meeting summary and recording on your CG communication channels. And follow up on any action items. ---
**Author:** ![kiskesis](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/gov.near.org/kiskesis/32/47492_2.png) [@kiskesis](https://gov.near.org/u/kiskesis)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://gov.near.org/t/about-the-community-groups-category/28628/2 "2022-09-10T00:25:49Z")
[Near UA Guild](https://t.me/nearprotocolua) - developers/startup community from Ukraine. Creates announcements about ecosystem and development news. Language: Ukrainian [Introduction on forum](http://gov.near.org/t/introduction-near-protocol-ukraine-guild/20996) [Announcements](https://t.me/nearprotocoluachannel)