Community is born from complementary behaviors
If each individual’s identity is unique and profound, after years of talking to our community, going to parties and festivals with them, we begin to get a little idea of the different “tribes” that make up the ecosystem.
Our mission has always been to be as close as possible to the needs of each of these party people, to respond to their needs and desires. Whether on the Shotgun app, on shotgun.live, or recently on Disdancing. To do so, we have to start defining and understanding them.
The digger
He’s a direct descendant of the gold diggers. Today we’ve gone from gold to nuggets - “pépite” in French. His absolute enjoyment: finding it. Whether it’s the latest acid track with less than 200 views on YouTube, the most forbidden free party of the weekend, or, more generally, the best gig of the week, the digger is one of the engines of the events and music ecosystem. He invests his time. His activity is life-saving for the group, which will later benefit from his upstream work. As a faithful watchman, a party scholar, I would like to pay homage to the diggers here.
The digger is one of the engines of the events and music ecosystem
By definition, the digger knows and uses all discovery platforms to have a complete vision of what is available to him. Aware of this, at Shotgun, whether it is on the application, or recently on Disdancing, one of our fundamental work axes is to make the digger’s task as efficient and straightforward as possible. Simplicity makes a behavior. And the digger is fiercely demanding. He doesn’t choose events on a single criterion: it’s not just about the DJ. It’s the combination of a lineup, a place (warehouse, club, open-air), an ambiance, the vibe, the format…
Simplicity makes a behavior
The vibe-maker
I admit the name isn’t crazy, but that’s what they are. They’re the vector between the digger and the rest of the world. Indeed, the digger, once the nugget is found, leaves, hard at work. The vibe-maker is a leverage effect. He has a double cap: he transmits, and he inspires. He’s the kind of guy who buys 5 early releases tickets and leaves little choice to his group of friends. He’s also the one who will like the “I’m Participating” on a friend’s response to an event on Facebook, but he’s also the one who’s going to freak out if he sees just a simple “Interested.” If by misfortune, he sees an “I’m not participating” on his timeline, he may sink out of despair.
The vibe-maker is a leverage effect between the digger and the group
Tribute to the Vibe-Maker. We don’t realize their fundamental importance. The amount of energy they spend. Like sheepdogs, they work hard to get the group together, from buying tickets to getting the Uber that takes that same group to after-parties. Event organizers should (some do it via the PR system) thank them.
Next comes the “crew”, the group, which is protean by nature
How to describe the “crew” is probably the hardest of all three categories. I’ll give it a shot:
it is the faithful companions, the vibe-makers’ close gang
the neophytes who gradually discover the ecosystem, feel the burning flame of the beginner, a hunger for sensations that makes them follow the vibe-makers identified as the most relevant
those who let themselves go, and to their credit, stroll around
finally, the crew is the beautiful mixture composed by the singularities of a single group, which then exists as a physical person. Once created, the group exists as such. Moves as such. Dances as such. Goes as such to the after-party.
Once created, the group exists as a physical person. Moves as such. Dances as such. Goes as such to the after-party.
Of course, we all navigate between these categories, which are more sociological categories that simplify reality than eternal organic truths.
On the other hand, one of our challenges at Shotgun is to propose solutions adapted to the categories we observe. To each of these people corresponds a palette of desires, pleasures and needs. Our mission is to respond to them.
I will finish with the different questions we ask ourselves on this subject:
how to make the digger’s job easier? How to congratulate him, how to reward him for finding THE nugget? How to materialize this reward?
how to help the digger, but also the ambiance-maker, to simply spread the word to their buddy community?
how to help them organize themselves, individually or in groups?
how to simplify the relationship between ambiance-makers and the group?
how to increase group dynamics tenfold? How to simplify one’s life?
You think you could help solve those questions? Either on the product development side or the engineering side? Good! We’re hiring PM & engineers :)
Please reach out -> tristan@shotgun.live