I know I owe y’all updates — and they’re coming — but I wanted to get this out of the way first because it shapes everything else I’m about to announce.

Over the past few months, I’ve been doing what every ERG leader does at some point: wrestling with my communications channels. What works, what doesn’t, what drains energy, and what actually moves the community forward.

And after a lot of trial, and talking myself through my own patterns… I finally landed on clarity.

The Big Realization: I Can’t Be Everything to Everyone

I’ve been reminding ERG leaders for years that trying to make everyone happy is a fast track to pleasing no one. And then, I quietly broke that rule behind the scenes.

I tried to make the ERG Champs community accessible from every direction. I tested, migrated, rebuilt, redesigned — and with every platform shift, I learned the same lesson again and again:

A communications platform only works if people are already there, or if the value is so high that they’ll show up anyway.

That last piece — value — is the one we never talk about enough.

Internal vs. External Communities Are Not the Same

Inside a company, you have built-in context, built-in reasons for employees to connect, and built-in visibility. ERGs can thrive on Slack, Teams, or Viva because members are already there every day.

External communities? Totally different game.

People only go to external platforms when the experience is worth the trip.

And while I’ve built powerful live programming and consistent education, I realized the community platforms themselves were not adding enough value to justify the cognitive load.

That’s when it clicked.

The Hard Pivot: I’m Retiring our Community Platform (For Now)

This was not an easy call — but it’s the right one.

I’m officially retiring the external communications platform the ERG Champs community has been on. Not because community doesn’t matter — it matters deeply — but because the platform wasn’t serving the purpose I built this movement for.

I’m not replacing it with another high-lift, high-maintenance system.

I’m simplifying.

That means:

• More meaningful live sessions

• Stronger newsletters + async strategy

• More ways to learn without juggling multiple platforms

• Clarity over complexity

And yes — something new is coming. Because I’m not just removing something. I’m making space for something better.

Introducing… ERGs.io

This is the part I’m most excited about.

The future of this community — and honestly, the future of the entire ERG space — is about to change. ERGs.io is becoming our home base. Not as “another community platform,” but as a one-stop shop for ERG leaders and Program Managers:

• Programming inspiration

• Vendor discovery and booking

• Searchable idea libraries

• And much more coming down the pipeline and FAST

And yes, ERG leaders will be able to join for free.

For me, this is about creating a tool that actually makes ERG work easier— whether you’re a leader or a Program Manager. I’m finally giving myself permission to build the ERG everything I always envisioned — even when someone once told me “that’s not enough.”

Turns out… it absolutely is.

The Bottom Line

I’m retiring the external community platform (heartbeat). I’m doubling down on the live events and async content you already love. I’m also pouring everything into ERGs.io — because it solves the actual problems you face every day.

This is the next chapter. And trust me: it’s going to be so much better.

Before You Go… ERG Week Is Here 🎉

And we’re celebrating properly.

ERG Week ’25 — November 17–21

Here’s what we’ve got lined up:

• Monday: ERG Day LinkedIn Blitz

• Tuesday: Founders Day (Thank an ERG Founder)

• Wednesday: Thank an ERG PM Day

• Thursday: Thank an Exec Sponsor Day

• Friday: The official ERGs.io launch party

Plus three powerful sessions:

• Black History Month Planning Session

• Women’s History Month Planning Session

• Leveraging AI & Automation in ERG Work (with EPOCH!)

PLUS our first Friday call for December will be a huge end of year celebration and ERGs.io Launch Party 🎉 12/5 from 12pm-2pm EST

More to come!

• The ERG Homegirl