Building community in public, for fifteen years

What I learned running Refresh Miami from a 30-person meetup into a 10,000-member ecosystem — and why the playbook still works in 2026.

A 30-minute talk on the long, unsexy work of building a tech community in a city that didn't have one. Covers the original Refresh Miami thesis, the three near-death moments, the volunteer-leadership model that finally stuck, and what I'd do differently if I were starting today.

What you'll get out of it

A repeatable cadence for the first 18 months of any community

Why "free + good content" beats "paid + great speakers" almost every time

The two metrics I actually watched (neither of them is headcount)

Watch on youtube