Member Newsletter #22

Hello, friends!

There is an abundance of fun things happening at our internet outpost. Here’s what’s what.

Milestone approaching

In June, we celebrate Uncommon’s 4th birthday and the 150th dispatch! It’s been amazing to watch this community take root. You are an essential part of this story. Thanks for joining, inviting, replying, cheering, dreaming, and making this possible.

We’ll share more about this milestone, along with contributions from a few of you, in the upcoming dispatches. After #150, the dispatch will be for you, the members of Uncommon. Of course, we’ll still have a monthly newsletter for people who want to sample Uncommon before they join.

We’d love to hear your wishes for the next edition of the dispatch! What do you want to never change and what would do you want to add? Just hit reply to share ideas.

Homepage refresh

We’ve finished the text and overall design for our new homepage. A huge thanks to everyone who has helped! Next, we'll finalize a few design details and lovely illustrations, then release it in time for our birthday party :)

Prompts

The addition of Prompts in Stacks has been wonderful. When you stop by the site, you’re welcomed by a curated collection of cards, which might include the story behind someone’s favorite thing, an introduction to a new member, a thoughtful prompt reply, or a prompt.

It’s a chance to reflect and reply whenever you visit. You may discover a prompt you missed or one that you only now have an answer for.

We’re also starting to add prompts that aren’t tied to a specific dispatch.

Table for Six

The missing piece of Uncommon’s online home is conversation. Table for Six will bring that conversation to the front porch.

Over the past few months, we’ve enjoyed Table for Six in an uncommon way - through telephone calls with a group of members from around the world. These have been a highlight for me and many of the people who’ve taken part.

We’ll continue to do these one-of-a-kind chats, but we want anyone to be able to take part whenever they want. Which means bringing Table for Six to life on the site.

We've been talking through what this will look like and couldn't be more excited. When you first join, you're welcomed to a Table of neighbors, a home for ongoing conversation and new friendships. You stop by Uncommon and join a new Table that just started on one of your favorite topics. On another visit, you decide to start one yourself.

We want to create space for the best conversation online. There are many interesting ideas for how to encourage and support that, and we can't wait to explore them, but there's only one essential ingredient that will make these conversations truly uncommon, and that's each of you.

Eager to shape and experience the future of Table of Six? Well, we're eager to discuss these ideas and share a peek when we have something peekable. Reply and let us know!

Overheard on the front porch

This community never ceases to amaze. Here are a few recent highlights.

Kerry-Anne on Pearl Jam:

I remember shaking and tearing up a little before they came out onto the stage. It was absolutely surreal.

Justin on favorite morning routines:

These are the minutes where my best ideas begin and many friendships have been made.

Michelle on travel:

It is being rooted and uprooted and yet knowing one's ground wherever you are.

Hoon on favorite teams:

The earliest memory I have as a Spurs fan is David Robinson’s first year in the NBA in 1989.

Darcy on the albums she knows best:

I can't help but think that maybe those albums we know best are also those where we feel known. If we listen to an album over and over again without tiring of it, then there has to be something in the music that resonates with something deep within us.

Stop by. We'd love to hear your voice on the front porch.

You're the best,

Brian

P.S. This story about Iceland's communal pools is fantastic. It sounds uncommon, yes? We should go :)

All around me was the soft white noise of a community. The conversation; the connection; the freedom, within that flurry of sociability, to withdraw and simply be within yourself.