CWA Blog Archive-CWA Summit Session Spotlight The Importance Of Cultivating Community

CWA Summit Session Spotlight The Importance Of Cultivating Community

Pdf Summary

This session spotlight previews a 2022 CWA Summit conversation on cultivating community, led by Eli Klarman and Cia Blackstock of New Orleans Boulder Lounge, a gym that started in a place not exactly known for climbing access. The framing captures a truth about indoor climbing: one of its most special qualities is introducing people to the sport in places where climbing isn't already woven into the cultural fabric. The author bets that if you stopped anyone in a gym, climbing means more to them than just a way to be fit, and the gym itself means more than a place to exercise, and the reason comes down to the industry's favorite word: community. The session is aimed at workers at all levels of the gym structure and promises to teach not only why community is important but how to help it grow in a gym. In the interview excerpt, Klarman describes his background as a member of climbing gyms, having climbed at the largest gym in the country at the time as well as at some really small gyms where the community dynamic was different. That range of experience, from massive facilities to intimate ones, informs the perspective he and Blackstock bring from building community at New Orleans Boulder Lounge in a non-traditional climbing market. The throughline is that community is central to what makes climbing gyms meaningful, and that cultivating it is a learnable skill relevant to everyone who works in a gym. By featuring operators who built a climbing community somewhere climbing wasn't established, the spotlight promises practical insight into growing community from scratch or strengthening it anywhere. The session's premise, that gyms mean more to people than exercise because of community, and that this community can be deliberately fostered, positions community-building as core to a gym's identity and success. For operators in any market, especially non-traditional ones, the preview offers the promise of concrete guidance on why community matters and how to nurture it.

Asset Caption

A 2022 Summit session preview on cultivating community, led by New Orleans Boulder Lounge's Eli Klarman and Cia Blackstock, who built a gym where climbing wasn't established. It argues gyms mean more than exercise because of community, and promises to teach not just why community matters but how to deliberately grow it, for staff at every level.