Phoenix, it’s your time to shine

Hello, Phoenix!

This article is a bit different from most posts on the Stitch blog.

Rather than being a general article written for the whole community, this one is specifically for all the new Stitch members who have joined recently in the Phoenix area.

If you live in or near Phoenix, then this article is for you.

We have some exciting times ahead!

And yes, it’s definitely your time to shine.

(Of course, if you happen to live somewhere else then you may still find the article worth a read. Stitch members all over the world are often interested in what we’re doing to grow Stitch in new cities; the more the community grows in new areas, the better the community becomes for all our members. If you like the sound of what’s happening in Phoenix and you’d like to help us do the same to bring the Stitch Community to your area, please let us know!)

What’s happening

If you live in Phoenix and have signed up to Stitch recently, there is a fair chance you have already heard that we’re in the process of getting the Stitch community in Phoenix started.

In a matter of weeks the Stitch Phoenix membership has grown to over 1000 members … with dozens of new activities being created every week.

In partnership with SilverSneakers, we’re growing the Stitch community throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area, with the goal of creating a rich, vibrant community that is as active as any of Stitch’s largest and most engaged communities, anywhere around the world.

In a matter of weeks the Stitch Phoenix membership has grown to over 1000 registered signups. With a small number of super-enthusiastic members leading the way, we’re now seeing dozens of new activities being created for the Phoenix community every week.

A couple of months ago the Stitch Phoenix community hadn’t even got started. Today, the Activities page on Stitch looks like this:

How cool is that?

But as thrilled as we have been to see the community come alive, we want you to know that things are still only just getting started.

And most importantly of all, there are a couple of things you need to do to help us make the community what you want it to be, and give you the most out of Stitch.

Where do you live?

Phoenix is a large city spread out over a huge geographical area. Stitch members have signed up all over the city, as you can see if you visit the Members page on Stitch.

But while you are sure to have lots of other members in your area already, the community is still very new. That means Community Champions aren’t creating events and activities in all areas of Phoenix just yet.

Our very first super-enthusiastic members have just happened to be located mainly in the south of the city, and have started suggesting activities they would like to do close to where they live.

If you live in other areas of the city, this may have given you the impression that Stitch isn’t coming to your area, or that Stitch isn’t for you. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Stitch is for everyone in Phoenix, no matter where you live.

Over the coming weeks you’re going to start seeing more and more events and activities all over the city.

But before we can make this happen, we need you to do a couple of things to help us get the community started in your area.

First, complete your profile

Local Stitch community volunteers will be organizing activities and events in various locations, based on the members who have signed up in those areas.

The only way for them to know where to organize these activities is if you complete your Stitch Profile.

If you don’t create at least a simple Stitch profile, then your local Community Champions will never even find out you’ve signed up. They won’t be able to reach out to you to invite you to activities they organize, and won’t have a clue about the sorts of activities that might interest you.

If you don’t create at least a simple Stitch profile, then your local Community Champions will never even find out you’ve signed up.

You don’t need to put much in your profile, as you can always come back to it later. Just a photo of yourself and 3 or 4 sentences about yourself and what interests you.

Creating a profile is easy: just visit the Profile page on Stitch and answer the questions provided. You can read a help article about it here, and can always contact the Stitch team for help if you need assistance.

Make sure you add a few interests to your profile too, as this really helps other members know what sorts of activities they should suggest!

Check if you are entitled to a complimentary Stitch membership

If you haven’t done so already, one of the first things you should do is check whether your health plan entitles you to a complimentary Community membership on Stitch, courtesy of SilverSneakers.

New members in Phoenix will be prompted for their “eligibility check” when they first register to Stitch, but if you’ve already signed up, you can perform the check simply by visiting the Membership page on Stitch.

Entitled members will be eligible for other benefits too, so make sure you don’t miss out!

Please note that this program is currently only available in the Phoenix area, but we hope to expand this to other areas in future.

Get verified

Stitch was built from the ground up to be a very safe community for its members. One of the ways we do this is to require all members to verify their account before they can communicate with other members online through Stitch.

This simple measure keep scammers out of the community.

(The threat of scammers & fraudsters is very real, and is the biggest risk facing anyone using the Internet to interact with other people, whether that is through Facebook, email, social media, or other platforms like Stitch. If you’d like more background, check out our guide to staying safe online.)

You can get verified by coming along to a Stitch event and asking the organizer to verify you.

As an unverified member, you can only attend 3 activities before the system will force you to get verified, so make sure you don’t forget!

If you’ve already attended 3 activities, or don’t want to wait to attend an event before getting verified, you can choose to get verified online instead.

To find out how to get verified online, please have a read of the Stitch Help Center articles on getting verified.

Get active!

Finally, once you’re verified, there is nothing holding you back from getting actively engaged in making the community what you want it to be.

The Stitch Community is powered by our members, many of whom are making amazing contributions to the lives of other members around them, while enriching their own lives at the same time.

Have a read about Stitch’s background if you want to be inspired by how important the community is to so many people around the world, and how you can get involved in making your community a success.

Every member of Stitch has one thing in common: they’re interested in meeting new people while doing activities they enjoy. The only thing they’re waiting on is for you to suggest what you want to do. So get started today!

It could be:

• A coffee get-together to discuss getting the community started in your area
• A trip to a movie you’d like to see
• A walk on the weekend
• A class you’d like to attend
• A visit to a flea market
• or anything else you’ve got an interest in doing. It’s totally up to you!

OK, that’s it for now. We’re thrilled to see so many new members joining in the the Phoenix area, we now just want you to start getting engaged so we can all make the community in Phoenix incredible!