As we settle into 2022, we thought it would be a great time to reflect on what was accomplished last year, highlight a few of the amazing achievements of some of our incredible Community Champions, and to give thanks more generally to every single member who made a positive contribution to the lives of other members in the Stitch Community in 2021.
Community achievements
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis meant 2021 was a challenging year for most members of the community right around the world, so it was inspiring to see that Stitch members didn’t let those challenges get in the way of making a positive impact.
The incredible efforts of our community champions meant that 2021 was the biggest year the Stitch community has ever had, with over double the number of events hosted compared to 2020! Last year:
7,605 events were hosted …
… in 201 cities and counties around the world!
109,417 members attended an event …
… from 3,063 towns and neighborhoods!
And most importantly of all, an incredible 279, 239 new social connections were created between members!
How amazing is that?
That’s why we’d like to say thanks to every single member who participated in the community in 2021. Even if you’re not a community champion, if you turned up at a community event, or responded positively to a message from another member, or got engaged in the Stitch community forums, you made a positive difference.
So to everyone who got involved last year…
Notable contributors in 2021
While each and every person who participated in the community last year made a positive impact, we thought it would be worth highlighting a few of the individual Stitch members who truly went above and beyond.
We always get a little nervous publishing lists like these, as every time we mention someone, it means someone else deserving is missing out. We don’t want to give the impression that contributing to the community is a competitive sport. It’s not!
Last year when we published our list of notable contributors, we received a great response, so we tend to think it’s OK to highlight a few incredible achievements as long as it’s clear to everyone that there are many, many more members who made equally important contributions last year.
In fact, 540 community champions hosted events and activities around the world last year … there simply isn’t enough space in this article to thank them all!
Most Active Event Attendees
As mentioned above, the community saw 109,417 event attendees around the world in 2021. Some members might have only attended one event, but plenty of extraordinary members truly threw themselves into the community by attending dozens, or even hundreds, of Stitch activities!
Here are just a handful of our most active event attendees in the US, Australia, UK, Canada, and other countries around the world:
Most attendees
In 2021, Stitch event organizers hosted thousands of events that not only connected our like-minded community members but also kept us all entertained, educated, and supported.
The idea with Stitch is that any member can organize an activity, simply by suggesting something they would like to do with others. You don’t need to be a hyper-organizer, and indeed many amazing members suggest just one or two activities each year for a very small number of people. And that’s amazing!
There are, however, a handful of members who truly go beyond what I ever expected when we started Stitch. Some of our members host an incredible number of events each year, while others specialize in hosting and organizing large, organized functions for large groups of members to enjoy.
All these members have one thing in common: they make a positive impact on the lives of many, many other members of the community.
Some of our champions hosted over 3,000 attendees last year!
The infographic below highlights just a handful of the members who attracted the most attendees to their events last year. (Note that we’ve hidden the actual attendee numbers, as we don’t want any of our community champions comparing themselves to each other … but rest assured that everyone in the list below has played host to a truly astonishing number of attendees!
Most Impactful Forum Contributors
Members who attend lots of community activities often overlook the fact that the Stitch community forums also play a hugely important role in creating a positive, welcoming community that helps members create new social connections. Look no further than the many relationships that have formed between members who have met in the forums!
Of course, anyone can post a message to an online forum, it’s easy. But what distinguishes the best contributors in the Stitch community is that their comments consistently receive a large number of votes from other members for being kind, welcoming, friendly, or respectful.
Here are some of the Stitch members whose comments received the most positive feedback from other members in 2021:
Once again, the lists above are just a tiny snapshot of all the great contributors across the community in 2021. If you missed out on being included, don’t worry! We’re working on ways to better highlight positive contributions right across the community this year, and you’re going to start seeing some of those features pop up on Stitch in the weeks and months ahead.
Thanks once again to all the members who made the community great in 2021, and here’s to making 2022 even better!
