Meet The Herd: EasyLlama's Customer Community

Meet The Herd

When I was first asked to create and launch a community for professionals in the compliance space, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was thinking to myself, “Does anyone really want this?”

I don’t know about the rest of you, but having additional reasons to talk about compliance on a regular basis isn’t really on the top of my list of priorities or hobbies. Alas, I got to work speaking with EasyLlama customers to figure out if an initiative like this was something they even wanted.

I was surprised when I found that the HR, People, L&D, and Compliance leaders I spoke with all overwhelmingly said “yes.” They all wanted a community they could join and call theirs.

Compliance work is hard. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that it can even be overwhelming. It has high-stakes consequences and it changes just often enough to keep you on your toes in the worst way. Ask anyone who owns compliance at their company and they'll tell you the same thing: it can be a genuinely stressful, isolating job. You're the one keeping track of requirements nobody else in the building wants to think about, and when something goes wrong, you're the one who hears about it first.

On top of that, most of the time the people who own compliance own a whole lot of other responsibilities as well. It’s kind of crazy to think that such an important thing like compliance is only one small part of the owner's work. It truly is a full time job!

That’s why, as I got to know EasyLlama customers and their experience with compliance, I wanted to build something special for the people doing that work. No one needs another resource library or webinar series (although yes, I do that too!). But rather, I knew I wanted to build a place where our customers, who work so incredibly hard, could connect with people who understand the job and have a little fun along the way.

Enter The Herd.

Why We Built The Herd

Compliance doesn't have to be a solo mission, and it definitely doesn't have to be joyless (I know, I know, that might seem impossible…bare with me). On one half, we built The Herd as a space where HR and compliance professionals can learn from each other, swap notes on the parts of the job nobody prepares you for, and meet people in similar roles who just get it. On the other half, we also decided compliance could stand to be a little more fun. So we made that part of the mission, too.

What’s Happened in The Herd So Far

We officially launched The Herd on June 23rd with all of our founding members. The vent was a virtual wine tasting which to me, felt like the right way to kick things off. Compliance can be stressful, so what better way to de-stress than learn about California wines from a professionally trained sommelier?

The California wines were, of course, an ode to California being one of the most heavily regulated states in the US…because who doesn’t love a little compliance humor.

The event was low-pressure, a little unexpected, and a good excuse to get people talking. Since then, we've hosted two more events, a product feedback session hosted by our VP of Product, Lawrence Valenti, where customers got to preview Compliance Grader, and a Lunch & Learn where customers got lunch on us, plus a round of compliance trivia focused on recertification requirements. Turns out competitive trivia is a great way to make continuing education actually land!

Moving forward, we’ll continue with a new event planned every month.

Where We Want This HR Community to Go

Our hope for The Herd is for it to become a resource EasyLlama customers genuinely rely on, as well as a space where HR professionals don't have to feel like they're the only one dealing with what they're dealing with. HR, and more specifically compliance, can be an isolating seat at the table. We want The Herd to make it a little less so.

Join The Herd

Here's a PSA: if you're an EasyLlama customer, The Herd is already yours! It's free, it's open, and there's a new event on the calendar every month. If you haven't joined yet, now's a great time to start.

Learn how to join The Herd →