Community Is the New Marketing Funnel: A Conversation with Kate Coffey Bacon at Convergence
Some podcast episodes are planned.
This one was inevitable.
After nearly three years of daily audio messages, late-night strategy rants at conferences, and “we should really record this” moments, Kate Coffey Bacon finally joined me on AMBUSH On Air—recorded live at the resurgence of Convergence in Miami.
If you know Kate and me, you know this conversation has been happening for years. We just finally hit record.
What unfolded wasn’t a traditional industry interview. It was a real, honest conversation about community, visibility, AI, marketing attribution, mentorship, and why showing up still matters—especially in the Microsoft ecosystem.
From “Too Community” to Competitive Advantage
One of the biggest themes of the episode was something many marketers and partner leaders quietly struggle with:
Can you be too involved in the community?
I’ve lived that tension firsthand—being told I was “too visible,” “too out in the channel,” or not desk-focused enough. Kate shared similar experiences. But here’s the truth we both landed on:
Community isn’t a distraction from the job.
It is the job.
Especially in a partner-driven ecosystem like Microsoft, relationships are the engine. Deals don’t materialize from a single campaign or a single click. They happen in conversations, shared meals, hallway chats, and follow-ups that don’t neatly fit into a CRM field.
Which leads to the core idea of this episode.
Community Is the New Marketing Funnel
We talked openly about something that’s been rattling around in my brain for a while:
Community is the new marketing funnel.
Traditional B2B marketing still obsesses over first touch, last touch, and linear attribution models. But the real momentum—the trust, the credibility, the “I know who you are”—happens in the messy middle.
In the Microsoft channel, community is the messy middle.
Events like Convergence
Partner relationships built over years
Repeated touchpoints across conferences, LinkedIn, podcasts, and panels
Mentorship moments that quietly shape careers and buying decisions
If you’re not measuring community impact, you’re missing the most influential part of your funnel.
Give, Don’t Grab: The Philosophy That Actually Works
Kate shared the networking philosophy that has guided her entire career:
Give, don’t grab!
Instead of walking into rooms asking, “What can I get from this?” we both approach community with a different lens:
Who needs an introduction?
Who needs encouragement?
Who needs visibility?
Who can I help without expecting immediate return?
The irony is that this approach consistently drives the strongest business outcomes. Trust compounds. Reputation compounds. And when opportunity shows up, it already knows your name.
She Builds: Turning Stories Into Scalable Community
A major part of the conversation focused on She Builds—a community platform born directly from Kate to change the way we think about “Women in Tech”.
She Builds isn’t a program. It’s not a campaign.
It’s a story-first approach to community building.
By centering real experiences, mentorship journeys, and lived moments, She Builds creates connection at scale—especially for women navigating careers in tech, partnerships, and leadership.
The goal isn’t just inspiration.
It’s visibility, access, and opportunity.
Convergence, Visibility, and What Comes Next
The resurgence of Convergence matters—not because of the venue or the size—but because it represents renewed investment in community, education, and in-person connection.
And if this year was the reset?
Next year is the scale.
More voices.
More stories.
More space for community-driven growth.
Why This Episode Matters
This episode isn’t about tactics alone. It’s about permission.
Permission to:
Show up fully
Be visible
Build relationships before pipelines
Treat community as strategy, not fluff
Believe that human connection still wins in an AI-powered world
If you work in marketing, partnerships, or the Microsoft ecosystem—and you’ve ever felt torn between “doing your job” and “being active in the community”—this conversation is for you.
And if you’re building your 2026 strategy right now, consider this your reminder:
You can have the best AI strategy in the room.
But if your boots aren’t on the carpet, you’re already behind.
Party on.
