Often called Slack or Skype for gamers, several communities have adopted discord over the last few years. Many of the features that make Discord Ideal for gaming appeal to online communities built around everything from popular content creators, tabletop board games to web design and Kpop.
Now, with many local businesses and professionals looking to network online, finding the right communication service that will support your needs is essential.
However, there is one other reason to look at Discord.
There are many ways to support your community and local businesses. Often it comes down to networking, encouraging community engagement and keeping people informed.
Starting or joining a Discord server may be the right way for you to build a local community around your products or services.
What is Discord?
Discord combines chat lobbies, a message board, and a VoIP system into one lightweight app that works for desktop and mobile. Unlike Skype or Slack, Discord servers are free to create and capable of supporting hundreds of participants at a time.
Discord helps people with similar interests coordinate community events, share news and chat via private servers that let you text and voice chat with other like-minded people.
Finding Local Calgary & Alberta Discord Servers
If you’re new to Discord, it can seem a bit daunting to set up your own server, which is why I recommend joining an existing community server first. It’s a great way to see what a properly setup server has to offer and a fun way to build connections and meet new people.
They build many Discord servers around a topic or special interest subject. But if you’re looking for Alberta-specific servers, here are a few of my favourites based around YYC communities, clubs and even a few Alberta chat servers.
All you need to join a server is to click on the invite link, which will always start with discord.gg followed by a string of letters and numbers.
Pixels and Pints YYC Discord Server
Pixels and Pints’ purpose is simple: provide a venue for web designers and digital marketers to sit down, relax, and talk. There’re no demonstrations, coaches, or pre-defined review topics; just a few pints and pleasant discussions.
All are welcome: website developers; coders; copywriters; anyone who spends their day advancing, publishing, or just plain staring at pixels.
Joining the Meetup group has always been a great way to network with other developers and pass along job opportunities. However, recently they started a Discord server to coordinate online events in response to the new COVID-19 measures.
The server is currently very active, with over 150+ members. The sheer variety of experience and web development specializations among Pixels and Pints make it an excellent environment to learn new skills, gain valuable feedback and talk in-depth about nerdy web design pricing.
Calgary Discord Server
This Calgary Discord server is a fantastic example of a ‘brand’ creating a thriving community space on Discord. If you didn’t know already, Crackmacks has a Discord server.
On the server, you’ll find various channels for traditional topics like #gaming, #pets or #politics and a few more specific things like #420, #pride and #selfies. Despite the wide range of topics, most members are people who currently live in Calgary. There are a few snowbirds and ex-pats that no longer live in YYC too.
If you’re a proud Calgarian by zip code or at heart, it’s a great way to stay connected and chat with over 600 server members aged between 20-40 of all genders.
If you’re a company, take advantage of the self-advertisements and promotions section. And if you want to be really smart, make it part of your social listening efforts so you can have a better idea of what Calgarians are talking about right now.
Calgary Game Developer’s Association Server
Calgary Game Developers is a group for people of all skill levels interested in creating video games. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a programmer, artist, sound designer, writer, or any other profession, as you really enjoy creating games.
They run multiple regular meetups, including:
• Monthly socials
• Weekly Work sessions (every Friday)
• YYC Game Critiques
• Game Jams
(Recently, they hosted a game critique for Hades by Supergiant Games, so you know their members stay current with trends.)
This meetup is run by the Calgary Game Developers Association, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting and growing the local game development scene here in Calgary.
If you’re looking to chat about development logs, projects or want to watch someone stream a game with over 180+ fellow YYC game developers, this is the community for you.
Alberta Discord Group
Like the Calgary Discord server listed above, they build this Discord server around r/Alberta and r/Edmonton communities.
With 800+ server members, you’ll find a wide variety of topics ranging from #art and #tech-science to #dank-food and politics. There’s even a #vent channel if you feel like ranting about something.
If you’re looking to chat with a wide range of people from across Alberta, this is a good server to checkout.
Final Notes On YYC/Alberta Discord Servers
Discord offers a lot of excellent features that work to support communities focused on all kinds of topics.
- Text-based and VoIP channels
- Permission controls
- The ability to support large servers effectively.
- Plug and play Discord bots that add additional features to a server.
- IP and DDoS protection
However, general servers built around locations or ‘meeting new people’ can be cluttered and confusing for new users. Once you know how the app works and if it’s the right platform for you, find a server-based around a specific topic that interests you.
Communities are niche, culture-specific spaces because they allow you to network with people who will be most interested in what you want to talk about and vice versa.
