SOCO COLLECTIVE
The wider work behind The Table. Explore SoCo's approach to people, community and ecosystem design.
SOCO COLLECTIVE (opens in a new tab)PEOPLE, NOT A PEDESTAL
WHO WE ARE
We might have brought the table. But it belongs to the people who gather around it.
03 / SUSS US OUT
KNOW WHO IS
BRINGING THE TABLE.
FACILITATOR / PART OF THE FOUNDING CREW
EMELI PAULO
Get to know Emeli's facilitation work and the experience she brings to the shared room.
EMELI PAULO (opens in a new tab)04 / THE NEXT CHAIR
The founding crew is a beginning, not a closed circle.
Come to a gathering. Get to know the room. Bring your care, your practical skills or something you love doing. You might become a peer host, join the ground crew or share your craft.
This is a pilot, not a finished model. There is a playbook to learn and shape together. The long game is more people able to hold their own Table in their own neighbourhood, not more dependence on one person.
OPENING THEIR DOORS
OUR VENUE COMMUNITY PARTNER
Our venue community partner, Nathan and Diamond of Mulberry Group, are opening their doors at Liminal / Hazel.
Partners & funders: the 90-day experiment
THE TABLE / FOR PARTNERS & FUNDERS
THE 90-DAY
EXPERIMENT.
People. Food. Moving forward.
Launching 18 November 2026 / Flinders Lane, Melbourne
What if we could turn everyday connection into measurable community value?
People have knowledge, skills, ideas, networks and lived experience. Yet opportunities to connect across different social, cultural and professional circles are often limited, costly or difficult to access.
The Table is the live testing ground. SoCo provides the community design, facilitation, coordination and learning infrastructure. Partners help us test how meaningful relationships can translate into social, cultural and economic opportunities.
We're not simply building an audience. We're testing how people can become a resource for one another.
LET'S TALK PARTNERSHIP01 / WHAT WE'RE TESTING
NOT ONE PERSON.
A MUTUAL RESOURCE.
CONNECTION & TRUST
What helps diverse people feel welcome, respected and confident enough to build new relationships?
RECIPROCITY & OPPORTUNITY
How do those relationships develop into mutual support, referrals, collaborations, learning and meaningful action?
COMMUNITY-LED GROWTH
Can we create a repeatable model that enables members to connect, contribute and lead without relying on one founder or facilitator?
A founding crew sets the conditions. Peer hosts share the welcome. Community co-hosts bring expertise when someone is stuck. People can work on an idea, a project or life admin, connect, contribute or quietly be.
The pilot combines in-person gatherings, small peer circles, optional digital connections, practical learning opportunities and structured follow-up. Our guiding principle is to lead with value, not products or promotion.
02 / THE GOALS & THE LEARNING
A SMALL PILOT.
A TESTABLE IDEA.
- 101
- people engaged in the community experiment
- 80%
- target: at least 80% take a self-defined meaningful action within 90 days
- 40%
- target: at least 40% come back to the next Table
- 90 DAYS
- to test, learn and explore what could be repeated
These are pilot targets, not promised results. We'll also measure belonging, trust, ongoing relationships, accessibility, opportunities created and member-led participation.
- 01
18 November to early December 2026
LAUNCH & LISTEN
Run the first Table, establish founding community stewards, collect baseline information and test the welcome, participation and introduction process.
- 02
December 2026 to January 2027
CONNECT & ACTIVATE
Test peer-led activities, small circles, partner-supported learning and lightweight digital follow-up. Identify which connections develop into action.
- 03
January to early February 2027
EVALUATE & DECIDE
Review belonging, trust, continuing relationships, opportunities, partner experience and financial viability. Decide what to improve, stop or scale.
Honest reporting matters. The initial pilot insights report will distinguish early findings from full 90-day participant outcomes. People joining later will not all have completed 90 days by early February.
04 / THE PARTNER COMPACT
VALUE FIRST.
NOT A SALES FUNNEL.
WHAT PARTNERS RECEIVE
- Participation in co-design and pilot learning
- Relationships across sectors
- Agreed recognition and opportunities for peer learning
- A 90-day pilot insights report
WHAT IS NOT FOR SALE
- Guaranteed leads or endorsements
- Access to private member information
- Sponsored pitches or unsolicited promotion
- Influence over community safety decisions
Relevant demonstrations, referrals or commercial opportunities must be transparent, optional and secondary to participant value.
If the model demonstrates value, we aim to develop a transferable approach for communities, workplaces, local organisations and institutions. Shared infrastructure and trained hosts, not more dependence on one person.
THE NEXT CONVERSATION
HELP SHAPE
THE FIRST 90 DAYS.
We'd love to explore how your organisation could contribute to, learn from and benefit from the first 90 days. Start with a 15-minute conversation, or come to the Table and experience it for yourself.
info@sococollective.com.auCOMMUNITY-POWERED
THE DEPARTMENT OF CHAIR SHUFFLING & HUMAN WARMTH
For these first few tables, everyone chips in, including the hosts and crew. We pay the same $33 as everyone else. There are no VIPs and no staff-versus-customer divide: the whole room sits at the table as equals, and every seat helps set the next one.
Community events do not run themselves.
Behind every gathering is a handful of generous humans who arrive a little earlier, stay a little later, and make sure nobody stands near the entrance feeling awkward or lost.
We are looking for people who will listen, pitch in and help make the room safe, warm and not weird. People who welcome everyone, across every background, culture, shape and story. Not people who want to take over.
This runs on the love of community connection. Being of service to others is the whole idea.
THE GROUND CREW
- set up and pack down
- greet people at the door
- help people arriving alone find their feet
THE CRAFT EXCHANGE
- photographers and content creators
- writers and storytellers
- musicians and sound people
- makers of any kind
Share what you do. The Table is not just somewhere you rock up for an experience. We want to see who else we can connect you with.