We Shut Down a Growing Community— Here’s Why

Sometimes, you build something with the best of intentions… and it just doesn’t fly. That’s what happened with The Nest, our traditional online community. Think message board with more feathers. It didn’t feel like us. It wasn’t scrappy, it wasn’t interactive, and it definitely wasn’t goosey enough. So we shut it down—and we’re letting you in on the how, why, and what’s next.

This is a behind-the-scenes look at how our SaaS company is building community. In this chapter, we missed the mark, admitted it, and decided to waddle in a whole new direction.

When we launched Goosechase’s community, The Nest, we imagined it as a warm, welcoming space where our raving fans, educators, and event pros could flock together, swap stories, ask questions, and honk about anything under the sun. But somewhere along the way, it started to feel… off. Not bad, exactly. Just not Goosechase. New members were slow to join and engagement was challenging to maintain. We were rolling the proverbial egg uphill without generating the community we were looking for.

The Nest ended up feeling more like a quiet auditorium than a buzzing backyard BBQ. We were trying to build a place, but community isn’t a place. It’s a group of people.

We’d built a space for community, but forgot to keep it human-sized.

So we did what we do best: gathered the team, honked it out (this means “brainstormed” in plain English), and decided it was time to shut the doors and try something new.

Here’s the wild part: The Nest wasn’t a flop. In fact, by many traditional metrics, it was a success. We had over 500 registered members, more than 1,000 unique monthly visitors, and engaged users from schools, museums, non-profits, and enterprise companies. 

But it still wasn’t the right way to connect.

It was challenging to build momentum and self-sustained conversation among community members. The vibe just wasn’t ours. And the cost? Let’s just say that the online community platform wasn’t exactly light on the wallet. As a small, scrappy team, we have to be smart about where we put our resources—and The Nest just wasn’t delivering a return on investment or helping drive meaningful revenue.

At the end of the day, your brand’s community should feel authentic to you and support your broader business goals. If it’s not doing both, it’s probably time to rethink things. And that’s exactly what we did.

So what did we do? We turned to the very thing we’d been overlooking: our own community-building product. 

It’s funny how easy it is to forget the power of the platform you’ve built. To replace The Nest, we launched an interactive Goosechase Experience called Goosechase Flockstars—a special invite-only (for now) game for 20 of our most passionate, long-time creators. These are the geese who’ve been with us through thick and thin (old-school logos, and many Mission types).

Inside the Experience, they complete Missions to introduce themselves, share helpful honks, create social media content, and even caption our weekly New Yorker-style cartoons. 

They’re also helping us test and launch shiny new features like Unlockable Missions and the AI Mission Generator, giving us direct, no-fluff feedback along the way. And the engagement? Already way higher than anything we saw on the old-school message board. Turns out, the best way to build a community platform… is to actually use your own. Who’d a-goose’d it?

The Nest is gone—but the flock? Stronger than ever.

If you were part of The Nest: thank you. You helped us realize what mattered most. If you’re new around here: welcome! We’ve got something better than a forum—we’ve got experiences that bring us together. 

We’ll keep experimenting, asking for feedback, and course-correcting as needed. Because that’s what a living, breathing community should do. And if you’ve got ideas for what you’d love to see, hear, or do with us… drop us a honk. Our wings are open.

What is Goosechase?

At Goosechase, experience is everything. Originally inspired by scavenger hunts, Goosechase is an online platform that enables organizations and schools to engage, activate, and educate their communities through delightful interactive experiences. Sign up and try creating a free recreational Experience, or check out our Pricing!