The Regular - A Movement for a New Kind of Social Platform
This Is a Movement: Why We Built The Regular
What’s rare these days?
A place where someone remembers your name.
A trivia night that becomes your weekly tradition.
A karaoke DJ who already knows your song.
We’re living in the middle of a loneliness epidemic. Third spaces are disappearing. And the people who make cities feel alive — trivia hosts, karaoke DJs, nonprofit organizers, league runners, open mic emcees — are too often underpaid and overlooked in our tech-driven economy.
But while we all talk about AI and the latest social media app, these are the folks actually working day and night keeping real communities alive.
We’re building The Regular for them.
What We Mean by “Community Creator”
You can think of our concept of a Community Creator similarly to a social media influencer. It’s try that they have an audience. Dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people a week observe their content. Just like any YouTube or TikTok star they work hard to create.
But a Community Creator doesn’t post content for likes.
They don’t chase trends.
They build real-world connection.
They turn strangers into regulars, bars into chosen hangouts, and weeknights into something people actually look forward to as a respite from an increasingly insane feeling world. They’re the ones making the magic happen — DJs, drag hosts, rec league organizers, trivia and karaoke hosts, nonprofit event leads.
But there’s no big VC fund supporting the tools that they use. No technologies being built to empower them and make their jobs and lives easier. They’ve been completely left out of a view of the creator economy that is purely digital. And yet we wonder why we all feel this sense that our communities are drifting apart.
That ends now.
Our Simple Formula: Recurring Events + Engagement = Community
We believe you can’t build community off one event. Community is built when people show up, again and again.
That’s why we’re focusing on helping people create recurring, real-world moments. We’re starting with what’s familiar, in part to generate revenue at this early stage because VC’s and other funders don’t think there’s a “business”. They don’t think it can scale. But all around the country there are tens of thousands of karaoke nights, trivia leagues, bingo games, drag brunches. We’re working to build the tools that make those events sustainable. Those include:
Smart event tech
Better space and event matchmaking
On-site engagement tools to turn attendees into regulars
Business help, from invoicing to help with data analytics and even understanding how AI can be helpful in their operations
And even help thinking about how to bring doing good and supporting charitable causes into events beyond the standard “donate a portion of proceeds” approach
We Don’t Just Build for Creators — We Build With Them
In our view the challenge here doesn’t call for just a software platform. It calls for a movement. And when I started The Regular I looked around at other tech and companies built to “bring” people together. Think of Facebook (now of course “Meta”), Twitter (I personally refuse to call it by its other name), or similar platforms. After almost two decades have they created community? Have they brought us together? The answer is clear to see in the headlines each day. It’s a resounding no. I believe that one principal reason for this is that no one in those companies, for all their VC dollars, ever actually built or operated a real world community where the community was the point, not a data point on the way to unicorn status.
That’s why we’ve committed to a Venture Studio strategy that sees us investing funding or equity in existing community brands to make them part of our company and culture. We then learn from them. Build what they need. Cater to the experiences that they create. And we simultaneously explore getting those tools into the hands of other Community Creators through our memberships and tech. So we scale what works. And eventually, taken together, we build a platform that’s not shaped by Silicon Valley VC’s or tech bros who’ve never stood on a stage to try to make people laugh, or feel comfortable. Never greeted an event attendee at the door as they walk in. A membership and platform that’s instead shaped from its inception and at its core by the very people it’s built for.
So Community Creators don’t just use our tools. They guide our roadmap. We’re even rolling out a program for fellows to work along us to support our venture studio and broader brand. And we are trying to learn from attendees what tech they want to engage with while they’re on site at events. Things that actually make the experience of being around other human beings more fulfilling, rather than more difficult to focus on for all the distractions of the bright lights of our phones.
The Community Creators that are keeping our communities together deserve more than likes. They deserve ownership.
This Is Personal
I’ve known loneliness. When I moved back to Dallas after graduating from undergrad during the recession, it hit me hard. I had a lot of ambition but no money in my pocket — and no clear path. I found myself struggling to find a community. Struggling to find my place. Community and finding my regular spots and my people saved me. But it didn’t happen through an app. It happened because I found a space. I saw a smile. I felt comfortable. I engaged in convesations. I played trivia. I sang karaoke. And I came back again and again.
The Regular is born out of that experience. Out of the belief that none of us should feel like we’re building our lives alone. That we all deserve a third space — and the people who create those spaces deserve support.
A New Creator Economy Starts with Community
In our view the influencer economy has enough platforms. It’s past time to build something different.
We’re here for the karaoke queens. The trivia champs. The people behind your favorite Tuesday night plans.
They’ve been undervalued for too long.
But they’re the new architects of belonging and the preservation of our humanity and connection in an increasingly inhuman feeling and disconnected world.
And if you’ve ever missed that feeling — of being a regular somewhere — we’re building this for you too. Want to help?
👉 Apply to join us as a Community Creator (free with an application)
👉 We’re trying to find supporters and funders. Learn more about us and scroll down to check out our pitch.
👉 Learn more about our views on Community Creators
The Case for a New Creator Economy
The Case for a New Creator Economy
Why we’re building for real-world connection, not likes
What if we’ve been backing the wrong creators?
For more than a decade, we’ve poured billions into the influencer economy — rewarding those who master the algorithm, churn out content, and keep us scrolling. Much of this has poured into “social platforms” that are ostensibly - think Facebook, Twitter - that are ostensibly built to bring us closer together. But let’s be honest: distrust is rising. 3rd spaces are disappearing. And the more time we spend online, the more disconnected we feel.
It’s not a lack of views.
It’s a lack of belonging.
And while everyone’s chasing the next AI tool or viral app, the real glue in our communities isn’t coming from our phone screens or laptops. It’s coming from people who show up — week after week, mic in hand, clipboard in arm, greeting folks by name and making space for others to feel like they belong.
Trivia hosts. Karaoke DJs. Drag performers. Open mic organizers. Nonprofit event leads.
At The Regular, we call them Community Creators.
And we believe strongly that they’re the most important creators of our time.
What Makes a Community Creator?
Like influencers, they have audiences.
Dozens, hundreds — sometimes thousands.
But they don’t trade in clout. They trade in connection.
They host the trivia night that gets you through Tuesday.
They run the bocce league where your friends met their favorite people.
They’re the first to cheer when someone belts out Journey or Whitney for the first time.
They turn strangers into regulars.
And bars, parks, or back rooms into third spaces — the kind of places that actually feel like community.
So Why Haven’t They Been Backed?
Because they’re not “scalable.”
Because they don’t look like your typical tech founder.
Because they’ve been completely written out of the digital-first narrative of what it means to create.
But the truth is: there are more than 150,000 Community Creators and venues powering recurring events across the U.S. Tens of millions of people show up for karaoke nights, trivia leagues, drag brunches, fitness pop-ups, and more — every single month.
That’s more engagement than most influencer focused platforms.
It’s just not tracked the same way.
Our Simple Formula: Recurring Events + Engagement = Community
You don’t build community with a one-off event.
You build it when people show up — again and again.
That’s what we’re building infrastructure for. Our tools make it easier for Community Creators to keep doing what they do best repeatedly — with:
AI-assisted event tech that doesn’t get in the way of the actual experience
Space-matching and promotional support
On-site engagement tools that deepen connection
Business help: invoicing, analytics, strategy, hiring
Options for joint fundraising, partnerships, and even charitable tie-ins
We don’t just want to build a new platform. We want to build a new kind of infrastructure — built with creators, not just for them.
This Is Personal
Since launching The Regular, I’ve heard story after story at our in-house karaoke nights, trivia nights, and other experience that remind me why this matters.
A couple who credits karaoke night with improving their relationship.
A trivia player who said the weekly ritual and new friends helped pull them out of depression.
Multiple marriages that started from a meeting at a karaoke night or bocce league.
Communities that feel like family.
And for me?
I even personally dedicated the foreword of my first book Dreams Deferred to the District Karaoke community that carried me through some of the hardest moments of my life. I know what it’s like to feel unmoored — and to be brought back by someone remembering your name, saving your seat, asking “how are you” or saying “see you next week” as you get up to walk out the door.
That’s the power of real-world community.
And it deserves more than a like button.
A Platform Shaped by Creators, Not Just Engineers
We don’t want to build this in a vacuum. We want to co-create it — directly with the people doing the work. That’s because a lot of the technologies that purport to bring us closer together have this curious thing about them…none of the people in leadership positions there has ever actually done that. So is it a surprise that their solutions, for all their endless profits, don’t actually accomplish what they purport to?
This is why we have taken an early stage approach of investing that normally is reserved for larger tech companies. We do that through The Regular Venture Studio which invests in existing community brands. So far we’ve made investments of equity and cash into Major League Bocce the nation’s largest minor league Bocce community operating in 10 cities, United Karaoke a unique nationwide community of karaoke and costume lovers now in 5 cities, and Capital Trivia building engaging trivia nights in the mid-Atlantic. We build tools together in real time. Tools that make the day to day of these companies a little bit easier each day. We provide staffing help, marketing, logistics, and tech. But more than that — we listen.
In this way creators guide our roadmap.
They shape the strategy.
They’re helping us build something they’d actually want to use — and own a piece of. And we then increase the value of the we’re building together by providing access to our expertise and what we build through a membership for other Community Creators. A community of people dedicated to created community. And a solution, say to build AI agents for event management, that is not built by some tech bros looking for revenue - but by a team that needed to use it, tested it, made sure it worked to support actual community, not just generate revenue.
This Is the New Creator Economy
The latest World Happiness Report saw record levels of distrust in very tech-dependent economies like the United States. Dining alone is up 53% since 2003. Loneliness and unhappiness, especially among Gen Z, Millenials, and younger generations, is at an all time high. And digital media is a central reason why. But we’ve got more “influencers” than ever. More TikTok and Instagram accounts than ever before? How do we start to shift these trends?
It starts with people who build community, not content.
So if you’ve ever missed that feeling — of being a regular somewhere — The Regular is for you. As an investor, as a partner, as a Community Creator, as a venue partner, as a brand looking for help in what you dream of building.
In particular if you’re a Community Creator, we want to help make your work more sustainable, more visible, and better supported.
But whether you’re a funder, partner, or supporter?
Let’s talk. Because belonging is worth backing.
👉 Apply to join us as a Community Creator – it’s free
👉 Check out some of our events! Experiences from The Regular or our Venture Studio brands like District Karaoke
👉 Explore our Venture Studio
👉 Read more about our vision
What is a “Community Creator”?
The People Who Make It Happen: Inside the Lives of Community Creators
When we talk about the creator economy, we usually mean the internet.
Content creators. Influencers. YouTubers. TikTokers.
People who build audiences by chasing trends and mastering platforms built to monetize attention.
But there’s another kind of creator economy — one that lives off-screen. One that isn’t about views, but about returning guests. One where the currency isn’t likes, but belonging.
At The Regular we call these people Community Creators, and they’re everywhere — karaoke hosts, trivia runners, bocce league founders, open mic emcees, drag performers, fitness facilitators, nonprofit organizers, and anyone who brings people together in real life, again and again.
They don’t build for the algorithm.
They build the night you look forward to all week.
Let’s get to know a few of them.
🎯 The Trivia Host: Part Game Master, Part Local Legend
The vibe: Think high-energy with just enough snark, someone who can quiet a room and amp it up again minutes later. They're walking spreadsheets with personalities — and a cult following.
Their why: Most trivia hosts start because they love games. But they stay because of the people. For many, it's a creative outlet, a social anchor, and a low-stakes way to feel seen. You’d be surprised how many regulars have told their hosts, "Trivia night got me through my divorce," or "This league is how I met my best friends."
How they make money:
Paid per event by the venue or booking partner
Tips (especially in competitive or themed nights)
Occasionally run their own leagues and collect team registration fees
Some scale by offering private/corporate gigs
Stat Check: Trivia is big business — over 40% of bars in the U.S. host trivia or game nights to boost attendance on slow nights【source: Bar Business Magazine】.
🎤 The Karaoke Host: A Stage, a Mic, and a Lot of Heart
The vibe: A human spotlight. Part DJ, part therapist, part hype squad. They know your favorite karaoke song and how to pronounce your name — even if you’ve only met once.
Their why: Many karaoke hosts started as regulars themselves. They know what it feels like to be nervous on stage — and what it feels like to be cheered on anyway. They believe in the power of shared joy, of creating a space where even the most introverted person can have their Beyoncé moment.
How they make money:
Flat rate per night from the venue or event group
Add-on fees for gear (mics, monitors, tablets)
Some earn tips or run competitions with prizes sponsored by bars
Private gigs, weddings, corporate events, or high-end pop-ups
Real Talk: More than one person has credited karaoke nights with helping them cope with anxiety, depression, or loneliness — and more than a few couples have met during a brave-but-off-key rendition of Shallow.
⚽️ The Social League Founder: Your Local Mayor of Fun
The vibe: Equal parts operations manager and party host. They’re the person who remembers team names, orders extra bocce balls, and still finds time to bring beer for the afterparty.
Their why: Often, they started their league because the one they played in wasn’t doing it right — or because their city didn’t have one at all. They saw a gap in social infrastructure and filled it. They aren’t trying to “scale fast.” They’re trying to build community at walking distance.
How they make money:
Team registration fees
Sponsorships (bars, beverage brands, athletic wear)
Upsells like league merch, afterparties, or cross-promoted events
Some earn revenue by listing leagues on event platforms like Eventbrite or MeetNear.Me
Impact Note: We've seen real-world outcomes — weddings, new businesses, lifelong friend groups — all formed in these leagues. One bocce player called it “the only reason I didn’t leave the city during COVID.”
💡 Why This Matters
Community Creators aren’t just entertainers. They’re organizers, entrepreneurs, and caretakers. They’re creating the connective tissue that keeps our cities alive.
And yet — unlike social media influencers — they often do this with no tools, no visibility, and no support.
There are over 150,000 event creators and hospitality organizers in the U.S. who run these types of gatherings, and over $200B is spent annually on in-person experiences【source: The Daily Upside, 2023】. But almost none of the tech that powers this space is built with them in mind.
We think it’s time that changed.
🛠️ What We’re Building to Help
The Regular is designed for Community Creators — with tools, support, and even investment:
Book discounted venues
List and promote events
Use AI to manage scheduling and logistics
Connect with other hosts and find new audiences
Earn through our Venture Studio or become a paid partner
We’ve backed karaoke companies. Trivia leagues. Social sports brands.
We help them scale, we build tech around what works, and we put creators at the center of our roadmap.
Because community doesn’t start on your phone.
It starts when someone says, "Same time next week?"
📣 If You’re a Community Creator:
You don’t need to be famous on TikTok to be influential.
If you’ve ever filled a room, connected a crowd, or kept a tradition alive — you’re the kind of creator we built this for.
👉 [Apply to become a Community Creator (free)]
👉 [Learn about our Venture Studio brands]
👉 [Support the movement →]
Why Trivia?
Hosting a trivia night at a bar or restaurant can be a great way to boost customer engagement, loyalty, and revenue. Not only is it a fun way to bring people together, but it also creates a sense of community and encourages customers to keep coming back. In this blog post, we’ll explore the many benefits of hosting trivia nights and why they should be a staple in any bar or restaurant’s event calendar.
Trivia nights create a social atmosphere.People love getting together with friends and having a good time, and trivia nights provide the perfect opportunity for that. It’s a chance for customers to gather, have a few drinks, and engage in friendly competition. This social atmosphere can lead to new connections and friendships among customers, and it can also create a positive buzz around your establishment.Trivia nights attract a diverse customer base.Trivia appeals to a wide range of people, from college students to retirees. Hosting trivia nights can help you attract a diverse customer base that may not normally come to your bar or restaurant. This is especially true if you offer different trivia themes and categories, such as pop culture, history, or sports.
By catering to different interests, you can attract a broader range of customers and create a more inclusive environment.Trivia nights encourage repeat business.Once people start coming to your trivia night, they’re likely to keep coming back. This regular customer base can provide a steady source of revenue for your bar or restaurant. It also helps build customer loyalty, as people are more likely to choose your establishment over others if they’ve had a positive experience at your trivia night.
Trivia nights can increase revenue.In addition to the direct revenue from food and drink sales, trivia nights can also increase revenue through other means. For example, you could charge a small entry fee or offer prizes for the winning team. You could also offer drink specials or promotions during the event to encourage customers to stay longer and spend more money.Trivia nights can be a cost-effective marketing tool.Hosting a trivia night can be a great way to market your bar or restaurant without spending a lot of money. You can promote the event on social media or through flyers and posters around town. You could also partner with other businesses or organizations to co-host the event and reach a wider audience.
By creating a memorable experience for customers, you can generate positive word-of-mouth and attract new customers to your establishment.Trivia nights can be a source of entertainment for slow nights.If you’re struggling to bring in customers on slow nights, hosting a trivia night can be a great way to boost business. By providing entertainment and a reason for people to come out, you can turn a slow night into a busy one. This can also help you build a reputation as a fun and engaging establishment, which can attract more customers in the long run.
Hosting a trivia night at your bar or restaurant can have a number of benefits. It creates a social atmosphere, attracts a diverse customer base, encourages repeat business, increases revenue, and can be a cost-effective marketing tool. If you haven’t yet tried hosting a trivia night, it’s worth considering as a way to boost your business and provide a fun and engaging experience for your customers.
Rethinking Customer Loyalty and Engagement: Welcome to The Regular
How does one become The Regular? I spent months asking bartenders, owners, and over time others who owned restaurants, farmers markets, barbershops, and more.
By Brandolon Barnett
Founder, Chief Product & Strategy Officer
Meet the Host
The Regular helps our partners like Kingfisher - bars, restaurants, social leagues, lifestyle brands - cultivate and engage Their Regulars through memberships, giving and volunteering as a community, a dedicated social feed, and more.
Click to learn about our business services
Need a full night in your venue? Want to offer a membership or be more engaged with your customers, charity, and community? Contact us today and talk with our team about what we can do for your business
“How does one become The Regular? I spent months asking bartenders, owners, and over time others who owned restaurants, farmers markets, barbershops, and more. Some said come by 3 times a week for a month, others said every day for a couple of weeks. Still others said it was just instinct.” - Brandolon Barnett, Founder of The Regular
In 2018 I was in my favorite bar in Washington, DC. (Kingfisher, one of our launch partners!) It was and remains a place that feels like home to me. That place we all have or long for that’s been the site (the café in Friends) and source (the bar in Cheers) of great storytelling and experiences. As I was cashing out the bartender, by this point a friend who’d seen me multiple times per week over the course of a few months, casually commented that I was going to get the friends and family discount. 10% off my tab.
This moment admittedly seems small and…normal. But, especially being a freshly minted new Product Manager at Salesforce helping to build a giving & volunteering engagement platform known as Philanthropy Cloud but also thinking more deeply than normal about customer relationship management, the interaction spurred lots of thoughts for me.
What was this friends and family discount? At what point had I obtained a right to it? Was it something I got other nights I came in? Or was it only something I got from this one bartender? Was the process of getting this benefit, along with the benefit of this wonderful community I’d become a part of, the same for others? Why did this system even exist? What value was it to the bar?
I believe very strongly that you don’t build anything good – products, policies, companies, relationships, vacation itineraries – without asking questions, listening, and striving for empathy. Those are the tools I employed as what’s now a little company called The Regular began to take shape.
How does one become The Regular? I spent months asking bartenders, owners, and over time others who owned restaurants, farmers markets, barbershops, and more. Some said come by 3 times a week for a month, others said every day for a couple of weeks. Still others said it was just instinct. I asked what the value of a Regular was? All said it helped them to connect with customers more deeply. The Regular brings friends, have birthdays in the spaces they love. They are the ones who make an effort to come and support if times get tough like they did for all of us when COVID-19 hit. The Regular is the bedrock of some of the most vital communities we depend on to feel connected to the world and to each other.
Considering all of this with empathy, yet more questions arose for me. What if a person loved a place and community and wanted to be The Regular but had a disability and couldn’t make lots of repeat trips? What about women, who in the research I began to read, felt more comfortable going out with friends. I don’t think there are many friends I’d go to the same place 3 times a week with…What if The Regular – essential for these brands and local establishments – just disappeared? What if The Regular needed help and no one had their contact info? What if something like COVID happened and Regulars wanted to continue to support their favorite communities and local businesses? And finally, if Regulars had enough value to warrant any investment, wouldn’t consistency and a clear entry point and clear answers to these questions make it easier for brands to be strategic about engaging them?
These are the questions that we want to solve for. We started with a subscription and have evolved into a vision for helping build genuine community, something we think is particularly important after the impacts of COVID. To do that, we make connections.
The Regular connects people to communities they love, and idle times at bars, restaurants, and other venues to events those communities hold.
Particularly after COVID, we began to realize that the questions around what it means to be The Regular were indicative of a larger opportunity. Lots of people felt and still feel alone. They want community. Those communities then need spaces to gather. Then there are venues - bars, restaurants - that have space and empty hours. So we match their space and idle times in which they can host the right community gatherings. In the process we increase revenue on their empty nights, build tech to help them engage and convert more customers into The Regular, and data and tools in one place to more strategically cultivate and manage that important relationship.
Anyone who wants can find, join, and be The Regular in communities they love with a place where they can easily brown and join communities through The Regular app, which is now available in Beta on Android & iOS. As those communities need spaces to gather and find a home we then reach out to local businesses and brands - bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and other venues - to ask them when they’re slow/idle (slow Monday? Empty Tuesday?) and could use more customers. We then connect Communities with them to hold events and bring in a guaranteed stream of customers. This is The Regular for Business, and through it we work with companies to make sure those communities have a positive experience in a place that fits their brand, with a goal that a higher percentage of those customers become The Regular for businesses they fall in love in through the communities they care about. At the center of it all is Impact, because we encourage those companies to build genuine community through choosing a local charity to sponsor.
One Stop Shop for Customer Engagement
We’ve got a big vision to help small businesses have a one stop shop for engaging their customers in ways that big brands now take for granted
We have a big vision in store. As we move forward, The Regular user on our app will find a feed that helps their favorite bars and restaurants bypass social media algorithms, they’ll find donation opportunities connected to the charity their community is sponsoring. Social leagues will find one place to check their standings, see their scores. That’s where we’ve started, but it’s just the beginning of our vision of creating true innovation for community. We’re on a mission to revolutionize how local businesses that bring people together engage them, all centered on cause and impact. And the journey is just beginning.