The Growth of People is the Essence of Community — An Interview with Lee Il-gu, Leader of MACBE Planning | Kolleges

“MACBE Planning,” the largest open chat community for IT product planning in Korea, is drawing attention. With 8,000 planners, designers, and developers actively sharing information and networking, this community has successfully run the K-Planning Conference for seven years across seven cohorts. We sat down with Lee Il-gu (MACBE), founder of MACBE Planning and a 20-year veteran IT product planner, to discuss the community’s beginnings, its growth, and its future vision.

Dreaming of a forum for reasonable information sharing

MACBE Planning began with a single IT conference. “At the time, the conference and meetup culture in the IT industry was not as active as it is today, and the 20,000-won admission fee was a burden for many planners.” Lee felt a strong need for information sharing about planning, and believed other planners shared the same thirst. “I wanted to create a conference focused on information sharing rather than profit, at a reasonable cost.”

In 2018, the first MACBE Planning Conference received a remarkable response. Six supporters and five speakers participated voluntarily, and the basement auditorium of Megazone was provided free of charge. “Registration closed on the same day we posted the recruitment notice. I realized just how strong the thirst for information sharing among planners was.” The MACBE chat room, which has since grown to 8,000 members, was a natural outgrowth of that same need.

How has MACBE Planning been run since the first conference?

The first conference was a success, but COVID-19 broke out shortly after and offline conferences became virtually impossible. When everything seemed to stop, we had to find a new path. Official conferences resumed in 2022, and in 2023 we ran two of them. As support from participants, supporters, and speakers grew, we began splitting a single cohort into two sessions, and the quality of the lectures has steadily improved. In particular, speakers from previous cohorts have returned to raise the bar further. I think this is a good example of the continuous growth and development of our community.

How did the 2024 K-Planning Conference perform?

The 2024 K-Planning Conference was an important milestone that showed our community’s core principle — online information sharing and offline networking — was being maintained well. It was deeply rewarding to see early participants share their knowledge, return as speakers, and continue to grow. One particularly moving story was a planner couple who met in the first cohort and went on to marry. Of course, we ran at a deficit because expenses exceeded the participation fees collected, but I see the creation of a forum for knowledge sharing as a great achievement in itself. The repeat participation rate of supporters and speakers reached 70%, showing how positive the earlier experiences were.

What improved after introducing Kolleges to the conference?

Adopting Kolleges created new content unique to our community and conference. The digital badges issued to participants, supporters, and speakers help people remember their MACBE experience for a long time and create shared memories. They also carry significant meaning as a way to certify their growth and experience. In particular, when submitted to a company, the credibility is markedly different from a PDF, and it has a positive effect on brand value and recognition. We started using it from the MVP stage in early 2024, and usability and accessibility have improved a great deal. The bulk certificate issuance feature in particular is very useful.

Are there other ways you plan to use Kolleges going forward?

We plan to automate attendance check at the conference using QR codes to improve efficiency. Supporters previously took attendance manually, so this change will make a big difference. We are also considering operating a tier system inside the community, and we think it could be fun to use digital badges for that. In February, we are planning an education program called PM School, and we plan to issue certificates of completion for that program as well. I believe all of this will contribute to a better experience for participants.

Expanding into MACBE Verse

Since we are a planning-information sharing community, the K-Planning (Planner) Conference will be held quarterly every year. In addition, several side projects are underway under the MACBE brand — what we call MACBE Verse.

These include “MACBE’s PM School,” a project-manager training program; “MACBE’s Planning School,” a YouTube channel specializing in planning, PM, and PO; “MACBE’s Planning GPT,” a GPT-like concept for planning information; and “MACBE Map,” a planning-skill matching service. PM School has launched, and about 40 people are preparing the rest.

[K-Planning Conference 2024]

This single sentence from Lee Il-gu encapsulates the path MACBE Planning has walked and the direction it is heading. A community built through the voluntary participation and growth of its members. We look forward to seeing what changes MACBE Planning’s new challenges will bring to the IT product planning field.