Matt Hommel

Super Neighbors are the lifeblood of OneRoof. They’re the people who bring their building together in the name of community. Thanks to them, building hangouts happen, friendships are made, and incredible moments unfold. We’re deeply grateful to them!

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Today we’re featuring a growth marketer and gifted gatherer, Matt Hommel.

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So Matt! Tell me a little about how you ended up in New York City.

After I graduated college, I did what most kids do. I spent a little bit of time living at home. I had some other places in mind where I wanted to live,  like Los Angeles, Miami, maybe San Francisco. But after visiting a bunch of places, New York felt right. It’s the center of the universe!

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I set my sights on getting a job in Manhattan. I was 23 at that point, and began to interview with a bunch of different companies. When I finally got a job, it was right before the COVID shutdown of the city. My start date was April first, and then they went completely remote. So I actually moved to New Jersey for a while, and then traveled around. Eventually, I got tired of being a digital nomad. I wanted roots. 

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What was your social life like when you first moved to New York?

Some people I knew were on a hybrid schedule. They were only here during the week and didn’t even have an apartment. So I realized I had to meet people. I was Googling places to meet people when you move to a big city. I did Bumble BFF. Then I read an article that talked about OneRoof.

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I downloaded the app and saw that we didn’t have it set up in our building. I reached out to the support team, and they were super warm and welcoming. They helped me set it up, and we talked about ways to get the initial group of people to join. 

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How did you make your building group popular?

Well after the initial group, we did building mailers. Within a couple months, we had 300 people in our chat.

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Woah. What happened next?

Yeah, it’s a big building with two towers. So we started to encourage people to introduce themselves in the chat, share something interesting about themselves. But we didn’t want it to get boring… we wanted to meet each other in person! So in May or June we organized a day to hang out on the roof.

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The first time around, 15 or 20 people showed up.

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That’s  a pretty good showing!

And it’s funny, when I went up, I saw another group of people at a table. So I asked if they were there for OneRoof. Turns out they weren’t, but it was the perfect way to start a conversation and meet my neighbors. And then they joined the other group of people that came up later. 

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Eventually the group chat became a whole fiasco. Like people were starting to get FOMO if they weren’t at our rooftop hangs.

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I love that. What a great way to feel permission to talk to your neighbors! Did you have any more get-togethers?

We did a few more rooftop parties. One we did on a Saturday and a Sunday. Then one of our neighbors, Dan, brought up his big speaker and a DJ table. He’s DJing, people are hanging out. By now it’s 30+ people. So it’s this congregation on the rooftop! It got easier and easier to bring people together as the group on OneRoof got bigger.

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So at that point, we began to think like, okay, like, we're actually pretty good at this. Then we started thinking about renting a rooftop for a bigger party. We ended up renting the DL for a party with all the neighbors. We promoted it, people had to reserve tickets, there were bottles. It was a whole thing. Again, we had our own little congregation.

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What are your relationships with your neighbors like now?

A: A lot of my best friends in the city now are my neighbors. Like I travel with them.

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What have you seen happen with other neighbors as a result of these gatherings?

I’ve seen romances happening, people traveling together, folks doing business projects together. People are going beyond the acquaintance or neighbor category.

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When you first started bringing people together, were you worried about anything?

I think a little bit. Like, is this going to work? We started when the app was really new. I’d never heard of anything like it before. Also, would I like the people I met? Some people are just harder to get along with! But we started that group chat, and literally two weeks later were doing rooftop gatherings. I had nothing to worry about.

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Any events you’re producing that you want to promote?

We’re doing an event on the east side called the Gotham Gala. It’s a charity event benefiting the Guide Dog Foundation. It will be black tie, red carpet, great food. 

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Why the Guide Dog Foundation?

Well, for a family to get a guide dog, it can cost $50,000. That’s obviously not super accessible. This foundation makes it possible for families to get a guide dog free of charge.

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Okay, my last question for you. If someone is considering becoming a SuperNeighbor, and they’re feeling nervous about it, what would you tell them?

I would just do it. No matter what, you're going to meet people. If you don't meet people in your building, you're going to meet super neighbors. And then it's almost like a SuperNeighbor community. It's kind of like a mastermind. We all help each other succeed, and everyone shares best practices. If you want to meet new people, it’s absolutely going to be accomplished by becoming a SuperNeighbor.

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Feeling Inspired?

Find out if there’s a OneRoof community in your building here. Inspired by Matt's Super Neighbor story? You can apply to become a Super Neighbor here and get sponsored events for you and your neighbors.

If you’d like to learn more about Matt’s business, you can find his website here.

This interview has been edited with consent for brevity and clarity

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