Open Source Community Development: Stickers are Good, People Sticking Around is Even Better
MCLD 2002 | Thu 06 Aug 5:30 p.m.–6:15 p.m.
Presented by
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Stacey Haysler
@https://fosstodon.org/@shaysler
By day, Stacey is the CFO and COO of PGX, Inc., a Postgres-only consultancy in Alameda, California. She is also the President of the U.S. PostgreSQL Association (PgUS), a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of PostgreSQL through education and advocacy. Stacey is an organizer of the San Francisco Bay Area PostgreSQL Users Group. Stacey is also the creator of the original PostgreSQL Community Code of Conduct, and was the first Chair of the Community CoC Committee for three years.
Stacey is a recognized Major Contributor to PostgreSQL.
Stacey is a Django Software Foundation Member, as well as a former Board Member of the DSF. She founded and served on the Board of the Django Events Foundation North America, and was a primary organizer of DjangoConUS 2015 – 2018. Stacey is a Contributing Member of Software in the Public Interest. By night, she sleeps, since that's a lot to do every day!
Stacey Haysler
@https://fosstodon.org/@shaysler
By day, Stacey is the CFO and COO of PGX, Inc., a Postgres-only consultancy in Alameda, California. She is also the President of the U.S. PostgreSQL Association (PgUS), a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of PostgreSQL through education and advocacy. Stacey is an organizer of the San Francisco Bay Area PostgreSQL Users Group. Stacey is also the creator of the original PostgreSQL Community Code of Conduct, and was the first Chair of the Community CoC Committee for three years.
Stacey is a recognized Major Contributor to PostgreSQL.
Stacey is a Django Software Foundation Member, as well as a former Board Member of the DSF. She founded and served on the Board of the Django Events Foundation North America, and was a primary organizer of DjangoConUS 2015 – 2018. Stacey is a Contributing Member of Software in the Public Interest. By night, she sleeps, since that's a lot to do every day!
Abstract
Developing software is important—if there’s no software, there’s no software community. Both components need attention and support to keep the project vital and moving in a positive direction. Software development is a well-understood process with many active participants. Community development, well . . . we have made progress in recent years, but there’s a whole lot more to do beyond establishing Diversity Committees and running scholarship programs.
So, let’s talk about developing Open Source communities. How do we interest current community members in becoming actively involved? How do we bring in new people, and do our best to make them feel welcome? Once they are here, how do we make it easy for them to become involved and stay involved?
How do we create a structure that allows community members, regardless of longevity or experience, find a role to fill, or a new role to move to when it’s time for something new? Who keeps track of the changing needs of the community and corresponding changes in structure, and figures out how to manage them?
There are so many questions, and as many answers as there are people. I’ll share my perspective and experience in community development, both in the PostgreSQL and Django communities, as well as in the corporate world, and offer some ideas and possible approaches—and gather ideas from everyone present as well. We may not solve everything in one session, but we can make progress!
Developing software is important—if there’s no software, there’s no software community. Both components need attention and support to keep the project vital and moving in a positive direction. Software development is a well-understood process with many active participants. Community development, well . . . we have made progress in recent years, but there’s a whole lot more to do beyond establishing Diversity Committees and running scholarship programs.
So, let’s talk about developing Open Source communities. How do we interest current community members in becoming actively involved? How do we bring in new people, and do our best to make them feel welcome? Once they are here, how do we make it easy for them to become involved and stay involved?
How do we create a structure that allows community members, regardless of longevity or experience, find a role to fill, or a new role to move to when it’s time for something new? Who keeps track of the changing needs of the community and corresponding changes in structure, and figures out how to manage them?
There are so many questions, and as many answers as there are people. I’ll share my perspective and experience in community development, both in the PostgreSQL and Django communities, as well as in the corporate world, and offer some ideas and possible approaches—and gather ideas from everyone present as well. We may not solve everything in one session, but we can make progress!