My keynote on building and growing technical communities.
COMMUNITY: THE FAQ
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ME@ponnappagithub.com/kaiwrenC42 Engineering & TrustedRishta.com
MEFounding moderator: BRUG !Founding organizer: RubyConf India !Founding member: Devcamp India !Member: Barcamp Bangalore, BangPypers, etc. !!!
WHY TALK COMMUNITY?
WHY TALK COMMUNITY?Good tech communities create immense value.
Community is a decisive factor in the success of a technology. !(or philosophy)
An excellent example is the global Ruby community.
This doesn’t happen “automatically.”This conference is an example.
Creating a valuable community takes commitment.
Creating a valuable community takes resources.
Most importantly, it takes time. Years.
UNDERSTANDINGUnderstanding how valuable tech communities were built helpus replicate those successes.
CAVEAT: IMHO
CREATING VALUE
CREATING VALUEWhy, how and for whom?
WHY
WHYEntertainment.Money.Effort.Time.
Somewhere, a hacker creates something valuable.
Somewhere, another hacker has the same problem.Even if it’s boredom.
Somewhere, a customer is willing to pay for something valuable.
This, and everyone in-between, is the community.
COMMUNITY == ECOSYSTEM
ECOSYSTEM MEMBERSHackers.
ECOSYSTEM MEMBERSBusinesses.
ECOSYSTEM MEMBERSCustomers.
HOW: MOVING VALUE
HackersCustomersBusinessesFun, Learning, Contracts, Employment.Hackers
BusinessesHackersCustomersBusinessesRecruiting, Tools, Products, Partnerships, Revenue.
CustomersHackersBusinessesContractors, Tools, Products.
EXCHANGING VALUEA valuable community facilitates bartering value.
FACILITATING BARTERING
BARTERINGBartering depends on trust. Trust depends on reputation.
REPUTATIONA valuable community facilitates tracking reputation of itsmembers.
DIGITAL REPUTATION
PERSONAL REPUTATIONWhat opinion do we have of each-other?
These two contribute to the reputation of the community as awhole, attempting to answer the question: !What is this community good at?
FOR EXAMPLEMathWeb appsScientific computing
BUILDING COMMUNITY
GETTING STARTED
STEP #1Solve a stakeholder’s problem.
For a new community, it’s easy: Focus on education.
STEP #2Dedicate time. Be systematic.
Regular meetups. Active lists. !Keeping to a regular schedule is critical.
STEP #3Identify and promote contributors.
Remember, it’s about reputation and value.Hackers that educate. OSS contributors. Businesses that contribute money or meet up space. Customers that swear by your technology.
TAKING OFF
STEP #4Identify the value chain.Who are the stakeholders? How do they benefit?
STEP #5Marketing.Stakeholders don’t always realise how much they can benefitfrom actively participating. !Help them understand. Bring them into the fold.
STEP #6Facilitate bartering value.Help members of the ecosystem work together. Reputation and transitive trust is critical.
STEP #7Encourage face-to-face interaction.The internet is nice, but meeting people is great for trust.
BE WILLING TO PASS ON THEBATONSTEP #8
A NOTE ON PATIENCE
Communities are never perfect.
Ecosystems naturally seek…
Systems in equilibrium change slowly.
Therefore, communities change slowly.
Most successful communities take years to build.
A NOTE ON CULTURE
The most visible examples are the ones that are followed.
Rude people beget rude communities.
Elitists beget elitist communities.
Nice people beget nice communities.
Personal favourite: MINSWANMatz is nice, so we are nice.
Nice people make the best value transfer facilitators, IMO.
The larger the community, the more entrenched the culture.
There is no superuser.xkcd.com/149Be flexible. Avoid ego-trips.
Set the right example, early.
A NOTE ON MARKETING
“Build it and they will come” is a fallacy.
Constantly strive to understand stakeholder problems.Maybe they don’t have learning resources. Maybe they can’t hire. Maybe they can’t find customers.
Express how these problems can be solved. Clearly. Concisely.Rails’ scaffolding demo from 2005.
IN CONCLUSION
Communities exist for and because of stakeholders.
Businesses and customers are a part of the community too.
Communities facilitate the barter of value among stakeholders.
Effective facilitation depends on creating trust.
Trust depends on reputation.
Building a reputation takes time. !(and marketing)
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