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Keynote at DevOps Days India 2013

Keynote at DevOps Days India 2013

My keynote on building and growing technical communities.

Sidu Ponnappa

February 10, 2014
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  1. COMMUNITY: THE FAQ

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  2. ME
    @ponnappa
    github.com/kaiwren
    C42 Engineering & TrustedRishta.com

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  3. ME
    Founding moderator: BRUG

    !
    Founding organizer: RubyConf India

    !
    Founding member: Devcamp India

    !
    Member: Barcamp Bangalore, BangPypers, etc.

    !
    !
    !

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  4. WHY TALK COMMUNITY?

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  5. WHY TALK COMMUNITY?
    Good tech communities create immense value.

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  6. Community is a decisive factor in the success of a technology.

    !
    (or philosophy)

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  7. An excellent example is the global Ruby community.

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  8. This doesn’t happen “automatically.”
    This conference is an example.

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  9. Creating a valuable community takes commitment.

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  10. Creating a valuable community takes resources.

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  11. Most importantly, it takes time. Years.

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  12. UNDERSTANDING
    Understanding how valuable tech communities were built help
    us replicate those successes.

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  13. CAVEAT: IMHO

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  14. CREATING VALUE

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  15. CREATING VALUE
    Why, how and for whom?

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  16. WHY

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  17. WHY
    Entertainment.
    Money.
    Effort.
    Time.

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  18. Somewhere, a hacker creates something valuable.

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  19. Somewhere, another hacker has the same problem.
    Even if it’s boredom.

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  20. Somewhere, a customer is willing to pay for something valuable.

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  21. This, and everyone in-between, is the community.

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  22. COMMUNITY == ECOSYSTEM

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  23. ECOSYSTEM MEMBERS
    Hackers.

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  24. ECOSYSTEM MEMBERS
    Businesses.

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  25. ECOSYSTEM MEMBERS
    Customers.

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  26. HOW: MOVING VALUE

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  27. Hackers
    Customers
    Businesses
    Fun, Learning, Contracts, Employment.
    Hackers

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  28. Businesses
    Hackers
    Customers
    Businesses
    Recruiting, Tools, Products, Partnerships, Revenue.

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  29. Customers
    Hackers
    Businesses
    Contractors, Tools, Products.

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  30. EXCHANGING VALUE
    A valuable community facilitates bartering value.

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  31. FACILITATING BARTERING

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  32. BARTERING
    Bartering depends on trust. Trust depends on reputation.

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  33. REPUTATION
    A valuable community facilitates tracking reputation of its
    members.

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  34. DIGITAL REPUTATION

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  35. PERSONAL REPUTATION
    What opinion do we have of each-other?

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  36. These two contribute to the reputation of the community as a
    whole, attempting to answer the question:

    !
    What is this community good at?

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  37. FOR EXAMPLE
    Math
    Web apps
    Scientific computing

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  38. BUILDING COMMUNITY

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  39. GETTING STARTED

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  40. STEP #1
    Solve a stakeholder’s problem.

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  41. For a new community, it’s easy: Focus on education.

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  42. STEP #2
    Dedicate time. Be systematic.

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  43. Regular meetups. Active lists.

    !
    Keeping to a regular schedule is critical.

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  44. STEP #3
    Identify and promote contributors.

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  45. 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.

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  46. TAKING OFF

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  47. STEP #4
    Identify the value chain.
    Who are the stakeholders? How do they benefit?

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  48. STEP #5
    Marketing.
    Stakeholders don’t always realise how much they can benefit
    from actively participating.

    !
    Help them understand. Bring them into the fold.

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  49. STEP #6
    Facilitate bartering value.
    Help members of the ecosystem work together.

    Reputation and transitive trust is critical.

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  50. STEP #7
    Encourage face-to-face interaction.
    The internet is nice, but meeting people is great for trust.

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  51. BE WILLING TO PASS ON THE
    BATON
    STEP #8

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  52. A NOTE ON PATIENCE

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  53. Communities are never perfect.

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  54. Ecosystems naturally seek…

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  56. Systems in equilibrium change slowly.

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  57. Therefore, communities change slowly.

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  58. Most successful communities take years to build.

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  59. A NOTE ON CULTURE

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  60. The most visible examples are the ones that are followed.

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  61. Rude people beget rude communities.

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  62. Elitists beget elitist communities.

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  63. Nice people beget nice communities.

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  64. Personal favourite: MINSWAN
    Matz is nice, so we are nice.

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  65. Nice people make the best value transfer facilitators, IMO.

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  66. The larger the community, the more entrenched the culture.

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  67. There is no superuser.
    xkcd.com/149
    Be flexible. Avoid ego-trips.

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  68. Set the right example, early.

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  69. A NOTE ON MARKETING

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  70. “Build it and they will come” is a fallacy.

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  71. Constantly strive to understand stakeholder problems.
    Maybe they don’t have learning resources.

    Maybe they can’t hire.

    Maybe they can’t find customers.

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  72. Express how these problems can be solved.

    Clearly. Concisely.
    Rails’ scaffolding demo from 2005.

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  73. IN CONCLUSION

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  74. Communities exist for and because of stakeholders.

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  75. Businesses and customers are a part of the community too.

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  76. Communities facilitate the barter of value among stakeholders.

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  77. Effective facilitation depends on creating trust.

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  78. Trust depends on reputation.

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  79. Building a reputation takes time.

    !
    (and marketing)

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  80. QUESTIONS
    @ponnappa
    github.com/kaiwren

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