Lessons learned seeding a webscale open source community

An open source project is only as strong as the developer community around it. The traditional marketing strategies may not be applicable when dealing with a more discerning developer audience in the age of social media. So how does an open source project gain traction and usage? How do you fight FUD to build community around new technology? How does a project gain respect and mindshare among opinionated and fickle geeks?

This session will examine these questions through a case study of the MongoDB project. Released for the first time in 2009, downloads of the open source database now exceed 100,000 each month and dozens of MongoDB events around the world have consistently sold out. Through bottoms-up developer outreach, MongoDB is seeing broad adoption in both the web and enterprise arenas.

Meghan Gill leads the marketing and community development efforts at 10gen, the company that develops and supports the MongoDB project. She’ll talk about how seeding local user groups, organizing meetups large and small, building a social media presence, identifying advocates, and handling critics. We’ll discuss the challenges of balancing the growth of a commercial ecosystem alongside free adoption. In keeping with the session’s theme, we’ll close with an interactive discussion about creative ways to engage community around new technology.

Transcript

1. Meghan Gill @meghanpgill
4. @meghanpgill
7. MongoDB is easy •  Easy to try without downloading anything •  try.mongodb.org •  Easy to install and runs on your OS •  Easy to access from your language •  Easy to use •  Easy to get help
9. Support is a priority •  Culture emphasizes support •  Everyone participates (even the execs) •  Reduce barriers
10. Questions are everywhere
11. Support is a lot of work •  And it can feel thankless •  Culture is especially important
12. Can you be proactive? •  Better docs •  Tools •  Tutorials •  Ease of use
13. Community is our product manager •  Want something? Vote on jira
16. Conferences •  25+ Mongo Cons •  One day •  Inexpensive •  Informative •  Organized by 10gen •  Fun 
17. How it started •  NoSQL Boston (March 2010) •  MongoSF (April 2010) •  Keep doing it until people stop coming
18. Where we’ve been •  San Fran (2x) •  NYC (2x) •  London (2x) •  Paris (2x) •  Seattle •  Boston •  Berlin •  Hamburg •  Munich •  Chicago •  DC (2x) •  Mt View •  Los Angeles •  Boulder •  Atlanta •  Austin •  Tokyo •  Beijing •  Philly •  Moscow •  Sao Paulo
19. We come to you •  Survey community for locations •  Strength of the user group community •  Users in the area willing to speak
20. Iteration •  Format •  Schedule •  Pricing •  Sponsorship •  Cities / Travel
21. Finding speakers •  Surprisingly users rarely turn down an opportunity to present •  Give back to the community •  Bragging rights •  Showcase their open source project •  Recruiting
22. Finding speakers •  Work with sales (gasp!)
23. Support and feedback for speakers •  We used to invite speakers, now it’s CFP •  We (try to) review slides •  Need to do a better job of giving feedback •  SpeakerRate? Surveys?
24. Getting people there: what works •  Make speakers your PR team •  Discount codes and group discounts •  Early bird pricing •  Work with local user groups •  Event hashtag •  Nominal fee
25. Getting people there: challenges •  Overstepping boundaries •  Research the local culture •  Set the right tone •  Lead time •  People procrastinate •  Early bird helps!
26. User Groups: what we provide •  Logistical support and guides •  Promotion •  Finding speakers •  Securing venues •  Financially (e.g. covering meetup.com fees)
27. User Groups: what we ask •  Meet consistently •  Share slides and resources
28. UG Challenges •  Finding a great organizer is hard! •  Finding speakers is hard! •  Finding venues is hard! •  Co-working spaces are great •  Research where the other groups are meeting •  Staying in close contact is a lot of work
29. Office Hours •  Anyone can drop by •  Timed / co-located / promoted through MUGs •  Sometimes no one shows up. That’s ok.
31. Turn followers into leaders •  Empower •  Encourage
33. Contribution is a broad term •  Code •  Docs •  Translation of docs •  Blog posts •  Speaking •  Organizing an UG
34. Contributing code •  Lots of contribution on drivers and tools; less on core server •  Can we make it more approachable?
35. Say thank you •  Comment on their blog post •  Send swag •  Recognition
36. A little swag goes a long way
38. Public Failures •  Acknowledge •  Address transparently •  Detailed, public post mortem •  Demonstrated responsiveness
39. People lashing out •  Differentiate misunderstandings from disagreements
40. Trolls •  Ignore them
41. @meghanpgill meghan@10gen.com BTW we are hiring