Journey of a Python community: From 3 to 3000+ members

PyCon Korea 2018.

Transcript

1. Journey of a Python community From 3 to 3000+ members Manoj Pandey @onlyrealmvp
 @pydatadelhi
2. @onlyrealmvp Hi.
3. @onlyrealmvp
4. @onlyrealmvp PyCon UK 2016 Source: http://iamit.in/blog/
5. @onlyrealmvp
6. @onlyrealmvp NumFOCUS sponsored projects
7. @onlyrealmvp Title Text THE PYDATA ECOSYSTEM
8. @onlyrealmvp ‣ ~22 months ‣ 25 meetups ‣ 2 conferences PyData Delhi 2018, August 11-12
9. @onlyrealmvp Timeline
10. @onlyrealmvp ‣ We were a part of a local Python group ‣ We had interacted with other communities ‣ We spoke at a few conferences ‣ We wanted a Data Science community in the city ‣ We wanted to do it, but had no idea ‣ We went forward
11. @onlyrealmvp Started with 3 people
12. @onlyrealmvp Beginning ‣ Purely a student driven community ‣ Meetups: ~20 people
13. @onlyrealmvp After the first few meetups
14. @onlyrealmvp
15. @onlyrealmvp Don’t lose the momentum.
16. @onlyrealmvp Conference(s) September 2017 August 2018
17. @onlyrealmvp Some numbers ‣ ~22 months ‣ ~4400 members ‣ ~25 meetups ‣ 2 conferences
18. @onlyrealmvp Easy
19. @onlyrealmvp Easy
20. @onlyrealmvp Starting a community is HARD.
21. @onlyrealmvp Starting a community is HARD. Building a community is HARDER.
22. @onlyrealmvp With enough planning, it turns out to be great!
23. @onlyrealmvp The Python community ~ > 3,000,000 Source: https://blog.pythonanywhere.com/67/, https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index//
24. @onlyrealmvp Python community is one of the most welcoming communities ever.
25. @onlyrealmvp Why are communities important? 1. Diversity => STRENGTH 2. A group => Increased network effect 3. Free and open discussions
26. @onlyrealmvp Why are communities important? 1. Diversity => STRENGTH
 Over time we have learnt a lot of things from people from different 
 backgrounds, like economics, neuroscience etc.
27. @onlyrealmvp Why are communities important? 1. Diversity => STRENGTH
 Over time we have learnt a lot of things from people from different 
 backgrounds, like economics, neuroscience etc. 2. A group => Increased network effect
 • Flow of information 
 • Rewards
28. @onlyrealmvp Why are communities important? 3. Free and open discussions
 
 => Validation of ideas

29. @onlyrealmvp Why are communities important? “I came for the language, but stayed for the community” ~ Brett Cannon, Python Core Developer
30. @onlyrealmvp DIY - Build a community
31. @onlyrealmvp How can you start a community? (and why should you!)
32. @onlyrealmvp 1. It has to start with a purpose - What ideas do you want to discuss? - What are the goals? - What do you plan to offer? - What do you want to receive?
33. @onlyrealmvp 2. Understand the nature of your group and region Don’t assume you know who you’re looking for
34. @onlyrealmvp - What type of people do you want to target? - How would you get diverse individuals? - How would you be able to draw them in, with
 relevant discussions? 2. Understand the nature of your group and region
35. @onlyrealmvp 3. Make it a planned community - alignment on goals, - audience, - structure of event - Leaders - Backups, (because Murphy is our friend ;))
36. @onlyrealmvp Don’t be afraid of small challenges Finding a venue ‣ <10 people : A coffee shop/school classroom will also work ‣ 10-50 people : Classroom / A small office space ‣ ~100 people : Find a sponsored space Finding attendees Always advertise your event through the people/media who can deliver the idea to the most number of targeted people.
37. @onlyrealmvp 4. Decide where it lives - Text: Slack - Voice/Video: Hangouts/Skype - In person: meetups - or, a combination of these
38. @onlyrealmvp 5. Curate, but don’t control ‣ Every community needs a leader (or twenty) ‣ Best way - let leaders LEAD! ‣ Allow them to be responsible and accountable At first, you’ll have to nurture members yourself to fill those roles - so that 
 other members can take a lead too
39. @onlyrealmvp 6. Provide an open and transparent door ‣ Everyone can contribute. ‣ In the Python community, we just don’t get catered, 
 but we also contribute - everyone contributes.
40. @onlyrealmvp 7. Responsibility and a shared vision ‣ Things align together when there is a shared vision ‣ Decide roles for members on leadership, curation,
 support, technical help etc. => Divide and Conquer works great! ‣ Don’t make yourself a single point of failure.
41. @onlyrealmvp 8. Embrace feedback ‣ Fail more, fail faster. ‣ Embrace everything - positive or negative, 
 provided it’s valid ‣ Communication is a two-way street ‣ It’s important to listen and hear ‣ Keep members in the loop
42. @onlyrealmvp 9. Seek help when needed - seek often. ‣ Many communities out there => Many mentors available ‣ Learn best of best practices ‣ How to avoid bad situations
43. @onlyrealmvp 10. Define your own success metric ‣ Measure, measure and measure over time ‣ Did people enjoy? ‣ Did they learn something new? ‣ Did they solve a problem they came with to seek help for? ‣ …
44. @onlyrealmvp Checklist for building a sustainable community ‣ Have a purpose ‣ Understand nature of your group/region ‣ Make it planned ‣ Decide where it lives ‣ Curate, but don’t control ‣ Provide an open door ‣ Responsibility and a shared vision ‣ Embrace feedback ‣ Seek help, when needed ‣ Define your success metric
45. @onlyrealmvp Most importantly … Make it FUN! c. PyData Delhi 2018
46. Questions ? @onlyrealmvp @pydatadelhi