No one is an island. Learnings from fostering a developers community

Who am I Antonio Software Engineer @DeliverooEng Co-organiser @LondonGophers ❤ Programming, cycling, making my own pizza and brewing my own beer. Twitter: @londongopher_

Why This talk?

Learnings Communities enhance humans Anyone can help, in their own way Building trust takes time Inclusion is particularly important

context.Background() » ✈ Moved to London " from Italy in April 2015 » Joined "London Gophers" in December 2015 » Became one of the organisers in August 2017

Why I joined a dev community » Learn about the local culture and values » Build meaningful connections, or even friendships » Be supported by - and support - others » Learn new things on the subject (Go!) - good quality talks are very important, and give people something to talk about

#1 Communities enhance humans

“Appreciate every aspect of your Go community - talks content is only part of the equation.”

How I participated more actively » Helped with the first hack-night in a while » Pushed to regularly live-stream our events » Designed the first version of our logo “Made those changes I wanted to see happening, without expecting others to do that for me”

No content

No content

#2 Anyone can help in their own way

“If you don't know how you can help, ask: there is always something you can do.”

Why I joined the organising team » I like helping people do what I'm too scared of doing - hello public speaking ! » I thought I could be part of the solution to something I identified as important to me, and to others “Simply put: it's rewarding.”

The starfish and the spider “In open organizations, a catalyst is the person who initiates a circle and then fades away into the background.”

LondonGophers in numbers 2013-2020 “Standing on the shoulders of giants.”

#3 Building trust takes time

“Give feedback: it's much quicker to make improvements based on real opinions.”

What's the secret ingredient? » Be aware of your unconscious bias, never assume to know what others like, or expect: ask, and listen » Don't be afraid of different opinions: be open to challenge, and embrace change - that's where growth hides » Be transparent and inclusive » Don't split: multiply

Don't split: multiply A few initiatives born from within the community » Go Study Group (started by Beth Anderson) » LondonGophers Hack Night (myself and Dom, then Paul Jolly) » Go Contributors Workshop (Daniel Martí) » Foundations of Go (make sure all expertise levels are represented) » GopherCon UK + GoTime FM collaboration

#4 Inclusion is particularly important

“Represent yourself and your group: everyone's voice should be heard. Don't assume, be kind.”

To recap » Appreciate every aspect of your Go community » If you don't know how you can help: ask » Give feedback » Represent yourself and your group » Don't assume and be kind

How can I help » Propose a talk, and don't assume it's not interesting » Help someone practicing with their talk, give feedback » Help finding speakers within your network, or sponsors who share your values » Help with a social media account » Collect/create resources for others to use » Come up with something you'd like to see, and make it happen

Some people can be islands

Community organisers make sure there are bridges that can be crossed

Here are some of the faces behind LondonGophers Beth Anderson Benjamin Bryant Dominic Green Paul Jolly Antonio Troina Kat Zien

Meet-up Group: https://www.meetup.com/LondonGophers/ Website: https://gophers.london YouTube: https://youtube.com/LondonGophers Slack: #london on the Gophers Slack Resources: » Growing a community of Gophers » The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations » Meet-up organiser runbooks

Thanks for listening Fin