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COMMUNITY: THE FAQ

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

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ME Founding moderator: BRUG ! Founding organizer: RubyConf India ! Founding member: Devcamp India ! Member: Barcamp Bangalore, BangPypers, etc. ! ! !

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WHY TALK COMMUNITY?

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WHY TALK COMMUNITY? Good tech communities create immense value.

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Community is a decisive factor in the success of a technology. ! (or philosophy)

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An excellent example is the global Ruby community.

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

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Creating a valuable community takes commitment.

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Creating a valuable community takes resources.

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Most importantly, it takes time. Years.

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

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CAVEAT: IMHO

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CREATING VALUE

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CREATING VALUE Why, how and for whom?

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WHY

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WHY Entertainment. Money. Effort. Time.

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Somewhere, a hacker creates something valuable.

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

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

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

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COMMUNITY == ECOSYSTEM

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ECOSYSTEM MEMBERS Hackers.

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ECOSYSTEM MEMBERS Businesses.

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ECOSYSTEM MEMBERS Customers.

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HOW: MOVING VALUE

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

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

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Customers Hackers Businesses Contractors, Tools, Products.

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EXCHANGING VALUE A valuable community facilitates bartering value.

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FACILITATING BARTERING

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BARTERING Bartering depends on trust. Trust depends on reputation.

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REPUTATION A valuable community facilitates tracking reputation of its members.

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DIGITAL REPUTATION

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

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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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FOR EXAMPLE Math Web apps Scientific computing

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BUILDING COMMUNITY

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GETTING STARTED

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STEP #1 Solve a stakeholder’s problem.

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

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STEP #2 Dedicate time. Be systematic.

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Regular meetups. Active lists. ! Keeping to a regular schedule is critical.

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STEP #3 Identify and promote contributors.

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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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TAKING OFF

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

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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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STEP #6 Facilitate bartering value. Help members of the ecosystem work together. Reputation and transitive trust is critical.

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

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BE WILLING TO PASS ON THE BATON STEP #8

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A NOTE ON PATIENCE

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Communities are never perfect.

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Ecosystems naturally seek…

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No content

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Systems in equilibrium change slowly.

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Therefore, communities change slowly.

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Most successful communities take years to build.

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A NOTE ON CULTURE

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The most visible examples are the ones that are followed.

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Rude people beget rude communities.

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Elitists beget elitist communities.

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Nice people beget nice communities.

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

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Nice people make the best value transfer facilitators, IMO.

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The larger the community, the more entrenched the culture.

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

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Set the right example, early.

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A NOTE ON MARKETING

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

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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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Express how these problems can be solved. Clearly. Concisely. Rails’ scaffolding demo from 2005.

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IN CONCLUSION

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Communities exist for and because of stakeholders.

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Businesses and customers are a part of the community too.

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Communities facilitate the barter of value among stakeholders.

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Effective facilitation depends on creating trust.

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Trust depends on reputation.

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Building a reputation takes time. ! (and marketing)

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QUESTIONS @ponnappa github.com/kaiwren