1. WhatCommunitiesCanLearnfromWhatCommunitiesCanLearnfrom Rikki Endsley Community Evangelist at Red Hat @rikkiends rendsley@redhat.com 2. AboutMe I'matechjournalist,editor,communitymanager,andsocialmedia strategist(akacommunityevangelistatRedHat) 17+yearsofexperienceinthetechindustry (primarilyfocusedonLinux&opensourcetechnologies) FirsteditingjobwasonSysAdminmagazinein~1999 FormerassociatepublisherofLinuxProMagazine,UbuntuUser,and ADMIN;andformerUSENIXAssociationcommunitymanager Alsowrotefor:Linux.com,ITWorld, NetworkWorld,CMSWire,&others (seerikkiendsley.comforarticlelinks) 3. BuffytheVampireSlayerTVSeries Airedfrom19972003 Iwatchedallepisodesforthefirsttimeinlate2011onNetflix ...andwatchedthemallagainin2012 ...andmostofthemagainin2013 Iwatchedsomeofthemwith mykitten,Buffy 4. AboutMe I'matechjournalist,editor,communitymanager,andsocialmedia strategist(akacommunityevangelistatRedHat) 17+yearsofexperienceinthetechindustry (primarilyfocusedonLinux&opensourcetechnologies) FirsteditingjobwasonSysAdminmagazinein~1999 FormerassociatepublisherofLinuxProMagazine,UbuntuUser,and ADMIN;andformerUSENIXAssociationcommunitymanager Alsowrotefor:Linux.com,ITWorld, NetworkWorld,CMSWire,&others (seerikkiendsley.comforarticlelinks) 5. EverythingIwritetendstoturnintoasuperhero team,evenifIdidn'tmeanforitto.Ialwaysstartoff wantingtobesolitary,becausea)it'ssimpler,and b)thatisolationissomethingthatIrelatetoasa storyteller.Andthennomatterwhat,Ialwaysend upwithateam. ~JossWhedon,creatorofBuffytheVampireSlayer series 6. Buffy:TheChosenOne Strongleadershelpbuildstrongcommunities. DoyouthinkIchosetobelikethis?Do youhaveanyideahowlonelyitis?How dangerous?Iwouldlovetobeupstairs watchingTVorgossipingaboutboysor, god,evenstudying!ButIhavetosave theworld.Again. 7. Effectiveopensourcecommunityleaders... 1. Learn and adapt on the job 2. Mentor 3. Listen and foster communication 4. Have a sense of humor 5. Are confident (or appear that way) 6. Understand what motivates community members 7. Recognize and value member contributions 8. Are transparent and inclusive 9. Train future leaders 8. Rupert Giles: The Librarian Good documentation is important. It may be that we are all that stands between the Earth and utter destruction. 9. Do your project docs have: A good README or introduction Docs available online and with the download Screenshots & examples of code in use Links and references Help for the new user Users in mind (i.e. not just changelogs) [1] 10. Willow: The Mentee Mentoring can help an inexperienced community member grow into a leadership role. "I mean, you've been fighting evil here for three years, and I've helped some, and now we're supposed to decide what we want to do with our lives. And I just realized that that's what I want to do. Fight evil, help people. I mean, I think it's worth doing. And I don't think you do it because you have to. It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in." 11. Mentoring Myths Myth #1: You have to find one perfect mentor Myth #2: Mentoring is a formal long-term relationship Myth #3: Mentoring is for junior people Myth #4: Mentoring is something more experienced people do out of the goodness of their hearts [2] HBR Blog Network: Demystifying Mentoring 12. Angel: The Rock Star Developer (I was happy when Buffy killed Angel.) You know, I started it. The whole having-a-soul. Before it was... all the cool new thing. 13. Rock stars are expensive, high maintenance, unpredictable, attention seeking, and get credit for work contributed by other people. Healthy open source communities are like bands of skilled individuals who pool their talents to work on projects. e.g. Fedora community (band) collaborates on Fedora 20 (album). And then the code (songs) will be used in other open source projects. Band members also play with other bands and record on other albums. [3] 14. Spike: The (Former) Community Member I know I'm a bad poet, but I'm a good man. 15. How to lose community members: Don't value their contributions Don't help them improve Don't recognize efforts Do foster a hostile environment Do give them reasons to move to more welcoming projects 16. Glory: The Toxic Personality I just want you to know, this whole 'beat you to death' thing I'm doing is valuable time out of my life that I'm never going to get back. 17. Toxic personalities: Distract from the goal Emotionally drain the participants Cause needless conflict Stop or slow progress Chase off other community members [4] 18. Anya: The Good Communicator-Not Communication within communities can be tricky. I don't talk to people much. I mean, I talk to them, but they don't talk to me. Except to say, 'Your questions are irksome', and 'Perhaps you should take your furs and your literal interpretations to the other side of the river'. 19. Communication skills are learned: Have one conversation at a time Look people in the eye Write things down Read and respond to the entire email Create a response schedule Assume best intentions Close the loop [5] 20. Xander: The Generalist They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie. To be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because...nobody's watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You're not special. You're extraordinary. 21. Generalists are handy: Pros: Adapt well to change Learn new skills quickly Thrive on variety Cons: Challenging to show value Must learn on the job Can take longer to perform jobs What to write on the resume... [6] 22. T-shaped (specialized generalist) Breadth: communication (including negotiation), creativity, the ability to apply knowledge across disciplines, empathy (including the ability to see from other perspectives), and an understanding of fields outside area of expertise Depth: in-depth specialized knowledge in one or two fields [7] 23. The Gentlemen: Harassment 24. Speaking up isn't always possible. In Hush, a group of fairy tale ghouls named The Gentlemen come to town and steal everyone's voices, leaving them unable to scream when The Gentlemen cut out their hearts. [8] 25. Harassment at work: Workplace sexual harassment is one of the most difficult and insidious issues to tackle, because victims are so often in a position of vulnerability, afraid of damaging their careers or even losing their jobs altogether if they dare to rock the boat. [9] 26. Online harassment: Abusers tend to operate anonymously, or under pseudonyms. But the women they target often write on professional platforms, under their given names, and in the context of their real lives. [10] 27. Adam: Closed Source ... I seem to have a design flaw. 28. Thank you! Contact info: rendsley@redhat.com @rikkiends @redhatopen rikkiendsley.com 29. Resources [1]13ThingsPeopleHateaboutYourOpenSourceDocs:http://blog.smartbear.com/careers/13thingspeoplehate aboutyouropensourcedocs/: [2]HBRBlogNetworkDemystifyingMentoring:http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/02/demystifyingmentoring/ [3]TheMythoftheRockstarProgrammer:http://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheMythOfTheRockstarProgrammer.aspx [4]PoisonousPeople(summaryofGoogletalkvideohttp://youtu.be/Q52kFL8zVoM): http://optional.is/required/2010/04/14/poisonouspeople/ [5]8WaystoImproveYourCommunicationRightNow:http://www.inc.com/kevindaum/8waystoimproveyour communicationrightnow.html [6]DefendingTheGeneralistsInTheWebDesignIndustry: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/07/26/defendingthegeneralistsinthewebdesignindustry/ [7]CareerSuccessStartsWitha"T":http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/careertransitions/201204/career successstartst [8]Wikipedia'sHushpage:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush_%28Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer%29 [9]Sexualharassmentintheworkplaceisendemic:http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens blog/2013/oct/23/sexualharassmentworkplace endemicwomen [10]WhyWomenArentWelcomeontheInternet:http://www.psmag.com/navigation/healthandbehavior/women arentwelcomeinternet72170/