It's Dangerous to go Alone: Building Teams like an Organizer
summary
Builds a volunteer engineering team that replaces three Excel spreadsheets with a case management system for the DC Abortion Fund and reports happier case managers and measurably better conversations with patients. Uses one-on-one outreach, local meetups, Slack and a contributor funnel to recruit and retain people, marks beginner-friendly issues, breaks work into bite-sized tasks, and climbs a ladder of engagement so volunteers take progressively harder roles instead of burning out.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (22)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:12BUILDING TEAMS LIKE AN ORGANIZER Colin Fleming / @ridethecatbus
- 1:33NOT BURNING OURSELVES OUT OR RAGEQUITTING STUFF WE CARE ABOUT THROUGH BUILDING COMMUNITY
- 3:02My new job: Running voter contact for a state house campaign in Phoenix, AZ
- 4:27Successful voter outreach program!
- 5:08The DC Abortion Fund (DCAF) needs a new case management system
- 5:44There are zero dollars for a new case management system
- 9:07This is the premise of open source software!
- 10:57Identify a goal
- 11:33Build individual relationships with other people who share that goal
- 12:53As a group, work together toward your shared goals
- 13:19I have a goal. Why do I care about that?
- 15:44What does the other person care about?
- 16:05What's the common thread that links you together?
- 16:27What's a concrete step they can take with you toward the shared goal?
- 16:48A great example of finding common threads from last year's Railsconf: Joe Dean's talk on working with charities
- 18:45Incorporating this into what you're doing doesn't mean you have to whole-hog change anything
- 20:38Make it a point to have a one-on-one conversation with every contributor
- 21:55Every single person gets the welcome basket, even if they aren't new
- 22:55Make it straightforward to get involved!
- 26:32Escalate responsibility of community members
- 29:32PS the github open source community guide is REALLY GOOD
related talks
41mThe Work No One Notices—Until It’s Missing: Scaling Open Source Community Teams
45mHow to Create a Sustainable Community
41mKeynote: It's Dangerous To Go Alone, Take This: The Power of a Community
26mBetter Together Diversity Networking Lunch
47mThe Great Adventure of Open Source Contribution
20mOpen up to Open Source
45mPanel on Building Communities
18mScaling Communities to be more Inclusive