AIGA Design Conference 2016 - Bootstrapping Communities

@cattsmall@cattsmall
Bootstrapping Communities
AIGA Design Conference 2016 – Catt Small

Why the act of building communities
is necessary, the communities I built,
and advice for creating your own.
Today we’ll discuss:

Why should we
build communities?

Individuals want to connect.

Attract people

Build engagement

Catalyze evolvement

Without communities, your
product, company, and
industry will not survive.

Communities can facilitate
diversity and inclusion.

Diversity and inclusion
positively affect your
industry, business, & product.

Why do I build
communities?

© Girls Who Code
They make me happy

Today’s examples

Tech Under Thirty
Active from 2013 to 2015

Code Liberation
© Code Liberation Foundation

Salt Mines NYC
Active in 2015 Super Smash Bros © Nintendo

Good for PoC
https://twitter.com/SamWritesCode/status/781726915144974336

These are just a few
communities I’ve organized.

Others include
http://technical.ly/brooklyn/2014/06/24/super-lo
ve-game-jam-sex-human/
Brooklyn Gamery
Active in 2015
Code + X
Facebook Messenger, Slack, and
Google Hangouts
Chat-based groups

Lessons learned

Phases of community
Starting Sustaining

Lesson 1:
Find your niche

Smart community leaders
What’s a need that hasn’t
been filled? Can I fill it?

Tech Under Thirty Good for PoCVS
Young
people in
tech?
Learn &
connect to
others in
tech?
Target Needs
People of
color in
tech
Find good
places to
work
Target Needs

Lesson 2:
Don’t do it alone

Who can and wants to help?

Tech Under Thirty Salt Mines NYCVS
1 leader
2 helpers
None
People Sponsors
Multiple
leaders &
helpers
Local
venue &
livestream
group
People Sponsors

Lesson 3:
Define your culture

What are my community’s
core values?

??????????
?????????
Core values
Serve &
support
people, not
companies
Always
provide a
safe space
for people
of color
Core values

Lesson 4:
Set goals

What tasks will we
accomplish?

Tech Under Thirty Code LiberationVS
Connect
people in
tech
Educate
people
about tech
careers
Goal 1 Goal 2
Teach
multiweek
C# class
Share
game dev
lessons
online
Goal 1 Goal 2

Lesson 5:
Make rules

How will we deal with
problems in our community?

Methods to deal with problems
Social
conduct
policies
Weapons,
drug, &
alcohol
policies
Methods to deal with problems
??????????
?????????

Lesson 6:
Share ownership

Who can step up?

Doing all
the things
Helping
every now
and then
Leader Helpers
3 web developers
2 event page editors
1 tournament organizer
3 bracket managers
Many volunteers
People

Lesson 7:
Pay and be paid

What can I afford to pay
people for their work?

No one.
People getting paid
Speakers
People getting paid
Leaders
Helpers

Lesson 8:
Be consistent

How often will we assemble?

Meeting times Meeting times
Whenever
we want to
Summer
classes
Game
jams
Game
nights

Lesson 9:
Accept feedback

What can we do better?

Feedback method
Google
Forms
with
statistics
Feedback method
Printed
feedback
form

Lesson 10:
Branch into clusters

Can we cultivate small,
supportive groups?

In person
Meetup.com
NYC
Ways to connect Chapters
In person
Facebook
Slack
NYC
London
ChaptersWays to connect

◇ Communities support people as
well as bring interest to your
products and businesses.
◇ Failure is natural and necessary to
find success.
In summary:

◇ Define your target group, goals, and
overarching culture.
◇ Ask for help so you’re not in it alone.
◇ Identify rules and boundaries.
Advice for starting

◇ Share ownership as you grow and
value your collaborators’ time.
◇ Keep a regular cadence.
◇ Get feedback from your members.
◇ Be aware of the effect of scale.
Advice for sustaining

Thank you.
Questions?
Tweet @cattsmall
Email catt@cattsmall.com

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