1. COMMUNITY: THE FAQ

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

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

4. WHY TALK COMMUNITY?

5. WHY TALK COMMUNITY?
Good tech communities create immense value.

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

7. An excellent example is the global Ruby community.

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

9. Creating a valuable community takes commitment.

10. Creating a valuable community takes resources.

11. Most importantly, it takes time. Years.

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

13. CAVEAT: IMHO

14. CREATING VALUE

15. CREATING VALUE
Why, how and for whom?

16. WHY

17. WHY
Time.
Effort.
Money.
Entertainment.

18. Somewhere, a hacker creates something valuable.

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

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

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

22. COMMUNITY == ECOSYSTEM

23. ECOSYSTEM MEMBERS
Hackers.

24. ECOSYSTEM MEMBERS
Businesses.

25. ECOSYSTEM MEMBERS
Customers.

26. HOW: MOVING VALUE

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

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

29. Hackers
Customers
Businesses
Contractors, Tools, Products.

30. EXCHANGING VALUE
A valuable community facilitates bartering value.

31. FACILITATING BARTERING

32. BARTERING
Bartering depends on trust. Trust depends on reputation.

33. REPUTATION
A valuable community facilitates tracking reputation of its
members.

34. DIGITAL REPUTATION

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

36. These two contribute to the reputation of the community as a
whole, attempting to answer the question:
!
What is this community good at?

37. FOR EXAMPLE
Math
Web apps
Scientific computing

38. BUILDING COMMUNITY

39. GETTING STARTED

40. STEP #1
Solve a stakeholder’s problem.

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

42. STEP #2
Dedicate time. Be systematic.

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

44. STEP #3
Identify and promote contributors.

45. 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.

46. TAKING OFF

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

48. STEP #5
Marketing.
Stakeholders don’t always realise how much they can benefit
from actively participating.
!
Help them understand. Bring them into the fold.

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

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

51. STEP #8
BE WILLING TO PASS ON THE
BATON

52. A NOTE ON PATIENCE

53. Communities are never perfect.

54. Ecosystems naturally seek…

56. Systems in equilibrium change slowly.

57. Therefore, communities change slowly.

58. Most successful communities take years to build.

59. A NOTE ON CULTURE

60. The most visible examples are the ones that are followed.

61. Rude people beget rude communities.

62. Elitists beget elitist communities.

63. Nice people beget nice communities.

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

65. Nice people make the best value transfer facilitators, IMO.

66. The larger the community, the more entrenched the culture.

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

68. Set the right example, early.

69. A NOTE ON MARKETING

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

71. Constantly strive to understand stakeholder problems.
Maybe they don’t have learning resources.
Maybe they can’t hire.
Maybe they can’t find customers.

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

73. IN CONCLUSION

74. Communities exist for and because of stakeholders.

75. Businesses and customers are a part of the community too.

76. Communities facilitate the barter of value among stakeholders.

77. Effective facilitation depends on creating trust.

78. Trust depends on reputation.

79. Building a reputation takes time.
!
(and marketing)

80. QUESTIONS
@ponnappa
github.com/kaiwren