[Chicago] Community/Social Alliance Help

[Asheesh Laroia]

Hey all,

It's an exciting idea to see ChiPy work more on getting the word out. As
someone who's done similar things for other groups I've been involved in,
and who's seen some groups fork due to leader conflicts and others stay
coherent in the face of growth, here are my suggestions for how to do that
well.

For the group to feel good about the outreach someone is doing, generally
they should:

* Not spend much of their professional life recruiting software engineers;
otherwise, that tends to make people uncomfortable with their motives.

* Be someone who is interested in listening to other local group organizers
and finding out where cross-overs might be found.

* Be someone who maintains a very healthy attitude of respect toward all
people, including respecting diversity of personal background/gender/etc.
and of professional background (new programmers/geologists doing Python in
academia/etc.).

I am sure that the group will pick such a person, and I'm excited to see
someone like that step forward.

I'm a little concerned by Brian Ray mentioning he wants to grow the group
while maintaining the "bit of an insider group" feel. It seems to me those
goals are at odds. I'm also a little confused (and honestly, weirded-out)
by the switching between "we" and "I" in the original email. It's not clear
if ChiPy is organized by multiple people with a process, or just Brian Ray.
The ChiPy website seems silent on this point.

Regardless, as this thread is primarily about who will volunteer, let's see
who can help. That's the most important step.

I will also say that "I would like to hand some specific instructions for
the first meeting or two... then let you take it from there" seems like a
reasonable set-up for a volunteer.

p.s. I sent this from the wrong address a moment ago; pardon the noise,
dear moderator.


On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 12:34 AM, Asheesh Laroia <lists at asheesh.org> wrote:

> Hey all,
>
> It's an exciting idea to see ChiPy work more on getting the word out. As
> someone who's done similar things for other groups I've been involved in,
> and who's seen some groups fork due to leader conflicts and others stay
> coherent in the face of growth, here are my suggestions for how to do that
> well.
>
> For the group to feel good about the outreach someone is doing, generally
> they should:
>
> * Not spend much of their professional life recruiting software engineers;
> otherwise, that tends to make people uncomfortable with their motives.
>
> * Be someone who is interested in listening to other local group
> organizers and finding out where cross-overs might be found.
>
> * Be someone who maintains a very healthy attitude of respect toward all
> people, including respecting diversity of personal background/gender/etc.
> and of professional background (new programmers/geologists doing Python in
> academia/etc.).
>
> I am sure that the group will pick such a person, and I'm excited to see
> someone like that step forward.
>
> I'm a little concerned by Brian Ray mentioning he wants to grow the group
> while maintaining the "bit of an insider group" feel. It seems to me those
> goals are at odds. I'm also a little confused (and honestly, weirded-out)
> by the switching between "we" and "I" in the original email. It's not clear
> if ChiPy is organized by multiple people with a process, or just Brian Ray.
> The ChiPy website seems silent on this point.
>
> Regardless, as this thread is primarily about who will volunteer, let's
> see who can help. That's the most important step.
>
> I will also say that "I would like to hand some specific instructions for
> the first meeting or two... then let you take it from there" seems like a
> reasonable set-up for a volunteer.
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 10:41 AM, Brian Curtin <brian at python.org> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 11:49 AM, Brian Ray <brianhray at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I use to send ChiPy announcements to a bunch of *friendly* usergroups
>>> and schools. Like College listserv lists, social media sites, Linux user
>>> groups, Big data groups.... others who might be interested and not find it
>>> annoying. I have stopped doing that in recent years because: A) we did not
>>> need it and B) I did not have time.
>>>
>>> I think we should take a swing at it again. We should be picky and
>>> always shoot for quality over quantity. Does anyone want to take up the
>>> rungs as our Community Leader?  I would like to hand some specific
>>> instructions for the first meeting or two... then let you take it from
>>> there.
>>>
>>
>> I really dislike a lot of things about this email.
>>
>> While I completely understand and appreciate point B, point A goes
>> against what a user group is typically there for: to be a group for people
>> who use a certain thing. I've never heard of anyone not sharing their
>> announcements with other groups because "we didn't need it." Who is the
>> "we" in "a group of Python using people located in Chicago" that didn't
>> need it?
>>
>> I agree that that ChiPy should take a swing at wider dissemination of
>> news again, but "quality over quantity" is again missing the point. Plus,
>> what does that even mean? What is a quality group versus a non-quality
>> group? Why does it matter what one person thinks about the quality of the
>> group with respect to them showing up and watching or speaking at a
>> meeting? Is there a reason why you wouldn't send news to a group you deem
>> to be more of a quantity than a quality?
>>
>> If you want to share announcements, share announcements with everyone who
>> can benefit from them.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Chicago mailing list
>> Chicago at python.org
>> https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/chicago
>>
>>
>
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