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-love-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 leader2 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.comNYC

Ways to connect Chapters

In person

Facebook

Slack

NYC

London

ChaptersWays to connect


Wrap up


◇ 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 @cattsmallEmail [email protected]