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Growing a Tech Community

Luke Melia • June 21, 2014 • Earth

In his talk at GoRuCo 2014, Luke Melia discusses his experience growing the Ember.js community in New York City. He emphasizes the importance of fostering a local tech community and shares practical tips drawn from his journey and insights gained in other communities, specifically the Ruby community. Here are the key points outlined in his presentation:

  • Think like a promoter: Build anticipation with out-of-town speakers and collaborate with other meetups to increase awareness. Avoid scheduling against similar events to respect other organizers.

  • Nurture your speakers: Consistently recruit and provide support to speakers, including offering feedback and suggestions to help them feel more comfortable and improve their presentations.

  • Utilize existing tools: Take advantage of available platforms like Meetup.com and create lasting content by recording events to share with a broader audience.

  • Partner with venues: Establish win-win relationships with venues that align with your community’s values and provide necessary resources without being overly aggressive in recruitment.

  • Be welcoming: Foster a friendly atmosphere by introducing attendees, remembering names, and conducting engaging icebreakers to encourage connection.

  • Food and drink matter: Offer food and drinks to facilitate bonding among community members, reflecting the importance of socialization in building relationships.

  • Share the workload: Avoid burnout by collaborating with others in the community, delegating tasks and responsibilities to empower others and develop their leadership skills.

  • Champion values: Promote a culture of kindness and support within the community, similar to the Ruby community's guiding principles.

  • Consistency is key: Maintain regular events to keep the community engaged, scheduling future meetups before the current one ends to ensure continued participation.

  • Celebrate small beginnings: Recognize the value of starting small, noting that every large community begins with just a few members. This approach allows for deeper connections and a nurturing environment.

In conclusion, Melia emphasizes that the rewards of building a successful tech community extend beyond professional networking and skill development; they include the satisfaction of seeing a thriving ecosystem emerge from one’s efforts. He encourages attendees to apply these principles to their own communities, fostering connections that can lead to lasting relationships and collaboration.

Growing a Tech Community
Luke Melia • June 21, 2014 • Earth

For the last two years, I've been growing the Ember.js community in NYC from nearly nothing to a vibrant group. Most of what works well for me are things that I learned from getting my sea legs in the Ruby community, so what better place to share than GORUCO?

In this talk, we'll cover the keys to fostering a strong local community, and why it's worth doing. From simple hacks to simple human truths, this talk aims to be pragmatic for tech community organizers and inspire everyone to get involved.

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GORUCO 2014

00:00:14.900 Alright, hello GORUCO! Thanks for welcoming me back. Let's get right into it. I live two blocks from here, and this is my favorite conference—not just for that reason, but that's pretty awesome. I'm a dad, a husband, and I love beach volleyball. I run Yap and Yap Labs here in New York and I have a nifty collection of GORUCO shirts, adding another awesome one this year.
00:00:26.640 Today, we're going to talk about tips and tricks for growing a tech community in New York City. These principles can apply to other cities as well, but I'm going to speak mostly from my experience in growing Ember NYC. Now, you might wonder, what's so special about Ember NYC? Why are these credentials worth noting?
00:00:51.840 We’ve had 1,100 members and we’ve been around for a little over two years. During that time, we’ve run 49 events. Typically, we host one evening of talks each month, along with two smaller events that we call hacker hours. We even have a pretty awesome mascot designed by Samantha Penner.
00:01:06.990 But more importantly, the way to understand what makes Ember NYC special is how people feel about it and what they say about it. People have described Ember as the most informative meetup they've ever attended. It’s an incredible community of friendly and supportive 'emberanos' (that’s what we call ourselves). It’s a genuine sharing environment where people actually want to help.
00:01:40.020 One of the co-organizers called this consistently one of the best and most interesting meetups he’s attended. One person even wrote, 'This meetup has literally changed my life.' So those are some fantastic sentiments about our community.
00:02:01.800 Let me share some of the things I’ve learned. Here are my top 10 tips for growing a great tech community. It may not be as funny as Letterman’s Top 10, but let’s see what we can do.
00:02:09.750 Tip number 10 is to think like a promoter. One of the tricks here is building anticipation with out-of-town speakers. The idea of an out-of-town speaker automatically engages people's fear of missing out. It’s not someone you’ll be able to see next month or next week.
00:02:16.260 Spreading awareness through joint events with other meetups gives both meetups additional exposure. This can be particularly useful for us, such as when we collaborate with a broader JavaScript meetup alongside a more niche one like Ember. Be careful not to schedule against competitive meetups—by competitive, I just mean the other meetups that the people attending yours also want to attend. It's respectful to keep their schedules in mind.
00:02:39.090 These are effective ways to start or restart things with a bang. Tip number 9 is nurturing your speakers. Just like in startups or anything in the tech space, you should always be recruiting—always be recruiting speakers. For our evenings of talks, we have two 30-minute talks and three lightning talks, like the one I’m doing right now.
00:03:04.200 Lightning talks at a meetup are a great venue for speakers to deliver their first talk ever in a relatively low-pressure environment. I often offer to review speakers' slides and outlines if they send them to me a few days in advance, giving them feedback that helps improve their content while also making them feel supported.
00:03:35.850 Don't forget to provide feedback after talks as well. Letting speakers know they did a great job is important, as this is a big step for a lot of people who have never spoken before a group. Tip number 8 is to use existing tools. This may seem obvious to us, but we didn’t always have platforms like Twitter and YouTube.
00:04:03.260 When I first started my Ruby meetup, we had to figure out what platform to use for our site. Eventually, we settled on Meetup.com and now our Ruby community has over 3,000 members. We’ve been recording our talks every month. Initially, I didn't understand the value of this, but every time I travel around the country talking about Ember, people thank me for posting those videos monthly.
00:04:43.009 Many people with scheduling conflicts in New York also appreciate being able to watch them afterward. Recording talks provides great exposure for speakers and allows their content to last for beyond just that one night.
00:05:14.450 Tip number 7 is partnering with venues. From my experience, the key to a good relationship with venues is to create a win-win scenario, where the venue seeks exposure in the community for recruiting or aligning with the ethos of your community.
00:05:33.790 Ensure the venues you partner with are not overly aggressive with their recruiting. You ideally want venues that have built-in AV equipment and don’t require you to bring your own, as well as food and drink. In New York City, I also prefer places that don't have extensive security processes.
00:06:03.360 Another key aspect is to take care of these relationships. The main currency you have as a meetup organizer is exposure, so thanking your sponsors publicly and frequently is really important. We wouldn't be able to do what we do without sponsors like Pivotal Labs.
00:06:17.900 Tip number 6 is to be welcoming. This means being the MC or having someone on your team to connect attendees. Introducing job seekers to people who are hiring will make you a beloved figure in the community. Remembering people’s names is crucial, and techniques like those from Chris Hunt can be useful.
00:06:59.360 I like to conduct icebreakers in between speakers, asking everyone to learn something new about someone else and then have that person share it with the group. Additionally, we’ve played games like Ember Jeopardy, which started off as a simple question game but now includes an open-source Ember implementation.
00:07:20.270 We’ve done several varieties of game shows, including one similar to The 64,000 Dollar Pyramid, and while we haven’t tried The Bachelor dating game yet, that could be a fun future endeavor!
00:07:32.160 Tip number 5 revolves around food and drink. This is a vital aspect of nurturing community connections. The way we bond often happens over food and drink. You can't discuss this topic without mentioning pizza and beer, which we have found to be the most efficient way to feed a large group, especially here in New York.
00:08:29.240 While there are people who prefer to avoid alcohol in these environments—and I completely respect that—it's essential to acknowledge the power of the post-event socialization, where attendees can enjoy each other's company and build relationships.
00:08:50.490 What you’re really trying to create isn't just a technology-focused event but rather a community of people who know, trust, and can work with each other.
00:09:12.260 Tip number 4 is about sharing the workload. It's easy to experience burnout doing everything yourself, so it's crucial to get help. But more than that, this provides an opportunity for others in the community to step up and contribute, developing their own leadership skills.
00:09:55.660 Be sure to delegate liberally. When someone volunteers to help, encourage them to take charge rather than simply asking you to come up with something.
00:10:20.240 Tip number 3 is about championing values. When I joined the Ruby community back in 2005-2006, I loved the vibe—there was no corporate influence dictating the community’s direction. We had an acronym: 'Matz is nice.' This emphasized kindness and the notion that the community should be welcoming.
00:10:57.080 I still believe that fostering connection and teaching others is essential. This is why we hold hacker hours and smaller events—they create opportunities for bonding and welcoming newcomers as they learn.
00:11:21.390 Tip number 2 is consistency. Month in and month out, continue your efforts! Growth might be slow initially, but persistence pays off.
00:11:35.420 For new meetup organizers, my favorite tactic is to schedule the next meetup on the calendar before the current one is over. By committing to the next date, you encourage attendees to clear their schedules in advance.
00:12:08.860 Finally, tip number 1 is that small is beautiful. Smaller groups facilitate bonding and foster a supportive environment in ways that larger groups cannot. Every large community starts out small.
00:12:38.080 This photo taken back in 2006 shows us gathered around a table—if you look closely, you can spot some familiar faces. The rewards for growing a successful community are manifold.
00:13:03.800 Connections made will aid in recruiting and finding jobs. You also get to schedule speakers who teach valuable lessons, but the biggest reward comes from witnessing your community thrive and seeing the ecosystem you helped create.
00:13:33.590 With that, I look forward to the Q&A. Thank you all for your attention—I appreciate it!
Luke Melia
@lukemelia
Explore all talks recorded at GORUCO 2014
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