Meeting - Getting Involved Guide - 1 October 2019

This meeting is on 1 October 2019 at **16:00 UTC** in the #documentation channel on Drupal Slack. This meeting is text-only, no audio or video, and is asynchronous so everyone can join in as they're available for about 24 hours. After that we'll capture notes from the threads.

Agenda - please feel free to edit this to add items!

Hello and welcome to the Drupal Getting Involved Guide Refresh Meeting!

This meeting:
➤ Usually happens on alternate Tuesdays
➤ is text only!
➤ happens in threads, which you can follow to be notified of new replies even if you don’t comment in the thread. You may also join the meeting later and participate asynchronously!
➤ has a public agenda issue anyone can add to.
➤ :star: Meeting transcripts are still a work in progress, but please comment on the meeting agenda issue so we can grant you credit for attending/contributing!

:zero: *Roll Call!*
Who’s here today? Comment in the thread below if you’d like to introduce yourself and share your first job...

:one: *How are we with choosing QA tools?*

:two: *This isn’t just about rebuilding what we had before*: What can we build in that explains not just how to get involved but also “why”? Can this be a place where we collectively define voluntary roles across the project, what the tasks are, and specifically the skills required for them and the skills that may be learned?

:three: *Anything Else?*: What else do we need to talk about?

That’s all for now!

The discussions continue in the threads! Please feel free to chime in within the next 24 hours to be captured in the meeting notes. Thank you very much to everyone for attending, learning, and contributing!

Meeting Transcript

:zero: Roll Call!
Who’s here today? Comment in the thread below if you’d like to introduce yourself and share your breakfast this morning.

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Morning! Rachel, currently in Vancouver BC heading to Seattle for flight home. Enjoyed my poached eggs on toast today


Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
Jennifer, in Spokane WA USA. Yogurt.

Alona Oneill  1 day ago
Alona, San Francisco, CA. Oatmeal.

Berika Williams (liblogarian)  1 day ago
Berika, Boston, MA. Pitiful bowl of Steel Cut Oats.

Carolyn Shannon (she/her):seedling:  1 day ago
Carolyn from Chicago, coffee

Melissa Stamm  1 day ago
Melissa from Nashville, coffee

Darren Oh  1 day ago
Darren in Lakeland, Florida, USA. Fasting.

mradcliffe:redpanda:  1 day ago
Matthew in Columbus, USA. Cheerios. Catching up.

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
Have a good bus ride/flight home Rachel!

Melissa Bent:fire_engine:  1 day ago
Melissa, Boise, Idaho. Nothing. :grimacing: (edited) 

amyjune hineline (volkswagenchick she/her):notes:  6 hours ago
AmyJune. At BADcamp, so chiming in very late.

:one: How are we with choosing QA tools?

Carolyn Shannon (she/her):seedling:  1 day ago
I haven’t yet been able to make a visual grid to show the different tools available.


Carolyn Shannon (she/her):seedling:  1 day ago
Our goal is to avoid using multiple tools if possible

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Quite. Whatever we choose needs to be approachable

amyjune hineline (volkswagenchick she/her):notes:  6 hours ago
I have been swamped with BADCamp - I had committed to testing some tools. do you folks till need help with that? Next week I have so much more time since BADCamp is over Saturday.

Rachel Lawson  3 hours ago
yes please! If you can work together and come up with a proposal, I can’t imagine a scenario where we wouldn’t just say let’s do it!

:two: This isn’t just about rebuilding what we had before: What can we build in that explains not just how to get involved but also “why”? Can this be a place where we collectively define voluntary roles across the project, what the tasks are, and specifically the skills required for them and the skills that may be learned?

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
That sounds like an excellent idea.


Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
Some tasks are cross-role... so I still think the idea of having a "task library" that we floated several weeks back may be useful. So maybe a "role library" also?

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
I think I can get some serious but-in on the concept with the DA and I know some working groups would bite our hands off to have clearly defined “skills” that people can work against

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
hm, not sure what you mean by "bite our hands off"... assuming you mean "buy-in" from DA?

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Role library is exactly the type of thing I’m thinking of. But not just what they are but how to 1) gain the skills and 2) feedback on them

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Yes - buy in

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
feedback?

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
I think working groups will, too

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
still not sure what you mean by "bit our hands off". Is it that they want it or don't want it?

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Ah! Must be a localism. Yes, bit our hands off means people very much wanting something

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Sorry, I’m on iPhone. Maybe be typos.

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Waiting for my bus to Seattle

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
Hm.

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
The challenge I see will be defining a system that lets us collate skills into a role. Then the skills needs not only defining but also lots of background in how to acquire them etc etc

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
Maybe we need a library (i.e., content type & view) of roles, one of tasks, one of skills. They would cross-link with entity references?

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
I have a feeling I need to write something g for the next meeting!

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Yes! That’s pretty much it, @jhodgdon (she/her)

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
OK.

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Likely, skills are terms in a vocab

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
That should be doable, and seems like a good way to organize at least some of the section.

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
But... Still wondering if I am new to the project, how do I dive into this section?

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Action for @rachel_norfolk - write a paper describing her vision here

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
I guess I would want to search for things I could do that use the skills I have, or that build the skills I want to build

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Yes, we absolutely need everything around the roles.

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
Impact areas are also important. For instance, is the result of my work better software, better documentation, better community, ??

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
I'm thinking about (outside of Drupal), I have used numerous sites for finding volunteer opportunities. On the good ones, you can search for an agency you want to volunteer with, or a type of work you want to do, or ongoing vs. one-time events, or the area it impacts.

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Examples would be handy!

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
https://www.idealist.org
IdealistIdealist
Idealist
Idealist connects millions of idealists – people who want to do good – with opportunities for action and collaboration all over the world.(47 kB)

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
https://www.volunteerspokane.org/need/

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
Those are 2 volunteer search sites (one international, one local to me)

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
Both have numerous filters for finding the right opportunity.

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
I will investigate

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
Not all are applicable to our situation, but some are.

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
Behind the scenes, both seem to have "agencies/organizations" and "opportunities". This is not the exact right structure for us.

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
On another note... I am concerned that if we organize around "roles" that we may exclude people who are just "testing the waters" -- seeing if they want to get involved more fully and aren't ready for a full "role" in the project yet. Or maybe one of the roles is "Occasional helper". :)
:heavy_plus_sign:
1


Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
But I do think roles are important -- vital to the longer-term health of the project!

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
It's just that we need to be inclusive and realistic about the time availability of some people, and still value their contributions. I guess that the time required is one of the "filters" (fields) on Roles and also on Tasks?

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Very good points

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
There’s a need to not feel exclusive

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
And to find constructive ways for people to contribute one-time or occasionally, and have their contributions be meaningful and valuable to the project.

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
and valued.

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
and not a drain on the longer-term contributors.

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
which (in my personal experience) can be a real problem!

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
All true

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
[I used to review nearly all of the API docs patches to Drupal Core, and it sapped my energy.]

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
See also the results of previous meetings -- organization/outline suggestion at https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal_org_community/issues/3071313 -- maybe we keep that and add a Library of Roles and Library of Skills to that (and they don't need to be called "Library of")? Or maybe we need a different organization?

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Yes. That’s what I was thinking about (edited) 

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
Maybe the "Reference information" in that issue summary is related to or part of the "Skills library"? Not sure. I guess it is different, but related?

Rachel Lawson  1 day ago
Kind of, yes.

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
Anyway, if you write something up, I suggest posting it on that issue. :)

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 day ago
since that seems to be about how we should organize the Guide.

Jennifer Hodgdon  2 hours ago
I had some time this morning, so I took a first stab at adding what we discussed here to the issue summary on https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal_org_community/issues/3071313

Rachel Lawson  1 hour ago
thanks - I didn’t sleep for 24 hours after that meeting -  travelling home. I promise to read when my brain works

Jennifer Hodgdon  1 hour ago
Good luck with the jet lag and sleep catch-up!

:three: Anything Else?: What else do we need to talk about?

:four: Who is in Amsterdam for DrupalCon? Just so I know who to catch up with