Add a Slack group

[RichardLitt]

\o/

[luisbg]

Replying here to get a notification for when it is ready for people to join 😃

[RichardLitt]

Set up. If you would like to join the Slack list, ping me!

[RichardLitt]

To do:

• Add to website. Tracking in Add Slack group website#20.

[RichardLitt]

Note: there is now a permanent slack link in the README for this repo.

To join: https://mntnr.slack.com/shared_invite/MTcxMDc5MTcxMjA1LTE0OTI1NDQ2OTQtYmMyZTc1N2Q2Ng

[patcon]

In case it's helpful, these is a rad bridge system that I use so that people can use whatever chat mode they prefer -- gitter, slack, irc or whatevs :)

http://github.com/edgi-govdata-archiving/matterbridge-heroku#readme

Curious to generalize things and improve resources, so pls do lemme know if you dig into it!

[RichardLitt]

That would be a cool thing to implement - but the Slack channel is currently mightily low volume. We can change that if you think that the bridge would help? :)

[patcon]

heh, the bridge is to aspire for high-volume, not the result of it :)

As in, it might be low volume bc people don't want to join their bajillionth slack, but if there was a webform to fill out where we maintain a bridge into people's other "home" slacks are linked into, then that changes the energy :)

fwiw, recently added a one-pager feature that renders the config as a prettier github page:
https://edgi-matterbridge.herokuapp.com/#organizing-canada

[RichardLitt]

That's a good point! Alright! Let's do it! How do I get started?

[patcon]

Would you want to self-host a new app, or would you allow me to host on my bridge for starters?

Here are some ideas for TODOs, though I've made some assumptions:

• invite patcon to existing Slack
• decide name of new/existing channel we want to make bridgeable. #general? #mntnr-community? #mntnr-portal? (Channel name can be unique to Slack, but a name that can be the same in all Slack communities is best.)
• patcon creates bridge between his communities and mntnr
  • g0v.tw
  • civictech.ca
  • codeforall
  • codeforamerica
• create an "about" doc that can be linked in channel topic on all ends of bridge. example
• set channel topic to something that clarifies distinct social contract of this channel, and other details:

This channel is BRIDGED. Hover for details...
About: link.civictech.ca/organizing-canada
Connected Slacks: https://edgi-matterbridge.herokuapp.com/#organizing-canada

Later steps for larger invite:

• Create an email alias for our bridge user
• Add patcon to alias for starters
• Create a webform for new bridge enrollment
• document admin steps to setting up bridge (patcon should prob do in a wiki)

[patcon]

Perhaps it's best to start with one Slack community and see how we can encourage people to engage?

[patcon]

Just due to the fuzzy lines between the company and any FOSS tools/community, can we first riff somewhere on what this channel is and isn't for? ie. will it be for product support or client comms? Will it be for talking about tools and process? etc etc

[RichardLitt]

I think it would make sense to make this channel a way of talking about processes and how to run a GitHub organization. In short, a mastermind-like room where people can tap into how others think about maintenance on a small scale, and what tools we can use to up our involvement.

I'm worried that a pan-Slack room might be too complex for people to instinctively grasp, which means it won't be used as much, or that it will be over-used by people messaging about their specific community, not realizing it reaches into other communities. Have you had this experience before?

[patcon]

Not yet, but still early days and not super heavily used :)

Clarity of "specialness" in the first line of channel topic was my attempt to address that same pre-emptive concern