Huge, HUGE thanks for getting this ball rolling, Alex. It's so exciting! Just signed myself up to help out. I hope everyone else does too!
S __ Office Nomads officenomads.com On Sat, Mar 9, 2019 at 4:09 PM Alex Hillman <[email protected]> wrote: > Quick update - I would like to specifically invite/encourage more women > and POC to get involved in this initiative from the start! > > If you're on the fence about signing up, I promise the commitment is very > low and the potential for impact is very high. :) Have questions or > concerns? Drop me a note offline: [email protected] > > -Alex > > On Saturday, March 9, 2019 at 11:57:13 AM UTC-5, Alex Hillman wrote: >> >> Hello friends! >> >> *This is a long post for a Saturday, but it's one I'm very excited to >> share with you and I hope you'll take the time to read completely. * >> >> The Coworking Google Group is a very special place for many people, >> myself included. By the numbers alone, it's one of the largest communities >> in the world for aspiring and current coworking operators, staff, >> researchers, and more with 8000+ registered users. This group's archives >> contain over 6000 threads (and tens of thousands of comments) that contain >> over 13 years of coworking knowledge, history, friendships, stories, and >> successes. >> >> When you think about the reach and power of this community, it's >> awe-inspiring. >> >> Soon, Google is making some changes to the the platform that powers this >> group. This particular round of changes aren't a problem for us....but it >> does make me cautious about trusting Google to host our community in the >> long term. If they can make sweeping changes - or worse, shut down this >> *free* product - our community is at risk. And that's saying nothing of >> the shortcomings of the tool itself. >> >> *So I've been doing a lot of research and testing.* The biggest >> challenge is that I don't just want to move to another "new" community >> platform - I wanted to move ALL of the historical content to something that >> is measurably better, and that we can control (so we don't have to worry >> about a company changing their minds or direction with little warning). I >> also want to keep the platform email-based, which allows for much wider and >> easier participation. >> >> And maybe, just maybe, one that doesn't make money by harvesting all of >> our data? ;) >> >> Tall order, I know. >> >> *Well, I did it.* I found an option that fits the bill, and makes it >> possible to IMPROVE the "google group" resource in several measurable ways, >> and amazingly we can do this without losing any functionality we're used >> to. It's an open source tool called Discourse. >> >> And while it *looks* like a forum on the website, but I was able to >> adjust the settings to enable the email-based experience just like the >> Google Group. >> >> *Best of all - I was able to migrate the ENTIRE historical archive of >> discussions and comments to the new platform. 100% preserved (and with much >> better tools to search the archive!)* >> >> [image: Global Coworking Forum 2019-03-09 11-17-31.png] >> >> Among it's unique strengths, Discourse includes the ability to set up >> categories and subcategories, keeping our conversations more organized and >> making it easier for new people to find the valuable threads they need. You >> can even set your email preferences for SPECIFIC categories, muting the >> topics you care less about and subscribing to topics you're most interested >> in. Smart weekly digests can help you know what's going on without having >> to read every message. >> >> These more nuanced opt-in/opt-out settings mean we can create NEW areas >> of discussion that this single-channel Google Group was never good for: eg. >> language-specific channels for communities that prefer to communicate in >> their native languages, or specific channels where vendors can help people >> in our community without spamming everyone. >> >> And honestly, this is just the beginning :) >> >> *I'm especially proud that this new site, like the Google Group and other >> Open Coworking resources, will always remain free and open.* I'm working >> with the Open Coworking team (Tony and Jeannine) to figure out how to make >> sure the nominal infrastructure costs will covered for the long term. >> >> *The Migration Plan* >> >> Over the next couple of months (maybe weeks? depends on how much help we >> get!) I am going to actively "mirror" all new google group activity to the >> new platform and getting it ready for open registration. So nothing needs >> to change here - business as usual until we set a date to officially close >> the google group and redirect all traffic to the new site. >> >> *But to finish the move, I need some help from you. * >> >> Before we open registration to the public, I want to recruit ~50 or so >> pilot members who would like to help finish getting the new group platform >> ready. There are settings to test, categories to organize, copywriting, >> etc. >> >> Maybe most importantly, I'd like volunteers willing to help categorize >> and organize the 6000+ historical discussions. The process itself is fairly >> simple - I did around 100 threads in less than an hour myself, so many >> hands will make light work. We'll need to tweak categories and >> subcategories along the way, too. >> >> Also, going forward I'm looking for volunteers to help with onboarding >> new members to the group + help me manage the group. >> >> *Exciting, right? *:) >> >> My goal is to make this entire process as seamless and transparent and >> inclusive as possible, so I'm going to start with this relatively small >> pilot group but we will work in a public channel of the new Discourse site, >> for anyone who wants to observe the process. >> >> Depending on participation and progress, my goal is to invite more >> batches of people on a regular basis (probably weekly) and enable a fully >> open registration as soon as we've worked out the majority of the kinks. >> >> *Wanna get signed up early and help get things set up?* >> >> 👉 Fill out this quick form here: https://airtable.com/shrGJPE4ZRlNf131d >> >> *Note: the MOST important part is making sure that you put the correct >> email address in - this will help link your account on the new site to your >> past posts. * >> >> This early setup process is fairly manual, so please be patient while I >> process the applications. If you fill out the form, I promise you will hear >> from me (or someone on the team). >> >> I'm sure you can tell, I'm extremely excited about this next chapter for >> the epic resource we are all a part of, and how this effort will >> enable/empower more coworking operators, staff, and of course thier >> coworking members to succeed. >> >> Yours in community, >> >> -Alex >> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
