I'm so glad, Jess. It'll be great to have your help! Susan
__ Office Nomads officenomads.com On Thu, Mar 14, 2019 at 10:15 AM JBomm88 <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks for commenting, Susan! I wasn't keeping a close eye on the group > and missed Alex's original announcement. Just signed up to help with > categorizing! > > Really looking forward to the evolution of this group, Alex. > > GREAT work!! > > Jess > > On Wednesday, March 13, 2019 at 4:32:54 PM UTC-4, Susan Dorsch wrote: >> >> Hi again! >> >> Working mom alert here – spending an hour organizing old conversations >> into new categories was absolutely perfect for my brain power today. It's >> simple, easy work that not only made me feel like I was actually doing >> something, but it brought me back into some awesome conversations from the >> Google Group (soon-to-be) of Yore. >> >> *Looking for a quick and easy way to be of service to the global >> coworking community? Look no further.* Alex has made it easy as pie to >> chip in. DO IT. >> >> <3 >> S >> >> PS - hi again, everyone. I've missed y'all and I also don't know so many >> of you. I look forward to being a bit more reconnected as we shift over to >> the new platform! >> __ >> Office Nomads >> officenomads.com >> >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 11, 2019 at 11:50 AM Susan Dorsch <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> 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. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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