Thanks for sharing. I really hope that we can treat each other better in OSM.

Perhaps we can encourage rephrasing feedback:

“thanks for your post. It would be better to edit with X and Y. “

How do you think people should give feedback?

Heather

Thanks for this conversation.

How will this community and the board help those people who want to contribute to the discussion anonymously? Or, better yet, how can people contribute in a healthy, open way. I say this because the emotional labour it takes to negotiate or navigate ‘targeting’ of differences is often a deterrent in participation.

I personally will edit in good faith. However, it would be helpful to address this topic now as more diverse communities may engage knowing that their voices won’t be minimized or run into this type of situation.

As many do not read OSMF mailing list, will you be doing outreach via other lists and community channels? Allen, I saw you already posted to twitter, and hope that the outreach continues.

Will the input from the community survey be automatically folded into the analysis? There were well over 100 responses outlining key topics. This input included swot issues.

And, will all of this form into a larger community curated OSM strategy and project roadmap?

Thank you again

Heather

@imagico It is my holiday in Canada and my family asked why I continued to get involved in this conversation when it is clear that there is no way to win support for these basic concepts.

Community Management is a job field description and Community Managers are job roles. I’ve stated this in multiple posts for years. To aid, I always cited resources in all my diary entries. This type of role is very widespread in many organizations, especially in Open Source. It is as standard as “Software Developer” and “UI.” Since you don’t like the job description title that is a standard practice, how about “community engagement specialist”, “community leader”, “community facilitator”, “community developer”, “community resource officer”, and “community advocate”.

Some reading: -What does a community manager do - https://community.redhat.com/blog/2017/11/community-managers-what-do-they-do/ -Community Roundtable - includes resources to combine the data that Manfred cites and action it into a community strategy - https://communityroundtable.com/ -What is a community manager - https://econsultancy.com/community-manager/
(skills and attributes - communication, empathy and judgement, organization and data analysis) -https://community.redhat.com/blog/2018/01/the-many-faces-of-the-community-manager/ -linux guide https://www.linuxfoundation.org/resources/open-source-guides/building-leadership-in-an-open-source-community/ -community management at Mozilla https://blog.mozilla.org/sumo/2019/08/07/community-management-update/ https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/about-regional-local-community-management-in-mozilla/38924 - some other community managers to observe https://opensource.com/business/15/1/30-open-source-community-managers-twitter

Lastly, I try very hard to not take offense to your innuendos that I am disrespectful, lack some special sauce on X topic, and simply don’t understand. While I know that you don’t mean to talk down to me, it does pause me to wonder why you find community and strategy topics so triggering. I am trying to provide some feedback on how we might shift.

have a good holiday season. and, Manfred - thank you

Thanks for providing data and your analysis. I truly appreciate this contribution. Community management and strategy are key to our future. If we want to be a global, open community, then we need to do the work to actually be inclusive. It seems to me that if we invest in the research and analysis, then build an open community plan, then we are further ahead.

This can happen professionally and as openly as we all need. I would much more prefer that your viewpoints (even the ones I may not agree with) help shape this strategy. But to be clear, All of these discussions on OSM diaries have not be inclusive. The fact that I have been loud is a choice. There are many, many voices not included. And, you are absolutely right that any open, collaborative community engagement plan should be inclusive by language.

Regarding tone, code of conduct and etiquette guidelines - let’s be super clear - I have made a choice to publicly roll up my sleeves and try to open up this conversation. I could have just stepped down and walked away in exhaustion. This ongoing conversation has come with some emotional expense because it is often very hard to converse in OSM. I continue to raise the issues as I get feedback from the people who do not feel comfortable talking publicly within OSM. If we sit back and don’t reflect, how will this help us be a better open global community and project.

Data can help. It can show the gaps, opportunities and more. I highly recommend that any open community strategy be data-driven (as one component). It is super clear that OSM is a passionate and important community. Ask yourselves - why aren’t more people engaged in the governance? why aren’t more people involved in this discussion or the other ones that we have had for years. Ask yourself why all the past female board members do not engage. Ask yourself why (as far as I can trace) I am the only one stating something publicly. Soft skills and community heart/spirit are very hard to measure. The OSMF community survey stated that this was a priority for the people who completed the survey. Yet, here we are - still trying to figure out how to address this. Super happy that we are trying. But, if we don’t find a way to widen this conversation to be more open, more collaborative, then we are missing an opportunity to support the project more. While the code of conduct is not important for some - why is it so important for others? Why should we not take this type of ‘feedback’ or ‘data’ into account?

All I aim for is a balance of power and community to help us be the best OSM that we can be.

Thank you again

Heather

Thanks for this conversation.

@escada - you are absolutely right that people should vote on people’s qualifications and what they bring to OSM. However, if no women you ‘approve of’ run or feel like they can run and/or provide leadership in working groups and/or the board, is that not also a fundamental gap? To be honest, I am bit shocked that I need to state this gap needs addressing. Surely, it is becoming a business priority, would we not want our beloved open project and community to be more representative. Let me state this in clearer form - if the data and the decisions are not done by the population, whose map is it? If women are part of this population, would the data and decisions about the data/map processes/project be greatly improved by less bias and more inclusion? If other leaders around the world refuse to engage in governance, does this make it a global project? Again, this is also about global representation. We are truly one of the few large open projects that is not trying to address this. [1] On Favoritism - wow, where to start. I favour the right that every woman in this community and every person from around the world would feel welcome and open to being part of the governance. I favour your right to say what you want here. But, I favour a code of conduct which a practice of etiquette that kindly asks - how might we be “OPEN” streetmap.

Regarding community recruitment, yes, working groups are full of amazing, hard working volunteers. I appreciate all that they do. But if all the structures of power continue to be lead by essentially 20 - 30 people, how might we grow to be more inclusive and diverse. Of course, making it part of the AOA is a last effort. In many larger organizations around the world, they are codifying equality because it does not happen ‘organically.’ So, if it can happen organically, by consensus and by community engagement and a shift of cultural norms, great. But, let’s not wait another 14 years.

@mikel “Are you suggesting designated number of women on the Board?” Yes. It has been years. It is not happening organically. My organization just voted that the governance has to include a % of women. It is still a science project of inclusion to do it this way, but if we want change, sometimes we need to codify it. So I propose: Minimum 1 seat for a woman for the board and 2 - 3 designated seats for local chapters/sotm working groups from around the world. This might be unpopular until the culture has more shared leadership, but the community and project deserves to be open and global.

“#1 that’s a harder one to make a case for. can you say more about the what a community strategy should cover?” Thanks for this question. * This is a list of community management research which I shared previously.. * The Community Roundtable. explains clearly what a community manager does. * Jono Bacon has been a leader in the open space about this. His books and videos are here. read The Art of Community for free online. *Kate and I wrote a chapter in the Open Organization workbook. There are many other great articles on community engagement strategy. *The Community Leadership Summit shows how wide the network is on building this.

@mikel @ivangayton @philippec Thanks for this thread. @philippec - Yes, clearly there is data about my map contributions. Would it not be finally the time to have data on gender, inclusion, data quality, community engagement, and more? “Open” means that we need to also have a strong sustainable community. Let’s talk metrics.

*Activity is just one attribute. If you want to have a clear, balanced dataset of a community project, you also need size, and performance (Pascal has got us covered). Yet, we are missing diversity and demographics. Thus, if you want metrics to be smart and open, then we have work to do. My focus has always been super transparent - community engagement, diversity and inclusion. [2]
*Metrics in an open project can be even more refined. See Linux Foundations’ guide[3]

OSM is more than the data, it is the community. As such, if we want to be data-driven and focused on contributions, let’s be sure that the metrics actually have a clear, balanced picture. Let’s be sure that OSM has a strategy and a plan to address this. So how about some of these metrics:

*What’s the growth rate of the community? *How sticky is the community? *What’s the churn rate of the members? *Which member cohort is the most active in the community? *How is the active member cohort changing with the growth of the community? *What’s the retention rate of active users over time?[4]

As for my contribution, perhaps we can talk about the amount of hours I have spent answering board emails. Or, the amount of time I have spent advocating for gender, inclusion and diversity in OSM. Or, the amount of time I have spent advocating in a large humanitarian organization. Or, the amount of times I have mentored community members, wrote letters and supported their contributions. Or, the amount of times I have had to justify that the community is more than data. Or, the quality of conversations I’ve had with OSM community leaders who will never post to diaries or OSM mailing lists due to the toxic environment. Or, the amount of time and emotional labour it takes to respond to comments like @philippec. Sure, I’ve been patient and try to be welcoming to this narrative as it is a viewpoint. But, let me ask you this - do you want OSM to be inclusive with quality data? If yes, then you need other contributors who have those skills.

Thank you to all the people who emailed or connected otherwise. And, thanks to the new board, they do deserve time, but we as a community need to do the work with them

[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/closing-the-tech-gender-gap-through-philanthropy-and-corporate-social-responsibility and https://www.ey.com/en_us/women-fast-forward/why-we-need-to-fix-the-gender-bias-bug-in-technology [2] https://opensource.com/business/15/12/top-5-open-source-community-metrics-track [3] https://www.linuxfoundation.org/resources/open-source-guides/measuring-your-open-source-program-success/ [4] https://blog.tribe.so/top-metrics-every-community-manager-must-report/

Ilya, We agree on one main point - the working groups for owg /ysadmin need more support. To this point, I mentioned in my last post that OSM and OSMF governance (working group) is run on ‘heros’. Thank you for those folks. This is not, however, sustainable.

Some options which might not please many but that need to be seriously considered: 1. In the context of this post, we need to start paying for Sysadmins (even part time). They could report to OWG and Board. 2. Build an active and productive community plan to better support OWG. This can no longer be passive. It is a dedicated skill to investigate and propose this. A paid skill[1] 3. Consider having a company ‘second’ a staff to be part of OWG to support. There are many ways to help guide, even without touching the devices.

After the server move last year, I remain concerned that we are breaking people who are valiant volunteers. It is unfair to them and to OSM. Yes, the survey highlighted it, but the board is not really in the position to deliver this as a volunteer role.

And, lastly, the board previously said that this gap was the ‘communities’ or the ‘working group’s’ responsibility. So, we are left in a pattern of responsibility, need, and questions. Let’s maybe go to actions.

Heather

[1] https://communityroundtable.com/what-we-do/advisory/

Great post

Thanks for the comments.

PangoSE - i will continue to focus on governance changes, community engagement, and strategic growth. I was in Sweden for holidays last summer. maybe I’ll visit again :)

heather

Best of luck!

Thanks for this. Is it possible to get the numbers of renews, churn (not renewed) and the rates by country?

Heather

HI Bigopenmac - No, we have not involved any companires or sponsors in the planning, nor do I represent any organization (as a sponsor) for this session.

I am participating in SOTM as Heather Leson, OSMF member, HOT member and OSMF board member.

Thanks!

Heather

You and your team are so inspiring! Keep it up

Hi! Thanks for the information.

Thanks for this information. It is important to note that many community members do not use the mailing lists but opt for other communication channels. There are many reasons for this, but when we consider the breadth and activity of the community it is always key to see metrics in terms of the reality.

Thanks for sharing. It is great to have people join from all parts of the world. And, congrats to the SOTM Asia team and participants.

Hi Paul and MWG.

It might help for potential volunteers for the MWG to know the following: -average time to on board for membership waiver review or other MWG tasks -approximate time that would be expected 1 hour a week etc. - types of skills needed

Thanks

Heather

Thanks for your contributions to OSM.

Dear colleagues, this is a difficult time and a very complex issue. As some responders stated, emotions are high.

I posted this to the OSMF list as a reminder, but I truly ask that we focus on solutions, not the volunteers in DWG or on this official channel.

The etiquette guidelines are in place to help us collaborate on OSMF. osm.wiki/Etiquette

Thank you, Heather

There is large potential to reframe the discussion. What is the future of OSM? Consider that the youth of the world are in Asia and Africa. What if we planned and grew for those audiences? What if we supported the incredible communities in other continents? How would the quality of mapping and the beauty of engagement grow?

State of the Map Asia just concluded (Congrats to the team). State of the Map Africa is being planned for next year. Let’s all get behind the needs and support this.

There are real technology, cultural differences, and financial hurdles to growing. However, the opportunity to really be global by supporting the spirit of OSM is key. http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/813/184370.html

Welcome all, I say.

Heather

Thanks for this post! I work with the IFRC and would very much like to learn more about your work.

Feel free to contact me

Heather Leson heather.leson AT IFRC dot org.