Had a blast this weekend at GitHub's inaugural conference, CodeConf, where I got to give a new talk on building community around open source software based on my experience at Expert Labs running ThinkUp. CodeConf didn't record audio or video of any of the talks, so I'm posting a transcript of mine here. Enjoy. Photo by faunzy.
I used to think that the process of making open source software went like this: you write software, you apply your open source license of choice to it, and you publish the source. Ta-da. Open source. But if you're building something you want people to use and developers to enhance, that’s only the beginning. At the heart of open source is one thing: public collaboration. Collaboration between humans who care about your software—your community. Your open source community will build, improve, tear down, rewrite, document, criticize, test, stretch, redefine, and give your software legs and a life that exists way beyond the original authors or any one person. Because of that, your community is your software’s best feature. Your community is your software’s best feature. That’s what I’m here to talk about today.
Even though the conference is literally falling apart under its own weight, I enjoyed the best SXSW Interactive last weekend of all six years I've been attending. Two keys to that: reducing FOMO (fear of missing out) and being the party with people I care about versus trying to make it to every party. Sure I missed a lot of fun stuff—like crowdsurfing at Diggnation, that looked crazy—but I decided to pass on things like standing in line for an iPad and spend as much quality time with my people as possible instead. For posterity and for my own reference next year, here's a recap.
I am getting old; this weekend will be the sixth year I head down to South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, TX for a weekend of events I'm really looking forward to—beyond buying an iPad 2, that is! If you'll be around, come find me. On Saturday at 5pm I'll be at Ginger Man drinking beer and hosting a ThinkUp community meetup. On Sunday I'll join Leo Laporte and Jeff Jarvis on stage at Momo's for a very special live TWiT episode, with several fabulous guests. On Monday morning at 11am, I'll be pitching my worst idea to a VC for funding at my co-worker Andy Baio's Worst Website Ever panel alongside frighteningly hilarious folks like Ze Frank, Jonah Peretti, and Jeffery Bennet. Hope to see you in Texas.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg describes the dearth of women in high-level leadership positions in corporations, non-profits and government, and offers three pieces of advice on how to keep women in the workplace, help them rise to the top, and change those numbers. Her awesome TED talk is a must-see for parents, college students, and women already at work. It's only 15 minutes—watch it.
Increasing female leadership isn't just about evening out the numbers or equal rights. Layar co-founder Claire Boonstra argues competitive companies and sustainable governments today demand it. She writes:
I couldn't agree more with the premise behind services like About.me and Flavors.me: if you spend a lot of time online for work, play, and your sparetime projects, you want a one-pager which explains who you are, what you do, and where to find you regarding those different contexts. A nameplate site is a great way to do this, which is why I've kept up ginatrapani.org for over six years. Since I've always linked to it from every single thing I do online, it's the first search result for my name. (Sorry, other Gina Trapani's). Social networks like Twitter and Facebook and services like About.me and Flavors.me and LinkedIn come and go, but when you host your nameplate site (and blog) on a domain you control, it doesn't change, you never lose Google juice, and there's never a question about the canonical web page which identifies you.
"It takes more intelligence to build a joke, tell a funny anecdote or narrate a gripping story than it takes to nitpick." Of course I've been guilty of it myself, but Well, Actually is one of my biggest conversational pet peeves, especially online.
Sounds like Marco gets this question as much as I do; here's his reply. I wrote my response on Lifehacker in November 2009, and since then LH ran a whole "Night School" series about it. But as Marco said, the question isn't "How do I learn how to code?" The question is, "What do I want to make?" Once you've answered that question, figuring out languages and development tools is literally a matter of reading a beginner's book or watching video tutorials or taking a class. Then, you put in the work.
An online sportswriter tracks down an internet troll who called him an "f--ing retard." On the phone, meek and apologetic, the troll says, "You know what? I enjoy your writing. But I disagreed with you and I got caught up in the moment. When you read something you think is bull----, you're gonna respond passionately. Was I appropriate? No. Am I proud? Not even a little. It's embarrassing. But the internet got the best of me." Tracking Down My Online Haters [CNN.com]
Paul Ford's fabulous essay, The Web Is a Customer Service Medium, on the fundamental question of the web: "Create a service experience around what you publish and sell. Whatever 'customer service' means when it comes to books and authors, figure it out and do it. Do it in partnership with your readers. Turn your readers into members. Not visitors, not subscribers; you want members. And then don't just consult them, but give them tools to consult amongst themselves. These things are cheap and easy now if you hire one or two smart people instead of a large consultancy. Define what the boundaries are in your community and punish transgressors without fear of losing a sale. Then, if your product is good, you'll sell things."
I didn't know Bill Zeller personally, but Lifehacker covered at least two of his projects—Graph Your Inbox and myTunes. This week he hung himself and published his suicide letter on his web site to explain why. The letter is an intensely personal missive that gives a brutal look into what it's really like to live with a history of child abuse. Pre-web, that letter would've been written on paper and read only by Bill's closest friends and family. But this week, to make sure his death and experience was not in vain, I found myself calling and writing friends and family who have suffered that kind of abuse to tell them how much I care about them, and how grateful I am that they survived. (Here is the suicide letter, but before you click, be warned that it's heavy reading which could turn a workday on its head.) Thank you, Bill. Rest in peace.
Lose weight. Save money. Start exercising. Rather than make arbitrary and predictable New Year's resolutions this January 1st, it can be more useful to look back at 2010, think about what lessons you learned from real-world experiences, and resolve to take those with you into 2011. I loved how Felicia Day did this in her year-end blog post, Five Things of 2010. (Read it: #2 and #5 especially spoke to me.) Posts like that make me truly miss personal blogging, and inspire me to do more of it—so that's exactly what I'm going to do here.
2010 was a great year for me and my family, and there are a few things I will take away from the last 12 months as we all start in on 2011. In no particular order:
Big thanks to iTunes Rewind for including This Week in Google (video) on their Best Podcasts of 2010 list. Two years ago, if you told me that I'd ever love doing a web show as much as I love TWiG, I would've never believed you. But Leo has built an unbelievable network of shows for and by smart people who love tech at TWiT, and it's a privilege to be a part of it. Congrats to Leo and Jeff, and thanks for 72 great episodes to far. To many more!
Had a blast this weekend at GitHub's inaugural conference, CodeConf, where I got to give a new talk on building community around open source software based on my experience at Expert Labs running ThinkUp. CodeConf didn't record audio or video of any of the talks, so I'm posting a transcript of mine here. Enjoy. Photo by faunzy. 
Lose weight. Save money. Start exercising. Rather than make arbitrary and predictable New Year's resolutions this January 1st, it can be more useful to look back at 2010, think about what lessons you learned from real-world experiences, and resolve to take those with you into 2011. I loved how Felicia Day did this in her year-end blog post, 
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