[development] #drupal and #drupal-contribute split (Was: Re: Proposal: Move all dev support off this list to new StackExchange site)

[Shai Gluskin]

I'm a rabbi that found Drupal about four + years ago, I'm user 50259, fwiw.
I fell in love with the process.

Now I'm 65% freelance Drupal site builder, 25% stay at-home-dad, and 10%
freelance rabbi.

I am totally inspired by the "elite" of this community. Just read Earl's
blog post from yesterday if you want to be inspired about how some of the
leaders in this community solve problems, adjusting egos on the way to make
room for new input:

http://angrydonuts.com/views-for-drupal-7-enters-a-new-era

Time out for a shout-out to Angie: the following is said with a hug and
smile: D7 is out, girl. You did IT! Won't someone give you like a three
month paid vacation or something? And I promise you, there will be people to
work on Drupal 9.

Some "elite" will want to spend time in support channels, others will not.
I'm fine either way. That's where the chaos of open source works just fine.
I don't want to mandate how people will help.

Where I do think we could have some improvement is in dealing with the size
of the community. We could be more intentional and professional.

*I think it would be a great project for the Drupal Association to hire a
community manager*. First the community manager would actually do some
research. Ask new people about their experience. Set up automated emails
that reach out to people who created user accounts at d.o. but have been
absent for a while. "We see you are not around, is there anything we can
help you with. Where did you get stuck."

I floated an idea a few months ago about having people sign up for support
shifts, you take two hours and man (person) as many support channels as
possible. I think a paid community manager managing that would make it
really effective. It's well know in the non-profit world that you usually
get more out of volunteers if there is someone paid to provide support for
them. It's been amazing how much we have gotten from volunteers with very
little organization. I'm not saying we should add a lot... but a little paid
leadership would go a long way.

Finally, I just want to say that, in the vast majority of the questions that
I have answered at support at drupal.org, the recipients of that help have
been *incredibly graciou*s. I find that gratifying even if those people
never contribute.

Finally I'd like to return to the research issue. We have so much data at
our disposal. Can't we find a Ph.d student studying online communities to
evaluate posts and crunch numbers and let us know about what percent of
people go on to be contributors after having been consumers of help? And
maybe, "what are the factors that determine whether someone will go on to be
a helper?"

Pat on our collective backs everyone!

Shai
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