Welcome to Virtual Coffee's community building resources! This repository contains documentation, procedures, and insights into how we manage various aspects of our tech community. Whether you're looking to understand how we do things at Virtual Coffee, volunteer at Virtual Coffee, start your own community or improve an existing one, we hope these resources will be valuable to you.
Virtual Coffee's mission is to be a welcoming tech community that allows room for growth and mentorship at all levels and to create meaningful opportunities for learning, leadership, and contribution for everyone.
We prioritize supporting one another and believe in the power of learning and teaching at every level. To learn more about who we are, visit our website.
The Virtual Coffee maintainers work collaboratively to support the community, ensure its smooth operation, and create a positive and engaging environment. Each maintainer brings unique expertise to their role, with responsibilities tailored to meet the diverse needs of our community. Together, we ensure Virtual Coffee thrives as a space for connection, learning, and growth.
Description: The Weekly Events Maintainer is responsible for organizing and managing the rhythm of our bi-weekly coffee sessions and other regular events, keeping the community connected and engaged.
Responsibilities:
- Coordinate and facilitate bi-weekly coffee sessions.
- Manage logistics for coffee sessions, such as scheduling and communication.
- Monitor and support Coffee Table Groups to foster small-group interactions.
- Ensure consistent community engagement through regular events.
- Track attendance and engagement patterns to guide future planning.
- Provide onboarding support to new members participating in events.
Description: The Special Events Maintainer focuses on creating opportunities for learning, sharing, and celebrating through one-off events and monthly initiatives.
Responsibilities:
- Organize and host monthly Lunch & Learn sessions.
- Coordinate Lightning Talks and speaker presentations.
- Manage community-wide initiatives like Hacktoberfest.
- Oversee and facilitate monthly challenges.
- Plan and execute special community initiatives.
- Coordinate with guest speakers and presenters for events.
Description: The Community Health Maintainer is dedicated to cultivating a positive, inclusive, and supportive environment for all community members. This role ensures the emotional and relational well-being of the community.
Responsibilities:
- Monitor community interactions and address negative behavior or conflicts.
- Develop and enforce community guidelines and the code of conduct.
- Collect feedback from members to continuously improve the community experience.
- Work with moderators to resolve community-related issues.
- Design and refine onboarding plans to welcome new members effectively.
Description: The Technology Support Maintainer ensures that the community’s digital platforms and tools function smoothly and securely, providing the technological backbone for our operations.
Responsibilities:
- Oversee and maintain the community’s website, communication tools, and other digital platforms.
- Ensure the security and stability of technology resources.
- Research, recommend, and implement new technologies or features to enhance community engagement.
- Provide technical support to community members and maintainers.
- Collaborate with other maintainers to integrate technology into community initiatives.
This repository is organized into several key areas of community management:
- How to Use This Repo
- Lunch & Learns: Docs and reference for managing Lunch & Learn events
- Lead: Shelley McHardy
- Coffees: Docs and reference for managing weekly Coffees
- Leads: Community Maintainers
- Lightning Talks: Docs and reference for helping out with Lightning Talks
- Monthly Challenges: Docs and reference for managing Monthly Challenges
- Leads: Ayu Adiati and Dominic Duffin
- Coffee Table Groups: Docs and reference for managing Coffee Table Groups
- Lead: Abbey
- Procedures: Procedures for various Virtual Coffee tasks
- YouTube: Steps for posting to YouTube
- Streaming: Steps for streaming from Zoom to YouTube Live
- Add a Coffee Table Group: Steps for adding a new Coffee Table Group after receiving an application
- Documentation Team
- Lead: Ayu
This repo is meant to help facilitate communication and coordination for Virtual Coffee Contributors.
- Explore: Browse through the different folders to find areas of interest.
- Learn: Each section contains documentation on how we approach different aspects of community building.
- Adapt: Feel free to use these resources according to our license as inspiration or templates for your own community initiatives.
- Contribute: If you have suggestions or improvements, please see our Contributing Guide.
Throughout this repository, you'll find insights into:
- Creating welcoming spaces for developers of all levels
- Organizing and managing regular community events
- Creating leadership and volunteer opportunities
- Maintaining community documentation
- Balancing growth with community intimacy
If you're interested in joining Virtual Coffee or learning more about our community:
- Visit our website
- Check out our membership information
- Explore our public resources for developers
If you have questions about our processes or want to discuss community building, feel free to open an issue or start a discussion in this repository. We're always happy to connect!
We hope these resources are helpful. Remember, every community is unique, so adapt these ideas to fit your specific needs and values. Happy community building!
Note
Any changes to this repo need to be via a Pull Request (you can do this on your machine or through the GitHub web interface).
⚠️ Heads up! If you'd like to make a change to this repo's docs, please make sure you've started with an issue (or a discussion board post) first, and that you've been assigned to the issue. This allows the maintainer team to provide guidance and prioritize tasks - otherwise you may run the risk of spending time on something that doesn't end up getting accepted for various reasons. Read our Contributors' Guide for more info.