shouldn't the community have some input into whom the community lets in though? It appears to be very top down and exclusionary rather than inclusive, im not sure how well that will work in building a social network.
fascinating reply format. i guess i feel like there should be some set standard of min qualification and if a person meets it, access should be considered granted. An 'interview' is someone anxiety inducing for some remote folks. We may want more interaction, but not necessarily to the level you are at. Good luck with it all though.
> a group of 100 friendly, skilled, independent developers
> Application Process
> Submit the Developer Application
> Phone Call (30 minutes)
> Technical Interview (1 hour)
All of this for some reason looks sketchy and suspiciously to me, domain name, website content made in 3 minutes, looks like "clever" attempt to collect recruitment data/profiles
I appreciate effort and people showing us things. That said ...
I don't want to login with a Google account to Submit the Developer Application. The HN account is not 24hrs old yet, there is no comment with this Show submission, only a link, the title appeals to a negative, yadda, yadda.
Looks great to me. I think there aren't enough active communities like this.
To the point of how to launch/grow a targeted community like this, consider this from the organizer's POV. There's got to be a starting point, with starting requirements. I've set up or helped organized groups before (a mastermind group, a local 501c3 networking group, a chapter of a national org) and there's always a bootstrap point where you as the organizer just have to do things to get it going.
Thanks Tom! I haven't done this before so definitely don't know all the best practices around posting, getting feedback, etc. Just thought maybe there are some other people out there who could benefit from something like this.
I like the idea, I don't like the process, seems too much like interviewing for a position imo, but I appreciate what you're trying to accomplish.
My 2 cents, why a form and not simply request an introductory email? For the kind of people you seem to want to attract, independent developers, an application could be a turn off, I know it is for me anyway.
My idea is morphing after getting feedback. I need to update the webpage.
I think 100 is too big for what people seem to want. People get their questions answered and learn from others' successes and failures on sites like IH and HN. What they don't get is a personal connection and the sense that they are working together with others.
In order to provide this connection, the group or groups need to be small (probably less than 30 people). That way everyone can get to know each other and develop a deep understanding of the skill sets and projects of the other members. I think context is key.
In time, I hope this leads to trust and friendship. People start working together on projects and aren't afraid to hop on video calls and help one another.
If the groups are going to be small yet useful, members need to be carefully selected. They need to be smart and generous and bring a variety of skills. There has to be a filtering process. Interviews are scary, but they serve a purpose. Forms are useful for directing people to give relevant information.
If I was part of a group of this nature, I would prefer the others are qualified and engaging. Quality of experience and knowledge will make the groups all the more valuable.
Agreed, 100 is too big and yes, I completely understand the need to tightly select the people that are gonna come in, even more so if the group is smaller, but maybe the process could be a little more organic, or informal?
Maybe having some kind of intermediate level of membership/trust for the new comers? A little bit like motorcycle clubs, who have "friends of the club", "prospect" etc, not the best example but I hope you get the idea, which is to develop those relationship over a longer period of time than a simple application with a yes/no answer at the end like with a job application.
For group sizes you could look into the law of fives for groups but im not sure how it would work in this type of set up. Essentially a video chat should have a max occupancy of five. Any more and because it's hard to model the relationships of permutations between people above five it's possible for both positive and negative things to go unnoticed. It's impossible to be a troll in a group that has less than 5 members. It's also easier to get help and make friends in smaller groups than larger.
Looks like an interesting push to build up a new community. Based upon the general tone of the pitch it seems to be directed more at freelancers, though I imagine that could change. I'm not personally a fan of slack, so I'll pass, though best of luck with the experiment.
19 comments
[ 12.9 ms ] story [ 1106 ms ] thread> Application Process > Submit the Developer Application > Phone Call (30 minutes) > Technical Interview (1 hour)
All of this for some reason looks sketchy and suspiciously to me, domain name, website content made in 3 minutes, looks like "clever" attempt to collect recruitment data/profiles
I don't want to login with a Google account to Submit the Developer Application. The HN account is not 24hrs old yet, there is no comment with this Show submission, only a link, the title appeals to a negative, yadda, yadda.
To the point of how to launch/grow a targeted community like this, consider this from the organizer's POV. There's got to be a starting point, with starting requirements. I've set up or helped organized groups before (a mastermind group, a local 501c3 networking group, a chapter of a national org) and there's always a bootstrap point where you as the organizer just have to do things to get it going.
My 2 cents, why a form and not simply request an introductory email? For the kind of people you seem to want to attract, independent developers, an application could be a turn off, I know it is for me anyway.
I think 100 is too big for what people seem to want. People get their questions answered and learn from others' successes and failures on sites like IH and HN. What they don't get is a personal connection and the sense that they are working together with others.
In order to provide this connection, the group or groups need to be small (probably less than 30 people). That way everyone can get to know each other and develop a deep understanding of the skill sets and projects of the other members. I think context is key.
In time, I hope this leads to trust and friendship. People start working together on projects and aren't afraid to hop on video calls and help one another.
If the groups are going to be small yet useful, members need to be carefully selected. They need to be smart and generous and bring a variety of skills. There has to be a filtering process. Interviews are scary, but they serve a purpose. Forms are useful for directing people to give relevant information.
If I was part of a group of this nature, I would prefer the others are qualified and engaging. Quality of experience and knowledge will make the groups all the more valuable.
Maybe having some kind of intermediate level of membership/trust for the new comers? A little bit like motorcycle clubs, who have "friends of the club", "prospect" etc, not the best example but I hope you get the idea, which is to develop those relationship over a longer period of time than a simple application with a yes/no answer at the end like with a job application.
Food for thought.