Community Day: A new virtual “welcome table”
This year, our new “Community Day” sets out to provide a more human on-ramp by:
- introducing new community members to the product, the community, and the kinds of conversations that will go on during the event, and
- engaging all attendees in planning the event itself.
In our prior post, we began to define our audience. We’ll begin community day with a morning of short talks and discussions split up into three audience-specific tracks:
- I’m new to Drupal: these discussions could include a review of the tools on Drupal.org, learning opportunities around the community, or a panel of folks discussing why they’ve stuck around the community.
- I do Drupal, I’m new to the community: Many folks Drupal, but not every Drupaler knows how they can leverage our incredible community. Here we’ll talk about issue queues, documentation, and novice contribution opportunities.
- I do Drupal, I’m involved in the community: This group could discuss Drupal core initiatives, triage Contribution Day tasks, or review mentoring opportunities.
If you’re interested in presenting or have a request for a topic, please comment on this Drupal.org issue.
In the second half of Community Day, we’ll open the “Call for Activities/Topics” for our Thursday and Friday Unconference.
- Thursday will be focused on building relationships in the community through social events, games, and lightning talks, and other activities that are welcoming to all.
- Friday will take more of a traditional Unconference schedule, with Birds of a Feather (BoF) discussions and more.
To encourage diversity in discussions, we’ll also be holding a workshop for marginalized, underrepresented, and historically excluded speakers on Wednesday afternoon.
So, that’s Community Day. With it, we hope to:
- give new attendees the confidence to bring a topic or activity to the table,
- give everyone a plan of what they can expect for the next two days,
- provide opportunities for connection and mentorship.
In the end, this MidCamp we’re encouraging all attendees to:
- come as you are,
- bring your excitement and ideas,
- plan for lots of opportunities to engage, and
- feel free to step away as you need.