A More Welcoming Community

Vinnie Falco

20 Sep 2024 20 Sep '24

6:33 p.m.

We could stimulate participation, help the community cohesion, and provide a convenient place to post a rules reminder link. When someone signs up for the mailing list there can be an option checkbox if they want to have their name announced to the list. For example, upon signup, mailman could send something like this: From: boost@lists.boost.org Subject: New Member Please welcome "Patrick Programmer" to the Boost Developer's mailing list! As a friendly reminder please familiarize yourself with tips from the Boost Discussion Policy described here: https://www.boost.org/community/policy.html What do you think? Thanks

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Andrzej Krzemienski

20 Sep 20 Sep

8:54 p.m.

pt., 20 wrz 2024 o 20:33 Vinnie Falco via Boost napisał(a):

...

We could stimulate participation, help the community cohesion, and provide a convenient place to post a rules reminder link. When someone signs up for the mailing list there can be an option checkbox if they want to have their name announced to the list. For example, upon signup, mailman could send something like this:

From: boost@lists.boost.org Subject: New Member

Please welcome "Patrick Programmer" to the Boost Developer's mailing list!

As a friendly reminder please familiarize yourself with tips from the Boost Discussion Policy described here:

https://www.boost.org/community/policy.html

What do you think?

I must say, I do not see a direct connection with stimulating participation, and helping the community cohesion. I guess people have different reasons for joining the list. I have seen a number of people sending a message of the form "I am new, I want to participate, where can I start?" Maybe a hint that you can ask for guidance when you send the initial message. Regards, &rzej;

Vinnie Falco

11:01 p.m.

On Fri, Sep 20, 2024 at 1:54 PM Andrzej Krzemienski wrote:

...

I must say, I do not see a direct connection with stimulating participation, and helping the community cohesion.

Maybe when someone signs up for the first time we could ask them to give an introductory sentence like "hi my name is Vinnie and I am interested in writing concurrent network programs." And then in the welcome post, we can show this message next to their name. Or if a sentence is too open-ended we can give them a set of checkboxes where they indicate their area of interest: [ ] closed-source [ ] networking [ ] containers [ ] math and science [ ] c++ compatibility And then when we introduce the new people to the mailing list, we can show their interests. Then, the regulars on the mailing list can use this to start a conversation or something.

...

I guess people have different reasons for joining the list. I have seen a number of people sending a message of the form "I am new, I want to participate, where can I start?" Maybe a hint that you can ask for guidance when you send the initial message.

This sounds like a good idea. I haven't signed up to the list in a very long time, what happens to someone who signs up for the first time? Don't they get an introductory email explaining how to unsubscribe or adjust their mailing list settings? We could customize that by including the discussion policy and some ideas on how they might introduce themselves. Which they can follow, or if they don't feel like talking they could also not do that. Thanks

Pranam Lashkari

11:44 p.m.

I would say that would just spam the mailing list, especially around the time of GSoC with so many new students joining the mailing list. Better to send new joiner private messages with all kinds of helpful links and rules etc(this will reduce beginners traffic too)... some people might just be interested in observing the development. On the other hand people who want to do something can always type a mail themselves. To me as a new joiner it seems more welcoming to receive welcome message than publishing welcome message to mailing list.

Vinnie Falco

21 Sep 21 Sep

12:05 a.m.

On Fri, Sep 20, 2024 at 4:44 PM Pranam Lashkari wrote:

...

To me as a new joiner it seems more welcoming to receive welcome message than publishing welcome message to mailing list.

I think you are right. Does anyone have a copy of the message that is sent when you first subscribe? Thanks

Glen Fernandes

1:24 p.m.

On Fri, Sep 20, 2024 at 8:05 PM Vinnie Falco wrote:

...

I think you are right. Does anyone have a copy of the message that is sent when you first subscribe?

The message is:

...

Boost is a repository of free, portable, peer-reviewed C++ libraries. It acts as a proving ground for new libraries, particularly those which work well with the ISO C++ Standard Library.

The main web site is <a href="http://www.boost.org">http://www.boost.org</a>.

This list is the main Boost developer's discussion list. Before subscribing, please read our discussion policy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/more/discussion_policy.htm"> http://www.boost.org/more/discussion_policy.htm</a>.

Posting Note: as an anti-spam measure, posts from non-subscribers will be automatically rejected; you can subscribe and turn off mail delivery if you prefer to read list traffic some other way. First-time posters' messages will be moderated.

Glen

Vinnie Falco

23 Sep 23 Sep

2:47 p.m.

On Sat, Sep 21, 2024 at 6:24 AM Glen Fernandes wrote:

...

...
Boost is a repository of free, portable, peer-reviewed C++ libraries. It acts as a proving ground for new libraries, particularly those which work well with the ISO C++ Standard Library.

The main web site is <a href="http://www.boost.org">http://www.boost.org </a>.

This list is the main Boost developer's discussion list. Before subscribing, please read our discussion policy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/more/discussion_policy.htm"> http://www.boost.org/more/discussion_policy.htm</a>.

Posting Note: as an anti-spam measure, posts from non-subscribers will be automatically rejected; you can subscribe and turn off mail delivery if you prefer to read list traffic some other way. First-time posters' messages will be moderated.

Thank you. First of all if it is not already there, this message template should come from the website GitHub repository so it can be discussed and improved. Second, this looks like a great opportunity to make the experience of signing up for the list better: We could add something like this to the above message: * If you wish to propose a library, check out the Library Proposal Process in the Contributor's Guide (link) * If you are joining to report a defect in a specific library, consider opening an issue in the corresponding repository (link) * If you want to contribute to Boost, check our our Volunteers Needed GitHub Project (link), and read the Contributor's Guide (link) * et cetera... Maybe the signup page can offer OAuth for Google and GitHub, and in this case we can skip the moderation step, to streamline the process. Thanks

Andrzej Krzemienski

6:56 p.m.

On Mon, Sep 23, 2024, 16:48 Vinnie Falco via Boost wrote:

...

On Sat, Sep 21, 2024 at 6:24 AM Glen Fernandes wrote:

...
...
Boost is a repository of free, portable, peer-reviewed C++ libraries. It acts as a proving ground for new libraries, particularly those which work well with the ISO C++ Standard Library.

The main web site is <a href="http://www.boost.org"> http://www.boost.org </a>.

This list is the main Boost developer's discussion list. Before subscribing, please read our discussion policy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/more/discussion_policy.htm"> http://www.boost.org/more/discussion_policy.htm</a>.

Posting Note: as an anti-spam measure, posts from non-subscribers will be automatically rejected; you can subscribe and turn off mail delivery if you prefer to read list traffic some other way. First-time posters' messages will be moderated.

Thank you. First of all if it is not already there, this message template should come from the website GitHub repository so it can be discussed and improved. Second, this looks like a great opportunity to make the experience of signing up for the list better:

We could add something like this to the above message:

* If you wish to propose a library, check out the Library Proposal Process in the Contributor's Guide (link) * If you are joining to report a defect in a specific library, consider opening an issue in the corresponding repository (link) * If you want to contribute to Boost, check our our Volunteers Needed GitHub Project (link), and read the Contributor's Guide (link)

Do we have a Volunteers Needed page like this? Regards, &rzej; * et cetera...

...

Maybe the signup page can offer OAuth for Google and GitHub, and in this case we can skip the moderation step, to streamline the process.

Thanks

_______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost

Andrzej Krzemienski

22 Sep 22 Sep

10:47 p.m.

pt., 20 wrz 2024 o 20:33 Vinnie Falco via Boost napisał(a):

...

We could stimulate participation, help the community cohesion, and provide a convenient place to post a rules reminder link. When someone signs up for the mailing list there can be an option checkbox if they want to have their name announced to the list. For example, upon signup, mailman could send something like this:

From: boost@lists.boost.org Subject: New Member

Please welcome "Patrick Programmer" to the Boost Developer's mailing list!

As a friendly reminder please familiarize yourself with tips from the Boost Discussion Policy described here:

https://www.boost.org/community/policy.html

What do you think?

One more data point, which may help. My motivation for joining every mailing list I joined, as far as I can remember, was to communicate a bug or a problem that I found, and wait for a bit to respond to the replies. It was already inconvenient, that I only wanted to communicate something, and had to go through all the annoying process. I never thought about this action as joining a community. Regards, &rzej;

Vinnie Falco

23 Sep 23 Sep

2:43 p.m.

On Sun, Sep 22, 2024 at 3:47 PM Andrzej Krzemienski wrote:

...

One more data point, which may help.

My motivation for joining every mailing list I joined, as far as I can remember, was to communicate a bug or a problem that I found, and wait for a bit to respond to the replies. It was already inconvenient, that I only wanted to communicate something, and had to go through all the annoying process. I never thought about this action as joining a community.

That is definitely a data point and thank you for that. There are probably several main reasons for joining the list, with each person having their own individual motivations and needs. You said that it was inconvenient to report a bug, and I agree. You have to sign up for the list, wait for the email verification, then post by sending an email, and then wait for the moderator to approve it. And then you have to wait for the replies. Here is an idea: we can present a web page "report an issue" which combines the process of posting a message and signing up for the mailing list. We can use OAuth, to also allow for Google or GitHub credentials to be used for skipping the verification step. This would streamline the process. The counter-argument is that these users should be using GitHub issues. There are advantages to each method. Through the mailing list, we get more activity and a consolidated view of needs. Through GitHub we get better technology and global visibility. Thanks

Peter Dimov

7:01 p.m.

Vinnie Falco wrote:

...

You said that it was inconvenient to report a bug, and I agree. You have to sign up for the list, wait for the email verification, then post by sending an email, and then wait for the moderator to approve it. And then you have to wait for the replies.

Here is an idea: we can present a web page "report an issue" which combines the process of posting a message and signing up for the mailing list. We can use OAuth, to also allow for Google or GitHub credentials to be used for skipping the verification step. This would streamline the process. The counter- argument is that these users should be using GitHub issues. There are advantages to each method. Through the mailing list, we get more activity and a consolidated view of needs. Through GitHub we get better technology and global visibility.

Our current procedure for reporting issues in general is (1) users open issues in boostorg/boost, (2) Marshall occasionally looks at them and moves them to the appropriate repo. This can probably be improved. :-)

Marshall Clow

7:09 p.m.

On Sep 23, 2024, at 12:01 PM, Peter Dimov via Boost wrote:

...

Vinnie Falco wrote:

...
You said that it was inconvenient to report a bug, and I agree. You have to sign up for the list, wait for the email verification, then post by sending an email, and then wait for the moderator to approve it. And then you have to wait for the replies.

Here is an idea: we can present a web page "report an issue" which combines the process of posting a message and signing up for the mailing list. We can use OAuth, to also allow for Google or GitHub credentials to be used for skipping the verification step. This would streamline the process. The counter- argument is that these users should be using GitHub issues. There are advantages to each method. Through the mailing list, we get more activity and a consolidated view of needs. Through GitHub we get better technology and global visibility.

Our current procedure for reporting issues in general is (1) users open issues in boostorg/boost, (2) Marshall occasionally looks at them and moves them to the appropriate repo.

I would prefer saying “If Marshall can figure out where they should go, then he moves them to the appropriate repo” But that could be considered a distinction w/o a difference.

...

This can probably be improved. :-)

Oh, yeah. — Marshall

Kristen Shaker

24 Sep 24 Sep

3:31 p.m.

Agreed with the sentiment that new joiners should be added to what in the marketing world is referred to as a "Welcome Sequence." 3 - 4 emails designed to engage new users, provide them with context about what a product/service is during a time when they are most receptive to engaging. On Mon, Sep 23, 2024 at 3:09 PM Marshall Clow via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...

On Sep 23, 2024, at 12:01 PM, Peter Dimov via Boost wrote:

...
Vinnie Falco wrote:

...
You said that it was inconvenient to report a bug, and I agree. You

have to sign

...
...
up for the list, wait for the email verification, then post by sending an email, and then wait for the moderator to approve it. And then you have to wait for the replies.

Here is an idea: we can present a web page "report an issue" which combines the process of posting a message and signing up for the mailing list. We can use OAuth, to also allow for Google or GitHub credentials to be used for skipping the verification step. This would streamline the process. The counter- argument is that these users should be using GitHub issues. There are advantages to each method. Through the mailing list, we get more activity and a consolidated view of needs. Through GitHub we get better technology and global visibility.

Our current procedure for reporting issues in general is (1) users open issues in boostorg/boost, (2) Marshall occasionally looks at them and moves them to the appropriate repo.

I would prefer saying “If Marshall can figure out where they should go, then he moves them to the appropriate repo”

But that could be considered a distinction w/o a difference.

...
This can probably be improved. :-)

Oh, yeah.

— Marshall

_______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost

Robert Jones

3:57 p.m.

I haven't really been following this thread in any detail, so please forgive it I misspeak. I'm unenthusiastic about applying 'marketing' techniques to this, it makes it feel like Boost is a commercial product that we're pushing (whoever 'we' are). For me Boost was and is part of the 'joy of discovery' track, and having to make a bit of effort to find it and understand it is part of the pleasure. On Tue, 24 Sept 2024 at 16:32, Kristen Shaker via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...

Agreed with the sentiment that new joiners should be added to what in the marketing world is referred to as a "Welcome Sequence." 3 - 4 emails designed to engage new users, provide them with context about what a product/service is during a time when they are most receptive to engaging.

Andrzej Krzemienski

7:32 p.m.

wt., 24 wrz 2024 o 17:32 Kristen Shaker via Boost napisał(a):

...

Agreed with the sentiment that new joiners should be added to what in the marketing world is referred to as a "Welcome Sequence." 3 - 4 emails designed to engage new users, provide them with context about what a product/service is during a time when they are most receptive to engaging.

I don't know about that. It depends on what type of community we want to be. I always thought of Boost as a place where people of honest motivation reflect, discuss, and exchange ideas. Giving the impression of marketing-like influencing might put off people who value the atmosphere of honesty. I personally would hate to receive a bunch of "spam" email, only because I subscribed to a group for technical content. Regards, &rzej; [BTW, remember about the no-top-posting policy.]

...

On Mon, Sep 23, 2024 at 3:09 PM Marshall Clow via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...
On Sep 23, 2024, at 12:01 PM, Peter Dimov via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...
Vinnie Falco wrote:

...
You said that it was inconvenient to report a bug, and I agree. You

have to sign

...
...
up for the list, wait for the email verification, then post by sending an email, and then wait for the moderator to approve it. And then you have to wait for the replies.

Here is an idea: we can present a web page "report an issue" which combines the process of posting a message and signing up for the mailing list. We can use OAuth, to also allow for Google or GitHub credentials to be used for skipping the verification step. This would streamline the process. The counter- argument is that these users should be using GitHub issues. There are advantages to each method. Through the mailing list, we get more activity and a consolidated view of needs. Through GitHub we get better technology and global visibility.

Our current procedure for reporting issues in general is (1) users open issues in boostorg/boost, (2) Marshall occasionally looks at them and moves them to the appropriate repo.

I would prefer saying “If Marshall can figure out where they should go, then he moves them to the appropriate repo”

But that could be considered a distinction w/o a difference.

...
This can probably be improved. :-)

Oh, yeah.

— Marshall

_______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost

_______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost

Kristen Shaker

8:58 p.m.

The emails aren't meant to be spammy. They're supposed to help orient people who are new to a service or a community and encourage them to engage. You provide valuable information about what your service/community is, what it stands for, where the important resources are, etc. You do it in a sequence so no one gets one monolithic welcome email that is hard to digest. We're creating new logos and engaging more on social media which are both strategies pulled from a marketing playbook. Anyway, it was just a suggestion. Feel free to ignore it. On Tue, Sep 24, 2024 at 3:32 PM Andrzej Krzemienski wrote:

...

wt., 24 wrz 2024 o 17:32 Kristen Shaker via Boost napisał(a):

...
Agreed with the sentiment that new joiners should be added to what in the marketing world is referred to as a "Welcome Sequence." 3 - 4 emails designed to engage new users, provide them with context about what a product/service is during a time when they are most receptive to engaging.

I don't know about that. It depends on what type of community we want to be. I always thought of Boost as a place where people of honest motivation reflect, discuss, and exchange ideas. Giving the impression of marketing-like influencing might put off people who value the atmosphere of honesty. I personally would hate to receive a bunch of "spam" email, only because I subscribed to a group for technical content.

Regards, &rzej;

[BTW, remember about the no-top-posting policy.]

...
On Mon, Sep 23, 2024 at 3:09 PM Marshall Clow via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...
On Sep 23, 2024, at 12:01 PM, Peter Dimov via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...
Vinnie Falco wrote:

...
You said that it was inconvenient to report a bug, and I agree. You

...
...
up for the list, wait for the email verification, then post by sending an email, and then wait for the moderator to approve it. And then you have to wait for the replies.

Here is an idea: we can present a web page "report an issue" which combines the process of posting a message and signing up for the mailing list. We can use OAuth, to also allow for Google or GitHub credentials to be used for skipping the verification step. This would streamline the process. The counter- argument is that these users should be using GitHub issues. There are advantages to each method. Through the mailing list, we get more activity and a consolidated view of needs. Through GitHub we get better technology and global visibility.

Our current procedure for reporting issues in general is (1) users open issues in boostorg/boost, (2) Marshall occasionally looks at them and moves

have to sign them to

...
the appropriate repo.

I would prefer saying “If Marshall can figure out where they should go, then he moves them to the appropriate repo”

But that could be considered a distinction w/o a difference.

...
This can probably be improved. :-)

Oh, yeah.

— Marshall

_______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost

_______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost

Vinnie Falco

9:15 p.m.

On Tue, Sep 24, 2024 at 1:59 PM Kristen Shaker via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...

They're supposed to help orient people who are new to a

service or a community and encourage them to engage.

...

Intuitively, this feels correct to me, yet I am continuously reminded by experts why marketing is bad. A recurring theme exists. There is a natural tension between experts who don't want their hand held and like things dry and technical (Peter and Andrey come to mind) and those who appreciate community-building (such as Arnaud or Christian). And apologies if I am being presumptuous about stated individual preferences. Some of the reviews have shared wonderful experiences in various social spaces which highlight the fact that not everyone thinks the same. Some folks like it technical, some want to feel like they are part of something larger. International audiences in particular might prefer a more technical focus as some social customs might be regional and misunderstood. Knowing that a space is going to be purely engineering-focused alleviates the anxiety that someone might feel when interacting in a second or third language. When Boost participation was on the upswing, the project attracted people naturally and the absence of invitational and welcoming aspects of presentation were not missed. Yet now we are ponding how to increase the visibility of the project. My advice is simple. We don't want to send four consecutive automated emails to every person who signs up for the first time. And we might want to send one, as we are already doing so. There is nothing wrong with thinking about how we might improve that initial automated message to improve user experience. I think the pendulum swung too far in the direction of ignoring appearances and impressions. There is value in taking at least small steps the other way. Thanks

Arnaud Becheler

25 Sep 25 Sep

1:04 p.m.

I agree with Vinnie: - Projects like Boost tend to draw in a diverse range of contributors. - While things may have been different in the past, it seems today Boost wants to focus on attracting → engaging → retaining contributors and users. - This isn’t a technical issue, but a communication challenge. - Just like you call an electrician for electrical problems, you turn to marketing, outreach, or community-building peeps when facing communication issues. - With that in mind, I agree with Kristen: drawing inspiration from onboarding processes and basic marketing strategies could be a helpful approach. - I also agree with Robert and Andrzej: I personally don't like being spammed (even with technical mails, the reason why I initially left the mailing list lol) - The key question is then: how to develop these communication strategies that retain contributors without deterring those more focused on the technical side? - It seems there is no consensus on the answer When in doubt I tend to acquire data: perhaps the first step could be to better (re)-understand the actual/potential audience? - Run a survey in your networks (aka email/reddit/slack/meetups) to identify the different types of actual/potential contributors (e.g., technical contributors, casual users, new contributors, core maintainers). - Identify their preferences: their motivation in boost, how often they want updates, what kind of information is relevant to them, and their preferred communication channels - Use this input to inform a first segmented, non-intrusive communication strategy: pass relevant information along different channels only to those who want it. - Build a feedback loop: iterate on the feedback to refine how, when, and what you communicate. - I also note this kind of survey could also be informative to the Foundation for inclusion problematics :) Kind regards - and rainbow kitties, Arno On Tue, Sep 24, 2024 at 11:16 PM Vinnie Falco via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...

On Tue, Sep 24, 2024 at 1:59 PM Kristen Shaker via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...
They're supposed to help orient people who are new to a

service or a community and encourage them to engage.

...
Intuitively, this feels correct to me, yet I am continuously reminded by experts why marketing is bad.

A recurring theme exists. There is a natural tension between experts who don't want their hand held and like things dry and technical (Peter and Andrey come to mind) and those who appreciate community-building (such as Arnaud or Christian). And apologies if I am being presumptuous about stated individual preferences.

Some of the reviews have shared wonderful experiences in various social spaces which highlight the fact that not everyone thinks the same. Some folks like it technical, some want to feel like they are part of something larger. International audiences in particular might prefer a more technical focus as some social customs might be regional and misunderstood. Knowing that a space is going to be purely engineering-focused alleviates the anxiety that someone might feel when interacting in a second or third language.

When Boost participation was on the upswing, the project attracted people naturally and the absence of invitational and welcoming aspects of presentation were not missed. Yet now we are ponding how to increase the visibility of the project.

My advice is simple. We don't want to send four consecutive automated emails to every person who signs up for the first time. And we might want to send one, as we are already doing so. There is nothing wrong with thinking about how we might improve that initial automated message to improve user experience. I think the pendulum swung too far in the direction of ignoring appearances and impressions. There is value in taking at least small steps the other way.

Thanks

_______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost

Andrzej Krzemienski

8:39 p.m.

śr., 25 wrz 2024 o 21:17 Arnaud Becheler via Boost napisał(a):

...

I agree with Vinnie:

- Projects like Boost tend to draw in a diverse range of contributors. - While things may have been different in the past, it seems today Boost wants to focus on attracting → engaging → retaining contributors and users. - This isn’t a technical issue, but a communication challenge. - Just like you call an electrician for electrical problems, you turn to marketing, outreach, or community-building peeps when facing communication issues. - With that in mind, I agree with Kristen: drawing inspiration from onboarding processes and basic marketing strategies could be a helpful approach. - I also agree with Robert and Andrzej: I personally don't like being spammed (even with technical mails, the reason why I initially left the mailing list lol) - The key question is then: how to develop these communication strategies that retain contributors without deterring those more focused on the technical side? - It seems there is no consensus on the answer

When in doubt I tend to acquire data: perhaps the first step could be to better (re)-understand the actual/potential audience?

- Run a survey in your networks (aka email/reddit/slack/meetups) to identify the different types of actual/potential contributors (e.g., technical contributors, casual users, new contributors, core maintainers). - Identify their preferences: their motivation in boost, how often they want updates, what kind of information is relevant to them, and their preferred communication channels - Use this input to inform a first segmented, non-intrusive communication strategy: pass relevant information along different channels only to those who want it.

Maybe this is the key: "only to those who want it". This started on the algorithm to apply when a newcomer registers for the Mailing List. Maybe a single, more general checkbox (I actually mean two radio buttons) would do the trick. --------- Which do you prefer: ( ) Community Building experience ( ) Pure Technical Content experience ------------ Regards, &rzej; - Build a feedback loop: iterate on the feedback to refine how, when,

...

and what you communicate. - I also note this kind of survey could also be informative to the Foundation for inclusion problematics :)

Kind regards - and rainbow kitties, Arno

On Tue, Sep 24, 2024 at 11:16 PM Vinnie Falco via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...
On Tue, Sep 24, 2024 at 1:59 PM Kristen Shaker via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...
They're supposed to help orient people who are new to a

service or a community and encourage them to engage.

...
Intuitively, this feels correct to me, yet I am continuously reminded by experts why marketing is bad.

A recurring theme exists. There is a natural tension between experts who don't want their hand held and like things dry and technical (Peter and Andrey come to mind) and those who appreciate community-building (such as Arnaud or Christian). And apologies if I am being presumptuous about stated individual preferences.

Some of the reviews have shared wonderful experiences in various social spaces which highlight the fact that not everyone thinks the same. Some folks like it technical, some want to feel like they are part of something larger. International audiences in particular might prefer a more technical focus as some social customs might be regional and misunderstood. Knowing that a space is going to be purely engineering-focused alleviates the anxiety that someone might feel when interacting in a second or third language.

When Boost participation was on the upswing, the project attracted people naturally and the absence of invitational and welcoming aspects of presentation were not missed. Yet now we are ponding how to increase the visibility of the project.

My advice is simple. We don't want to send four consecutive automated emails to every person who signs up for the first time. And we might want to send one, as we are already doing so. There is nothing wrong with thinking about how we might improve that initial automated message to improve user experience. I think the pendulum swung too far in the direction of ignoring appearances and impressions. There is value in taking at least small steps the other way.

Thanks

_______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost

_______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost

Vinnie Falco

9:27 p.m.

On Wed, Sep 25, 2024 at 1:40 PM Andrzej Krzemienski via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...

Which do you prefer: ( ) Community Building experience ( ) Pure Technical Content experience

Subscribers to the mailing list who are looking for a more technical experience will hopefully have the intelligence and emotional maturity to not get upset if they receive a one-time message intended for community-minded audiences. Thanks

Andrzej Krzemienski

26 Sep 26 Sep

4:10 a.m.

śr., 25 wrz 2024 o 23:28 Vinnie Falco napisał(a):

...

On Wed, Sep 25, 2024 at 1:40 PM Andrzej Krzemienski via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...
Which do you prefer: ( ) Community Building experience ( ) Pure Technical Content experience

Subscribers to the mailing list who are looking for a more technical experience will hopefully have the intelligence and emotional maturity to not get upset if they receive a one-time message intended for community-minded audiences.

I agree. The above suggestion with a checkbox would only make sense when we start to consider "email sequences" or other things, like requests for announcements. Regards, &rzej;

Robert Ramey

24 Sep 24 Sep

9:30 p.m.

On 9/24/24 1:58 PM, Kristen Shaker via Boost wrote:

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The emails aren't meant to be spammy. They're supposed to help orient people who are new to a service or a community and encourage them to engage.

Of course this is all a matter of taste. I find these (and other) sorts of efforts patronizing, unprofessional and an insult to my intelligence. I don't appreciate being preached to. Robert Ramey

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participants (10)

Andrzej Krzemienski
Arnaud Becheler
Glen Fernandes
Kristen Shaker
Marshall Clow
Peter Dimov
Pranam Lashkari
Robert Jones
Robert Ramey
Vinnie Falco