Code of Conduct (for LA Drupal event posting)

As one of the more active event organizers and sponsors of Drupal in the area, I have a few thoughts about this.

1. My sense is that this document was written as a pretense to regulate the organizing style and promotion of events that my colleagues and I help produce in Los Angeles County. I hope someone can dispel my concern by speaking to this point.

2. That said, I'm very glad to see the beginnings of a code of conduct around expectations of behavior in the "LA Drupal" group. Responsible and consistent behavior by the leadership in open source user groups has been a big interest of mine for years. Here are a few resources that may be useful references for the conversation that follows:

   http://drupal.org/project/governance
   http://www.artofcommunityonline.org/about/#chapter10
   http://groups.drupal.org/downtown-los-angeles/governance

3. I disagree with the implication that cross-posting event announcements is synonymous with being "spammy". Joining groups is an opt-in activity, and email subscriptions can always be fine tuned by individuals within the notification settings of their own accounts.

I'd like to see this "spammy" rule be revised to say, "Cross-post to relevant groups with care, or your event could be removed" (note the addition of the word "relevant", which is far more specific than an individual's personal preferences or tolerances of spam, or more accurately, bacn).

4. If the so-called "spammy" rule is revised per the wording above, it brings up obvious questions: who is the arbiter who decides which groups are relevant? By which standard are those decisions made? A discussion about this was raised at http://groups.drupal.org/node/253493#comments but unfortunately that discussion didn't have any usable feedback.

5. It's not very clear when the listed "consequences" will be enforced and how offending parties will be notified. Is there a 3-strike rule? Will things "just happen" as they do now — e.g. event posts are silently edited or removed — without explanation or notification? Will there be transparency and consistency in enforcement so that there's an even playing field for everyone?

6. I'm not exactly sure what the process is for contributing to this new initiative. Are there guidelines for editing this wiki? How are members of the larger community being asked to get involved?

I'm sure I'll have more thoughts and questions, but this is a good start for now. This comment already has a higher word count than the original wiki! Thanks again for starting this.

These are my responses I'm just one organizer and some of these are open for discussion and some my opinion. I encourage other organizers and group member to voice their opinions.

@Techivist
I try to post thoughtfully...
The goal of Code of conduct is about keeping things positive and curtailing repeated behavior that could damage this group as a whole. The intent is not to punish or scold, we are all mature adults.

I also agree & would love to speak with you offline...
Sure hit me up, although eventually it will end up here and I would like this process to be transparent, well as much as possible.

@christefano
My sense is that this document was written as a pretense to regulate...
Nope, as mentioned this is just related to keeping things positive in this group.

That said, I'm very glad to see the beginnings of a code of conduct around expectations...
Thanks, you and me both. I appreciate the links, I will check them out.

I disagree with the implication that cross-posting event announcements...
I see your point and agree with you and James. However, community members have voiced concerns publicly (more than once) and some have approached me privately. It's my responsibility as an organizer of this group to voice their concerns. So I encourage more members to speak up or if you want to remain anonymous please hit me up. As a group, based on community input, we can decide how to word this. For now any feedback is welcome.

If the so-called "spammy" rule is revised... who is the arbiter...
Well the community, once again the goal is not to police people but if an event organizer is asked by the group organizer and/or multiple members to not cross post or stop a particular action it's damaging to the community to continue that behavior and it could be considered disrespectful. Follow the Golden Rule is my opinion.

It's not very clear when the listed "consequences" will be enforced...
To be honest, I don't think it should even come to that, if we are all respectful, no need to police anyone for any action. And I don't think people should have to worry about consequences unless they are repeat violators or are knowingly trying to hurt the LA Drupal community, which I don't think anyone is trying to do and once again ties into the above just be respectful.

Transparency is the goal, at the same time people are busy so I support an organizer taking action without having to bring it to a committee. If an event organizer or community member thinks it's unjust please bring that to any other organizer and we can go from there and workout some conflict resolution or take action if need be. Once again this applies to just this group, my intent is not to speak for other groups.

what the process is for contributing... Are there guidelines for editing this wiki? How are members of the larger community being asked to get involved?
It just started so I guess comment, but it's a wiki so it's editable. This started after a handful of talks after meetups but I encourage people to comment and I would be willing meet and talk about this specifically. Or we can do virtual meetings (or multiple meetings) whatever works for anyone who wants to be involved.

So I'm hearing lots of the same things from various folks. What do you all propose then? Only cross-post "big" stuff like Drupal Camps & Drupal meetups? And then how far of a radius? SoCal? Remember that some of these events are, sometimes, recorded for future consumption & I've heard MANY times that having stuff recorded/streamed is incredibly valuable (ya, way more than I've heard complaints of cross-posting, which I've heard/read).

I ask cuz while something might frustrate me, I'm not the type of person to just complain. I like to provide a solution to go along w/my voicing of displeasure. Then again, that's just me.

@philosurfer, thank you for participating in the thread.

This is not just one person so please do not direct this conversation in that way. We are trying to keep a positive tone for all participants in the community. A simple +1 for no cross posts will suffice.

The problem of getting your message to the right people is not just with this group. Every place that there is a large diverse (interest and geographic) group of people has this kind of problem.

As a recipient I can select the groups I belong to. That may be geographic and/or interest (e.g., SF Valley, Downtown, Westside, Alfresco, Android, etc.). That's great because I will get all of the messages related to those areas.

As a sender, I want to make sure my messages gets to all people who might be interested. If I am going to make a presentation on Android development in Hollywood, I will want to cross-post to SFV, Downtown, and Android. To do any less (since there is no Hollywood group) would not be good marketing for my presentation.

It seems to me that the real solution is a system mechanism that allows the sender to choose target groups AND only sends one message to people who are members of more than one chosen group.

Arguing about cross-posting is rather silly (and time consuming) when you will end up with a bunch of upset people, either because they need to hit "Delete" a few times or others because they don't hear about useful events.

realEuph
(aka Leonard Daly)

I've edited and included what I feel are some of the key feedback points into the wiki.

What I've heard after reading comments is this, and I'm paraphrasing/summarizing:
* Cross-posts have the effect of diluting content.
* There isn't a need to cross-post geographical events to our group (if you're intersted in attending events in other regions, you already subscribe to that group).
* Event cross posts from other geographical groups are for the purpose of self-promotion; therefore disrespectful of the people in our community that do not wish to subscribe to events in other groups.
* IMO: In current GDO config, the only way to let subscribers gain control of their notifications is to eliminate geographical cross posts to the LA group. The effect: members of LA Drupal do not receive posts from groups they do not subscribe -- with no other ill effect.

Misconceptions:
* GDO sends multiple notifications for each cross-post.
Response: To my knowledge GDO sends only one notification (even if you're a member of multiple groups in the cross-post). However, the problem is people get things they're not interested due to the fact authors cross post based on the multiple groups that interest them and in which THEY belong.
* The subscriber is responsible for what the are sent.
Response: Not if an event author cross posts from a group that is not of interest. In this case, the subscriber happens to belong to a group shared by the author -- thereby the author has control.

I really encourage others in our community to join the conversation and to ignore anything they perceive as drama. A more diverse sampling of opinion helps us all.

Some of the other mailing lists I'm on offer email digests to alleviate active user groups from dominating the mailbox. Is there a similar option for GDO?

If not, wonder if it'd be possible to hack something up using y!pipes?
Maybe even w/ frequency options (daily, weekly, mo.) at least just for LA.

n/m - found it under my notification settings.

I have added a rule concerning the summary. I remember before the event list used to have the summary for the event. This was handy --except that from time to time events would be posted where nearly the whole post was the summary and it would break the page.

I would like to bring back summaries to the front page, if summaries are used properly. So lets use them properly.

I've been the Los Angeles Open Source User Group Advocate since 1994, with the rebirth of LULA.org and have been involved in forming over 15 User Groups in the last 18 years. I've cross posted hundreds of events between LUGs, web authoring, and related Internet groups.

I have TWO RULES that solved my cross posting, and in those hundreds of cross posts, I was only flamed once, by a newbie UCLA-LUG member, and the UCLA-LUG leader, who knew me, told the newbie to not flame me again. It also helped that I attended everyone's group at least once, introduced myself, and said I would cross post ONLY interesting events, very seldom.

Here are the two rules:

1) The NEW USER GROUP cross post for new Group Visibility.

Explanation: When a new user group forms, that's IMPORTANT news, and should be cross posted, to ONLY those related users groups, to solicit membership, to SOLICIT SIGNING UP FOR THE "new" MAILING LIST.

2) The ONCE A YEAR cross post for Group Visibility.

Explanation: An User Group will often have 2-3 really, really important public presentations, well known developers, famous developers, people who other group members WOULD WANT TO LISTEN TO, to meet. Or topics of known GREAT import, VIRAL TECH, etc. Instead of waiting for some joint member to cross post, the leader of the group should advertising to RELATED groups, as soon as possible.

--

These two rules permit 2-3 cross posts a year. Not Spam, but an USEFUL SERVICE TO ALL MEMBERS IN ALL GROUPS.

It is these 1-2 cross posts a year that should be ALLOWED, and ONLY THESE 2 TYPES. Why?

These posts adequately notify members of other user groups of the nature of the new user group, and the type of content one can expect from it. That is the type of info that is worthy of cross posting.

To repeat the message: Cross post only 1-2 times a year the really important speakers you invited, as a service to other groups' members. That's worthy.

Posting every monthly meeting - PROHIBITED. No arguments are acceptable in this area. Argument is just trolling, imo. Trolling results in backlash. Backlash means spending too much of your personal time defending your practice, in the face of mounting ire, and loss of otherwise loyal colleagues. Cross posting, IN GENERAL, is bad, but for some causes is FANTASTIC.

Wise advice: Limit yourself to just FANTASTIC service to all group members, and these members will, will reward you. Give you greater exposure. Piss off the members with excessive cross posting, and watch your influence dwindle.

That's the historical tradition of the Internet, since early USENET days - I got on the Internet in 1981, 10 years before the web. The USENET FAQ on Cross Posting is definitive. Wikipedia is sort of okay.

This is one man's opinion, and I'm sticking to it.