Hi again! Working mom alert here – spending an hour organizing old conversations into new categories was absolutely perfect for my brain power today. It's simple, easy work that not only made me feel like I was actually doing something, but it brought me back into some awesome conversations from the Google Group (soon-to-be) of Yore.
*Looking for a quick and easy way to be of service to the global coworking community? Look no further.* Alex has made it easy as pie to chip in. DO IT. <3 S PS - hi again, everyone. I've missed y'all and I also don't know so many of you. I look forward to being a bit more reconnected as we shift over to the new platform! __ Office Nomads officenomads.com On Mon, Mar 11, 2019 at 11:50 AM Susan Dorsch <su...@officenomads.com> wrote: > Huge, HUGE thanks for getting this ball rolling, Alex. It's so exciting! > Just signed myself up to help out. I hope everyone else does too! > > S > > __ > Office Nomads > officenomads.com > > > On Sat, Mar 9, 2019 at 4:09 PM Alex Hillman <dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Quick update - I would like to specifically invite/encourage more women >> and POC to get involved in this initiative from the start! >> >> If you're on the fence about signing up, I promise the commitment is very >> low and the potential for impact is very high. :) Have questions or >> concerns? Drop me a note offline: a...@indyhall.org >> >> -Alex >> >> On Saturday, March 9, 2019 at 11:57:13 AM UTC-5, Alex Hillman wrote: >>> >>> Hello friends! >>> >>> *This is a long post for a Saturday, but it's one I'm very excited to >>> share with you and I hope you'll take the time to read completely. * >>> >>> The Coworking Google Group is a very special place for many people, >>> myself included. By the numbers alone, it's one of the largest communities >>> in the world for aspiring and current coworking operators, staff, >>> researchers, and more with 8000+ registered users. This group's archives >>> contain over 6000 threads (and tens of thousands of comments) that contain >>> over 13 years of coworking knowledge, history, friendships, stories, and >>> successes. >>> >>> When you think about the reach and power of this community, it's >>> awe-inspiring. >>> >>> Soon, Google is making some changes to the the platform that powers this >>> group. This particular round of changes aren't a problem for us....but it >>> does make me cautious about trusting Google to host our community in the >>> long term. If they can make sweeping changes - or worse, shut down this >>> *free* product - our community is at risk. And that's saying nothing of >>> the shortcomings of the tool itself. >>> >>> *So I've been doing a lot of research and testing.* The biggest >>> challenge is that I don't just want to move to another "new" community >>> platform - I wanted to move ALL of the historical content to something that >>> is measurably better, and that we can control (so we don't have to worry >>> about a company changing their minds or direction with little warning). I >>> also want to keep the platform email-based, which allows for much wider and >>> easier participation. >>> >>> And maybe, just maybe, one that doesn't make money by harvesting all of >>> our data? ;) >>> >>> Tall order, I know. >>> >>> *Well, I did it.* I found an option that fits the bill, and makes it >>> possible to IMPROVE the "google group" resource in several measurable ways, >>> and amazingly we can do this without losing any functionality we're used >>> to. It's an open source tool called Discourse. >>> >>> And while it *looks* like a forum on the website, but I was able to >>> adjust the settings to enable the email-based experience just like the >>> Google Group. >>> >>> *Best of all - I was able to migrate the ENTIRE historical archive of >>> discussions and comments to the new platform. 100% preserved (and with much >>> better tools to search the archive!)* >>> >>> [image: Global Coworking Forum 2019-03-09 11-17-31.png] >>> >>> Among it's unique strengths, Discourse includes the ability to set up >>> categories and subcategories, keeping our conversations more organized and >>> making it easier for new people to find the valuable threads they need. You >>> can even set your email preferences for SPECIFIC categories, muting the >>> topics you care less about and subscribing to topics you're most interested >>> in. Smart weekly digests can help you know what's going on without having >>> to read every message. >>> >>> These more nuanced opt-in/opt-out settings mean we can create NEW areas >>> of discussion that this single-channel Google Group was never good for: eg. >>> language-specific channels for communities that prefer to communicate in >>> their native languages, or specific channels where vendors can help people >>> in our community without spamming everyone. >>> >>> And honestly, this is just the beginning :) >>> >>> *I'm especially proud that this new site, like the Google Group and >>> other Open Coworking resources, will always remain free and open.* I'm >>> working with the Open Coworking team (Tony and Jeannine) to figure out how >>> to make sure the nominal infrastructure costs will covered for the long >>> term. >>> >>> *The Migration Plan* >>> >>> Over the next couple of months (maybe weeks? depends on how much help we >>> get!) I am going to actively "mirror" all new google group activity to the >>> new platform and getting it ready for open registration. So nothing needs >>> to change here - business as usual until we set a date to officially close >>> the google group and redirect all traffic to the new site. >>> >>> *But to finish the move, I need some help from you. * >>> >>> Before we open registration to the public, I want to recruit ~50 or so >>> pilot members who would like to help finish getting the new group platform >>> ready. There are settings to test, categories to organize, copywriting, >>> etc. >>> >>> Maybe most importantly, I'd like volunteers willing to help categorize >>> and organize the 6000+ historical discussions. The process itself is fairly >>> simple - I did around 100 threads in less than an hour myself, so many >>> hands will make light work. We'll need to tweak categories and >>> subcategories along the way, too. >>> >>> Also, going forward I'm looking for volunteers to help with onboarding >>> new members to the group + help me manage the group. >>> >>> *Exciting, right? *:) >>> >>> My goal is to make this entire process as seamless and transparent and >>> inclusive as possible, so I'm going to start with this relatively small >>> pilot group but we will work in a public channel of the new Discourse site, >>> for anyone who wants to observe the process. >>> >>> Depending on participation and progress, my goal is to invite more >>> batches of people on a regular basis (probably weekly) and enable a fully >>> open registration as soon as we've worked out the majority of the kinks. >>> >>> *Wanna get signed up early and help get things set up?* >>> >>> 👉 Fill out this quick form here: https://airtable.com/shrGJPE4ZRlNf131d >>> >>> *Note: the MOST important part is making sure that you put the correct >>> email address in - this will help link your account on the new site to your >>> past posts. * >>> >>> This early setup process is fairly manual, so please be patient while I >>> process the applications. If you fill out the form, I promise you will hear >>> from me (or someone on the team). >>> >>> I'm sure you can tell, I'm extremely excited about this next chapter for >>> the epic resource we are all a part of, and how this effort will >>> enable/empower more coworking operators, staff, and of course thier >>> coworking members to succeed. >>> >>> Yours in community, >>> >>> -Alex >>> >>> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
