+1 I think gentle mentoring will be very useful for newcomers, since there is considerable tacit lore that needs to be grasped before taking bigger steps. This seems to apply for documentation as well as for working on the code, since there are toolcraft requirements as well as practices to become fluent with.
- Dennis -----Original Message----- From: Rob Weir [mailto:robw...@apache.org] Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 08:11 To: doc@openoffice.apache.org Subject: Re: Response to follow-up e-mails Was Re: Use of Ricardo's Status page. On Wed, May 8, 2013 at 9:48 PM, Keith N. McKenna [ ... ] > We definitely need more hand holding, but where are the people with the > time, inclination and knowledge to do it? > I think even a little would help. For example, with QA we found it valuable to give new volunteers "assignments" when they started, until they were more familiar with the tools and process, and then they were able to select their own items to work on. We could do something similar. For example, a new volunteer joins the list and we say, "We're working on AOO 4.0 documentation on the wiki now. We have plenty of editing and review work available. Would you be able to do a <technical review of this chapter here> or <copyediting of these chapters> or <some other well-defined task>? I know this seems a little odd, and I resisted it at first. We're talking about a corporate way of working, where someone assigns you items. But that is how almost every charity works. If I show up at a homeless shelter and offer to volunteer, they don't just let me roam the building, trying to find stuff that needs to be done. They have a "volunteer coordinator" who talks to me initially, figures out what skills I have, and then assigns me some items to work on. I don't mind, because my goal is help. I'm looking for a meaningful way to contribute. The volunteer coordinator does not impose by giving me an assignment. She helps me achieve my goals of contributing. So it is great that we have the wiki to track the work that needs to be done. I wonder if we just need to take the next step, and suggest specific items for new volunteers from that list? Regards, -Rob [ ... ] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: doc-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: doc-h...@openoffice.apache.org
