Hi Justin, Thanks for kicking things off! I’d first like to make sure, in addition to the two projects you listed, that we include Sachin’s main project for GSoC 2020, which was to convert the Fluid Project site from DocPad to 11ty, and similarly to convert the FLOE Project site (which previously had no SSG or CMS) to use 11ty as well. These two sites were the basis of his work on the fluidic-11ty starter kit.
Links to those two repos: * https://github.com/fluid-project/fluidproject.org * https://github.com/fluid-project/floeproject.org Here’s my take on your questions: * Regarding GSoC 2020 (and past iterations if you like) * What did we do well? * I think we did a good job of scoping work that could be completed within the timeframe * For my project, it was helpful to agree on who the primary mentor was in order to divide up responsibilities * What can we do better? * I think we could probably better organize ourselves for the influx of applicants in February/March. Our GSoC 2020 page<https://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Google+Summer+of+Code+2020+with+the+Fluid+Project>, while we did reorganize it, may have contributed to some of the friction we ran into while welcoming & guiding the 120 or so newcomers we had this year. The formatting of the page seems like something that we could improve upon, and we could consider preparing a dedicated GSoC site in order to present this information less densely, i.e. a 1- or 2-page site with no menus. Ideally, a successful student should read through all of it diligently, but for each student who does that we’ll get a dozen who don’t and will be asking questions in the channel anyway. I realize that this is somewhat akin to a job interview where the most successful will read carefully and make themselves known, and while I would prefer not to have to repeat information which has already been presented to them, there may be students who would be excellent additions to our community, even if their first step is not their strongest. To that end, I feel that if we put a bit of effort into making a minimal welcome site (a day or two max), it may save us more time later on. * The project started out very strongly, though progress slowed down significantly near the end of the coding period. More regular communication at the outset of the project and throughout may help us avoid some of the things that slowed work down this year. Time difference was likely an aggravating factor in this challenge, though dealing with the onset of COVID-19 and related stresses probably didn’t help either. * What are ways we can improve? * A great suggestion I heard during the Mentor Summit this year was to have an onboarding session at the beginning of the community bonding period (just before coding begins) with all of the mentors, students and org admins present. The session would help the students understand our goals and how their work fits into that bigger picture. This is easier said than done with our geographically-distributed team, of course, but I feel it’s worth doing as it could help the students feel more motivated about the work they’re taken on. * Regarding GSoC 2021 * What are your thoughts on the changes? * I feel the reduced workload over a similar amount of time is a positive change. That, coupled with the loosening of eligibility requirements mean that we may get a very different cohort of applicants if we decide to do GSoC 2021, e.g. students who haven’t applied in the past due to visa restrictions on the number of hours they’re allowed to work may apply in greater numbers. * Along with the reduced time commitment, the reduced stipends may affect the number of orgs and students who apply in 2021, and I’m curious to see how it plays out and what effect it has on application volumes for the orgs that do participate. * Reducing the evaluations from 3 to 2 will be helpful. For reference, the timing of these evaluations is one at 5 weeks in and another at the end. * The flexibility of the timing may be helpful if mentors or students need to take a vacation or other break from the work, rather than the program forging ahead non-stop for three months and work getting gummed up if someone has an absence. * Does GSoC meet our needs and goals, and are we using it in a way that aligns with their goals? * This depends greatly on the projects we propose, and what we feel our needs an goals are. What are our goals with GSoC? * GSoC 2020 helped us take care of some work that was overdue, created a novel way to navigate the web, and we have at least one of our students sticking around so far! * Google’s main goal, according to Stephanie Taylor (who organizes the program), is to increase the size and diversity of participating orgs’ communities. The more we (orgs in general) can report back to them about students remaining in the community post-GSoC, the better it is for the program as a whole (in Stephanie’s words, “retention is the primary goal”). Looking forward to others’ thoughts! Cheers, Gregor From: fluid-work <fluid-work-boun...@lists.idrc.ocad.ca> On Behalf Of Justin Obara Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2020 10:23 To: fluid-work@lists.idrc.ocad.ca Subject: GSoC update and retrospective Hi everyone, As you probably know we participated in GSoC<https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com> 2020 this year. Despite the pandemic the students and mentors were able to complete the projects. I applaud them all for their hard work and persistence. * Gamepad Navigator<https://github.com/fluid-lab/gamepad-navigator> * fluidic-11ty<https://github.com/fluid-project/fluidic-11ty> GSoC just publicly announced GSoC 2021<https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/how-it-works/> with some major updates, so it seems like a good time to reflect back on our experience this year and think forward to the changes coming. For GSoC 2021 they are making changes to “...help meet the #1 goal of GSoC - bring new, diverse contributors into your communities that stay in your communities after their GSoC program ends.” * Smaller project sizes - shortened from 350hr to 175hr * Shorted coding period - down to 10 weeks from 12, but with more flexibility for how the mentors and students would like to spread the work out over that time period * Reduced number of evaluations - 2 instead of 3 * Expanded eligibility requirements - open those 18 years and older who are currently enrolled or accepted to a post secondary program as of May 17, 2021 or graduated from a post-secondary academic program between Dec 1, 2020 and May 17, 2021. This not only includes accredited university programs but also licensed code camps, community colleges, and more. I’d like to seed the conversation with a few discussion points below, but feel free to talk about other things. * Regarding GSoC 2020 (and past iterations if you like) * What did we do well? * What can we do better? * What are ways we can improve? * Regarding GSoC 2021 * What are your thoughts on the changes? * Does GSoC meet our needs and goals, and are we using it in a way that aligns with their goals? Thanks Justin
_______________________________________________________ fluid-work mailing list - fluid-work@lists.idrc.ocad.ca To unsubscribe, change settings or access archives, see https://lists.idrc.ocad.ca/mailman/listinfo/fluid-work
