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Margaret talked about our personal communities. For a long time she was a Mercenary Contractor which meant she worked all the time but didn’t make much money. By creating and leveraging her personal network she was able to determine that she wasn’t make enough money and get a better job. She also discussed how to create and maintain your community. She also discussed the importance of social contracts and connections.

Main Take Aways

  • Pacman Rule: Keep a hole in your conversation so others can join
  • Trust is created by multiple interactions
  • Find people who have had different experiences and listen to them
  • Know when to disconnect

Things I’m Going to Do

I’m going to work on my community by continuing to go to conferences and get around to joining a PHP User Group.

My Raw Notes

  • Mercenary Contractor - Working all the time for very little money
  • Step 2 is Community in the step 1 = item, step 2 = ?, step 3 = profit cycle
  • Social Contracts
    • Implicit
    • Explicit
    • Evolving
      • Social contracts between two people are always evolving
  • Pay offs
    • Rubber ducking - More people to talk to means more people you can discuss topics with
    • Fun Stuff to conferences and meetings
    • Industry Insights
      • Toxic workplaces
      • Pay feedback
    • Relationships
  • Making Valuable Connections
  • Pacman Rule - Keep a hole in your conversation so others can join
  • Avoiding Toxic Connections
  • Identifying Needed Growth - look for people with different experiences and backgrounds
  • Tending your community
    • stick to the social contracts
    • Trust is created by multiple interactions
    • Contributing is important to keep your community running
    • Some was to help in OSS
      • Triage issues
      • Documentation
    • Important to make sure we’re keeping the social contract and pushing it
    • Encourage connections
      • Find people who have had different experiences and listen to them
    • Different levels of connections Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary
    • Investments last even as communications fade
  • Know when to disconnect
    • Change in personal needs
  • “Your community is you”
  • todo:
    • Pacman Rule
    • Identify and abide by social contract
    • Listen and engage
    • Defer in conversations to demographics that don’t get to be heard
    • Identify missing perspectives
    • Grow your community