How do we build communities?
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“The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community.”

– William James
Illustration by Lynn Fisher

How do we gather in the dawn of technological advancement?

We’ve always felt an inherent need to gather and coexist in tribes—it’s instinctual. Whether we are an accepted member of a community has a significant impact on our well being. As humans, we have to belong.

Oftentimes though, we forget our own responsibility and accountability for communities we are a part of. We should and have to challenge the status quo to make the world a better place, which is also one of the premises of &yetConf.

How do we gather in the new context of technological advancement? What does it mean to be in a community? How do we create, sustain and grow them? What’s the dynamic behind open source communities and projects?

Building technology with, not for communities

by Laurenellen McCann

Laurenellen is a strong proponent of building with, rather than for—while in her article she mostly focuses on civic tech, the engagement strategies she outlines can be applied to community-driven tech environment as a whole.

Building compassionate communities in tech

by Isaac Schlueter

A powerful presentation given by Isaac at NodeConfEU in 2013, but so relevant for fostering non-violent communication, compassion and empathy. A must-read for everyone collaborating in open source communities.

Scaling open source communities

by Dries Buytaert

While drawing examples specific to the Drupal ecosystem, Dries brings up several social and economic concepts for scaling communities that are universally applicable.

What we're making


  • Last week Karolina gave a presentation on building, maintaining and growing communities. You can go through the slides on Speakerdeck.
  • With yeti tears in our eyes we bid farewell to our long time friend, Henrik, who’s moving onto new, exciting adventures.
  • &yetConf preparations are in full force and we shared some secrets with the attendees. To be a part of the experience apply for a ticket here.
  • We’re continuously pushing interface improvements to Talky. Want to have full privacy and security? Inquire about Talky On-Premises.

&you?

What does being in a community mean to you? Let us know and we might share it in a future dispatch (just reply to this email).

<3, your friendly neighborhood &yetis