AsyncAPI Initiative
Replies: 7 comments 21 replies
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Dedicated Community Managers, tend to build a bias as they serve longer. I think the role should be like:
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I think there are a few concepts under discussion that might benefit from breaking down:
I think the likely consensus is that the role should be paid rather than being a volunteer role, although I'm not sure whether when @imabp speaks of a "stipend" the intent is something like a contractor's salary, or something like a set contribution toward time and expenses, short of a contractor's rate. In this case it would be closer to a supported but still unsalaried volunteer role. I see advantages in a volunteer role from the community as @imabp suggests, because it can have lower barriers to entry and help a wider pool to gain the skills and be active in the community. This is good inclusive practice. But my sense is that if it can be professionally funded, there is a huge value to be had. Whereas volunteer roles may oscillate in the amount of time and skill available, a funded role guarantees a substantial amount of time and energy and makes it possible to set higher expectations around skills, experience and autonomy. In a professionally paid scenario, one possibility is an internal, Postman employee. Personally I think Open Source runs on trust and my grandma's saying applies: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So I don't have any objection to having someone employed by Postman as AsyncApi Community Manager, as long as we have transparent processes and policies around conflicts of interest and have the means of redress if the community or TSC identified an issue. But as long as these mechanisms exist, for me there is no "on principle" objection. An employee of a different organisation, made available to AsyncApi as Community Manager would also be good, as long as the time expectations are clear and supported, and the contract would have to ensure this is the case, and that the dedicated employee staff time will not be lost when the employer has competing priorities. A contractor allows for greater independence in principle, and broadens the pool, so this is a good model. It can sometimes be more expensive to AsyncApi than an employee, since employees often have benefits costed in which contractors have to price into their hourly rates. But it also means that contractors could come from anywhere, our existing community, or outside networks. From my perspective, the best option is to be open to all these options, to widen the pool, and select the best person for the job, whether they are hired by Postman; by a partner organisation, or as an independent contractor. If the recruitment and selection process is transparent, inclusive and participatory, and if the contractual arrangements cover key eventualities, whoever is chosen will enjoy the trust of the community, both at selection, and were issues to arise.
I am definitely in favour of a rotational, fixed term role for Community Manager, meaning the person would not immediately be rehired after their fixed term expires, but would have to wait a minimum duration before being able to re-apply. The ways these kind of roles bring value is not just through dedicated time and fresh thinking, but also networks, skills and experience. An experienced, skilled community manager can take a community to another level, and if that role rotates, whether between organisations or between contractors, each rotation the AsyncApi Initiative gets a fresh injection of connections, resources and approaches. The rotation also means that there is an extra incentive for institutional memory to build around the organisation rather than the individual.
If funded, the role could be sponsored, by either Postman or another organisation. This would be an in-kind donation, where the sponsor company loans us an employee, and pays for their dedicated time. The role could also be directly hired and paid for by the AsyncApi initiative, via Open Collective, or via a budgetary decision by TSC. Finally, the role could also be a secondment which is half way between the two options above. In this scenario, the external organisation continues to employ and pay whoever we recruit as Community Manager, and that person retains their job, benefits and longevity, returning to their original company at the end of a fixed period (usually 1-3 years). While that company pays their employee directly and keeps them on the rolls, they would invoice AsyncApi Initiative for the costs incurred, so while the Community Manager's company are her employer, AsyncApi are actually paying her salary. While seconded, they are entirely and independently managed by AsyncApi, but there might be non-compete and conflict of interest clauses in the collaboration contract. The contract is between AsyncApi and the secondee's company. Again, my feeling is it would be good to be open to all three options, to maximise both, the pool, and the funding streams, and make the contract fixed term and rotational. |
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Thanks so much for taking time to share these insights 🙏🏼 I do agree with you that, in the end, the best is if we are flexible. No solution is perfect, so we should explore each, and in the end make sure to work transparently and time committed to community is spent well |
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FYI, offline I contacted several representatives I know from different companies to check with them if they would be interested in this topic or know someone who would. Sharing this with you for transparency reasons. |
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Not a single company that uses AsyncAPI (that I contacted) declared to delegate anyone to do community management full time for AsyncAPI. My proposal is to hire someone through Open Collective. I'm not really sure how much we can pay for that work. |
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In that case, you should first do a trial run for this role, as a part time, this will save you cost for long run. |
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It is not a new role, I did it last 3 years. We know we need it, we know what is the goal. And we need someone who can fully commit to it for at least a year. If we have someone else every month or few months, we have no one who can set goals for the community for 2024. It is not as easy as development, when one feature can be committed for a test. This role requires lots of time, interactions, to understand what community we have. So basically what I mean is that part time, trial is not possible as it is not possible to evaluate the results after short period of time. |
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How was this discussion communicatedThis proposal was submitted Nov 4, 2022:
I also explicitly contacted with few different companies that already know and support AsyncAPI in different ways. Current statusUntil today nobody opposed the idea of having a dedicated community manager for the AsyncAPI Initiative. The only option we have is to "hire" someone from the community and pay through Open Collective (OC). I will contact OC if we can legally secure hired person by sending money directly to OC. So OC can maybe make a 1-year long contract with a hired person. FinanceWe are not super rich, but we have some budget left. After some research on the market, I think we can offer: $24k a year, $2k a month Proposal for the recruitment processWe are not hiring CEO or something like that. IMHO we do not have to make a job offer, recruitment, and TSC voting on what candidate should be hired as Community Manager. This is not such a high position, and we do not pay that much so that would encourage people to participate in open recruitment, with recorded calls. To agree to be publicly rejected, the game must be worth it. I'd like to recommend that the process is not public. The only public info is the name of the person that I recommend (the person agrees to be publicly recommended) and why. !!What TSC needs to vote on!!@asyncapi/tsc_members
Why Thulie?
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Sounds great. Welcome @thulieblack |
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👍 |
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Approved, @thulieblack welcome to the team 🎉 |
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I agree that @thulieblack is the right fit for this role. |
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Welcome @thulieblack! 🎉 I also agree that you are the right person for this position 🚀 |
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approving spending and hiring recommendation - welcome @thulieblack ! |
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In case you missed it. The voting ended well and we have @thulieblack on board already -> https://twitter.com/AsyncAPISpec/status/1628097577965977620 I'm personally super happy!!! |
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Final update on this one. @thulieblack is the first person in the history of AsyncAPI Initiative that is actually contracted for the role, and not working just based on a "promise" that we will accept expense after work.
I'm supper happy to see the direction we're heading ❤️ |
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I'm truly grateful for this opportunity and for being a history maker 🤣. It is truly a privilege to serve and be part of the community. |
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In February 2020 I started working on AsyncAPI full-time, focusing on building the community around it.
After 3 years of having me as Community Manager, it is time to refresh this role with someone else.
I believe that in large open-source communities Community Manager role needs independent representation or at least a frequent change.
Independent representation
I'm working on a project for almost 3 years but last 2 I'm hired by Postman. I have a special contract that allows me to stay away from what happens internally at Postman and be independent, but I'm still a Postman employee.
I believe I have proven that I focus only on the AsyncAPI community. But the thing is that it doesn't matter what I believe in.
I'm affiliated with Postman, which is what people see on the TSC members list.
In my opinion, Community Manager role in an open-source community should not be in the hands of one person for a long period of time.
We all are humans and have a bias on different topics. I for example don't like Twitter, and social media are not my passion. I was never interested in making AsyncAPI Twitter and LinkedIn presence a thing, not to mention Facebook. I also bet that due to my experience, I might sometimes, not intentionally, ignore some activities that should be explored and bring benefit to the community.
Possible solution
I see only 2 options to improve the world:
The above solutions are not something new:
Not sure if some other option is possible. I think I like "Rotating role" option more as it means fresh look every year.
Community Manager job description
Imagine we get new CM for 2023
By goals, I mean stuff like that.
So what do you think?
PS. I'm not going anywhere. I will still help drive some community-related initiatives, like case studies I mentioned in this proposal.
Cc @asyncapi/tsc_members
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