Community Health: Some Doctor's Advice

Time slot: 
March 8th, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Room: 
Chicago 8 & 9
Track: 
Drupal Community
Experience: 
Beginner

Drupal is not just software. One of the things that has made Drupal so successful is its recognition of the fact that we are real people who need to work together as a community and deal with real human problems. Our project is unique, but being humans, we share many of the same traits, pitfalls, and concerns as most other social groups in the world. Often an outside perspective can provide insights and fresh thoughts for approaching issues that arise in similar circumstances.

This session will take a look at our community from the outside perspective of anthropological research, in particular, research that has focused on Open Source. We'll take a look at how that research lines up with the experience in our particular bubble, and more importantly, see what insights or ideas we can glean to help our community become stronger and more successful.

Video available at Archive.org.

Intended audience: 

Anyone interested in understanding and growing the Drupal community.

Questions answered by this session
Question 1: 
What is the anthropological perspective/method and how is that useful in researching people?
Question 2: 
What research has been conducted on Open Source communities, and why?
Question 3: 
How similar/dissimilar is our community from other social groups? From other Open Source groups?
Question 4: 
What are some core findings about creating successful communities?
Question 5: 
What findings can we apply in the Drupal community to improve community health?
Community Health: Some Doctor's Advice has been selected and voting is closed.

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