The art of community PDF
Preview The art of community
,praise.21958 Page i Thursday, July 30, 2009 9:44 AM Praise for The Art of Community “The Internet provides the potential to separate us into a cacophony of discor- dant voices or to congregate us as purpose-driven communities. Jono Bacon, in his insightfulThe Art of Community, teaches the latter path, detailing the principles of successful community-building in a way that will appeal to both neophyte and expert alike. Given the increasingly critical role of community managersinthetechnologyindustryandbeyond,TheArtofCommunityshould findaplaceonanybusinessperson’sbookshelf,nottomentionthatofthePTA president, book club organizer, or union activist. Yes, it’s that good.” —MATTASAY,ALFRESCOANDC|NET “Jono Bacon truly understands communities, and, more importantly, how to build communities that thrive. This is the definitive guidebook to building suc- cessful communities—definitive because it is based on Jono’s extensive experi- enceascommunitymanagerforUbuntu,aproductthatinspiresanApple-esque devotion in very large part because of its vast and dedicated community. For developers and entrepreneurs who want to learn how to tap into the power of community, as Ubuntu has done so masterfully, this book is a must-read.” —IANMURDOCK,FOUNDEROFDEBIANANDVICEPRESIDENTOFEMERGING PLATFORMSATSUN “One thing that’s impressed me about Jono Bacon—something one can notice backwhenheandotherswerebuildingacommunityaroundtheirpioneering Linuxpodcast—isthathesimplygetstheconceptofcommunity.Itcomesout inmosteverythinghesaysandmosteverydecisionhemakes.Thisisthekind of a person you want writing a book on the topic. Open source community building cannot be boiled down to a formula. It’s a constant effort, a soft sci- ence, an art, and Bacon is an ideal art teacher.” —DANGOLDSTEIN,PROFESSOROFMARKETING,LONDONBUSINESSSCHOOL, ANDPRINCIPALRESEARCHSCIENTIST,YAHOO!RESEARCH ,praise.21958 Page ii Thursday, July 30, 2009 9:44 AM “The success of the open source software movement demonstrates that no obstacle is insurmountable when people come together around a shared vision. InThe Art of Community, Ubuntu Community Manager Jono Bacon gives readers a profound glimpse into his hands-on experience as the orches- trator of one of the movement’s most powerful communities. His book offers valuable lessons on effective leadership and community building. Its compel- ling combination of useful theory, real-world best practices, and instructive personal anecdotes make it a richly comprehensive guide for both aspiring and experienced community leaders.” —RYANPAUL,ARSTECHNICA “Communities are very complex ecosystems of human beings. Cultivating, growing, shaping, and guiding the community to make it productive is defi- nitely as much (or even more) art as science. InThe Art of Community, Bacon does an excellent job of explaining in detail the considerations for managing andcultivatingahealthyopensourcecommunity.Heprovidesablueprintfor developing and maintaining an open source community in a programmatic way, and his attention to detail and understanding of the dynamics of com- munities make this book an invaluable resource for anyone looking to build and maintain a community. Drawing from his own extensive experience, Bacon does a great job of explaining how to help foster a community, and provides great advice, ranging from choosing infrastructure, measuring growth,andevenhiringacommunitymanager.Allinallamust-readforany community manager.” —MARKR.HINKLE,VICEPRESIDENTOFCOMMUNITY,ZENOSS,INC. “Jono Bacon has long been an insightful voice for the open source community. Now his artful stories distilling the ethos of organizing people and activities on the Net, at conferences, and in our daily routines provide a framework for suc- cessful, community-building strategies.” —PETEKRONOWITT,LINUXANDOPENSOURCESTRATEGIST,INTEL ,praise.21958 Page iii Thursday, July 30, 2009 9:44 AM “InTheArtofCommunity,JonoBacononceagainshowsthathisnomdeguerreis apropos.Hebreaksdownthesoftscienceofcommunitymanagementinaway few others could. With his trademark British humor, he deftly explores the intricacies and subtleties of his trade. The result is both informative and enter- taining, and is a must-read for those looking to better understand the soft sci- ence that is community management.” —JEREMYGARCIA,FOUNDEROFLINUXQUESTIONS.ORG “To a soundtrack of heavy metal, free-software geekstar Jono Bacon recounts thestoryofhowhelearnedtogentlyyetproductivelymanhandlegroupsof unrulyInternetfolksgatheredaroundacommontopicorcause.Hisprocess and methods are set out in his book,The Art of Community, where Jono’s non-ego-driven account of community building will aid all manner of bosses, since almost every subject matter these days has a community with hundreds,thousands,tensofthousands,andeven(asinthecaseofWorldof Warcraft) millions of people clamoring around it. (Even David Hasselhoff!) Be forewarned, capitalist! There is no chapter called ‘How to Turn Commu- nities into Dollars,’ but following Jono’s suggestions may yield you what everyleader(evenacapitalist)wants:aloyalandpassionatecommunitywill- ing to collaborate to achieve a common goal.” —IRINASLUTSKY,GEEKENTERTAINMENT.TV “If you listen to open source fans, you might get the idea that the community is elves who come out of the woodwork to fix your broken software while you sleep. InThe Art of Community, Jono Bacon explains how reality is a little more complicated,andwhatthecommunityneedsinreturn.Thisbookwillhelpyou get started with the diverse skills required to keep a collaborative community on track, including copywriting, social software selection, conflict resolution, and measuring if it’s all working.” —DONMARTI,CONFERENCECHAIR,OPENSOURCEWORLD,ANDORGANIZER, WINDOWSREFUNDDAY,BURNALLGIFSDAY,FREEDMITRY,AND FREEDOMHEC ,praise.21958 Page iv Thursday, July 30, 2009 9:44 AM “Who would have known, when I first met a scruffy student from Wolver- hampton Uni at a LUG meeting all those years ago, that he would end up beingthenameontheInternetsynonymouswiththeword‘community.’The fact that the Internet’s Jono Bacon is now one of the foremost authorities on buildingandnurturingacommunityshowsthatinavolunteerprojectnoone cares about your questionable dress sense, dodgy taste in music, or strange choicesinfacialhair—allthatmattersareyourcontributions,andyourability to get on with, and inspire, others. “In this book, Jono draws upon a wealth of experience from projects small to big (and when you consider the worldwide phenomenon that was LugRadio, and the worldwide phenomenon that is Ubuntu, you’re talking pretty big) to lay out a blueprint for creating and sustaining communities, as well as using real-world examples from prime ministers to celebrity chefs to ground the topicsinawidercontext.Thereisanicebalanceinthatmanyoftheexamples are based on success stories, but Jono is brave enough to also illustrate his points with some of his (relatively few) mistakes. “This book will be useful for anyone looking to build a volunteer community around any kind of project or cause, whether it involves software, open source, raccoons, or none of the above.” —PAULCOOPER,MOBLINUI&APPSENGINEERINGMANAGER,INTEL “As a rock-solid book,The Art of Community is not only about communities, but also management, organization, and even marketing—it is the bible for com- munity leadership. This book should have been out a long time ago, and read- ingthroughthechaptersmademereflectonalmosteveryimportantsituationI had to face with teams, from conflicts all the way to handling buzz. It would have helped solve some of the issues I was stuck in much faster than I did (althoughalltheissuessolvedintheendwereexactlyhowJonodescribedit).I am eager to apply more of this wisdom on the current projects I am involved in.” —SEIFLOTFY,GNOMEFOUNDATION,ZEITGEISTCOFOUNDERANDTEAMLEADER ,praise.21958 Page v Thursday, July 30, 2009 9:44 AM “Few people, in my experience, understand how to create, build, and support community better than Jono Bacon. WithThe Art of Community, Jono’s taken hisexperience,hisintelligence,aswellashisgreathumor,andhaseffectively distilled it into an indispensable book for anyone who wants to start a com- munity (whether around software or any other shared interest or endeavor, really) or participate in one in a positive and productive way. Jono under- standsthatcommunicationandauthenticityareatthecoreofeffectivepartic- ipation, and goes beyond the theoretical to provide practical guidance on thingslikegovernance,process,conflictresolution,andavoidingburnoutthat is right on the mark.The Art of Community is an excellent book!” —DAVIDSCHLESINGER,DIRECTOR,OPENSOURCETECHNOLOGIES, ACCESSCO.,LTD.;GNOMEFOUNDATIONADVISORYBOARDMEMBER “Jono Bacon, inThe Art of Community, takes you on a personal journey to the heart of what it takes to have and become part of a productive and well-oiled community.” —AMBERGRANER,UBUNTUCOMMUNITYMEMBER “Jono Bacon’sThe Art of Community is a wonderful meditation on building communitiesusingmoderninfrastructuretoolsandpracticesgleanedfromthe Free and Open Source Software movement. Jono’s examples, taken from his work on Ubuntu, give a good picture of a working community and how it functions. The fact that the book is backed by a conference (http://www. communityleadershipsummit.com/wiki/index.php/Session_Notes) and an online community (http://artofcommunityonline.org/) means this fine effort will poten- tially continue to grow intothe watering hole for community gardeners, lead- ers, and managers.” —DANESECOOPER,OPENSOURCEDIVAANDOSIDIRECTOR ,praise.21958 Page vi Thursday, July 30, 2009 9:44 AM The Art of Community
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