[wplug-plan] Kathy Sierra on building a community

[Vance Kochenderfer]

As promised, here's part 2.

One point from Kathy's essay is engaging a broader section of the
community so that many are contributing, not just a few.  This would
be a great benefit as it increases the amount getting done while
reducing the workload of each individual.  We have already tried this
to a certain extent with the committees, but we should try to think of
where else we can apply it.  For example, I don't personally know, but
it seems like the meeting host has to spend a lot of time managing a
bunch of details at the meeting.  Perhaps we could further subdivide
these tasks and distribute them more broadly.

Another good point is about rewards.  As she notes, one reason slot
machines are so successful is because they provide small rewards at
intervals.  I'm not really sure what the best reward mechanism would
be.  We're already pretty good about thanking people, but that's a
rather intangible thing.  If we were a football team, we could use
those stickers that players have pasted on their helmets for making a
good play.  Perhaps a virtual penguin sticker could be added to the
wiki user page of someone who helped out.

I'd love to see what you have to say about these ideas, or any
(probably better) alternatives you may have.

Vance Kochenderfer        |  "Get me out of these ropes and into a
vkochend at nyx.net          |   good belt of Scotch"    -Nick Danger