Thank you to @camikaos @courtneypk and @rmarks for reviewing and improving this post!
Context:
While we have a lovely online events page that gathers everything in one place, this seems to only pull from online events through Meetup.com and WordCamp Central Website for all WordCamp activities globally. https://central.wordcamp.org includes a list of upcoming and past camp with links to each.. Building off of the experiences in 2020 and while we await the return of global in person time, it seems wise to have an option within Slack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. that can be more open and real time since more teams and individuals are experimenting with virtual ways to connect. Here are some examples of what I could see being shared:
Right now, each of these opportunities are shared in individual channels but don’t make it onto the official online events page. Rather than trying to force these sometimes ad hoc events onto that page, a free flowing Slack channel where people can share might be a better approach that enables more people to be aware of more of these opportunities that their fellow community members are very kindly organizing, hoping others will attend.
How do you imagine this Slack channel functioning?
Right now, I see three main ways this could go with the third being “a middle ground” option. This is where I need this awesome crew’s expertise though to understand what might work vs. what’s a non starter. Here’s what comes to mind for me:
- An open channel where anyone can share their upcoming online event or hangout. This would be casual, free flowing, etc. Could set the channel description to make it clear, connect the online events page to share items there, and include a “welcome bot” to make it really well known where to report problems and ideally cut down on any abuse.
- Create a “read only” channel like “Announcements” with only certain people having access to share (is this possible?) but set up a Slack shortcut that allows people to submit a form for their online gathering. This would then be sent to a separate channel (or an individual) for review and those with permissions could vet and share the event afterwards. This would ideally help make sure other online events meet the team’s standards.
- Some third, more middle ground option 🙂
What do you all think? Is this a value add or will it cause more stress than benefit? What am I not thinking of?
I’d love to hear from people to both know what will definitely not work and what might be feasible. Even with what might be possible, some expert thoughts on if this should even be pursued would be appreciated too. Just because we can do something, doesn’t meant we should after all.
Does this channel stand the test of time?
The first big question to answer anytime we seek to create a new Slack channel in the WordPress Slack instance is whether or not this is for a topic or project with a permanent need. In order to answer that we need to address whether or not we see online only events being a permanent part of the WordPress event ecosystem once the threat of the global pandemic has passed.
