**Table of Contents:**
[October 2014 update](http://publiclab.org/wiki/strategic-plan-community-development#October+2014)
[April 2014 first draft](http://publiclab.org/wiki/strategic-plan-community-development#April+2014)
##October 2014
**Objective 1: Scaling engagement.**
* Need to recognize there is a learning curve at each moment, and that to support this learning both online and offline components need development
* Enhance support for organizers: handbook, summit, annual survey, intro videos on profile, role on profile
* Build a strong tech developer community -- what is their first contact moment?
* Build connections between commenting / following tags on publiclab.org and topic-specific mailing lists
* Q&A structure overlaid on wiki to provide easier entry points
* Need to track depth of engagement by categories that transcend current technologies in use.
**Objective 2: Incorporating Resilient Social Methodology**
* Resilience, culture, values
* Scale community welcome/manager functions into the culture of Public Lab itself
* Create clearer chapter models:
* levels of maturity: “seed,” “shrubbery,” “flowering,” “canopy,” & individual roles to fill: activist, technologist, ambassador, wrangler (via profile tagging)
* Prioritize the creation of new social event guides / series of workshops, including:
* place-based stakeholder engagement,
* collaborative goal setting / identifying the problem,
* community asset mapping on paper and with mapknitter (related to OpenLand GM eval),
* reliable interaction modes (best practices that can be flexibly mixed and matched) that support the strengths of different types of contributors -- setting tone (tenor of event, what is expected when people walk in) and communicating that an event is speculative with unknown outcomes
* the design of research that prefigures the future use of the data for advocacy.
* Create a guide that bridges tool incubation with community process /wiki/new-projects, articulate the “win-win” of developing in community.
* begin with Mat + Adam's tool ladder illustration + expand the diagram with other points where community partners can connect with PL
* Incorporate project management tools for high capacity projects:
* partner tracking,
* transparent task management that welcomes new contributors,
* articulating and reporting back “soft” outcomes that are usually omitted from research notes (conversations with politicians, sidebars with gov’t employees, numbers of passers-by spoken with, etc).
* Manage the projection of expertise, of staff, of organizers, of jargony newcomers. Instead, take on role of "bard" in new and legacy projects--the oral tradition of Creative Commons.
**Objective 3: Integrating Outreach with Kits**
* moving from customer to member
* kit boxes have a checkbox that matches geographic profile tagging that says "this tool is available for community use"
* Geographic outreach (connection to profiles, regional mailing list outreach, international chapter development)
* Connect Tool Incubation to community development
* Connect Education Working Group to bulk sales
##April 2014
###Understanding our engagement model
1. [First Contact](http://publiclab.org/wiki/strategic-plan-community-development#First+contact)
2. [Welcome moment](http://publiclab.org/wiki/strategic-plan-community-development#Welcome+moment)
3. [First contribution](http://publiclab.org/wiki/strategic-plan-community-development#First+contribution+/+activity)
4. [Building peer-to-peer bonds](http://publiclab.org/wiki/strategic-plan-community-development#Building+peer-to-peer+bonds)
5. [Becoming an organizer / being an organizer](http://publiclab.org/wiki/strategic-plan-community-development#Becoming+an+organizer)
6. [Chapters](http://publiclab.org/wiki/strategic-plan-community-development#Developing+organizer-supported+chapters)
7. [Circle back](http://publiclab.org/wiki/strategic-plan-community-development#Circle+back)
####First contact
* trace how folks first find encounter Public Lab and get drawn in: http://publiclab.org/wiki/first-encounters
* kits (online store, physical packaging, object without packaging), web presence, social media, press coverage, heard about from a person (evangelism?), Kickstarter campaign, ...
* ISSUE: website **front page**
* too much information, lacks community presence/identity, not synthesized
####Welcome moment
* **Looking for how I "fit in"**
* lead with values
* culturally, is the first "welcome" over dinner or by typing into a technical discussion?
* identifying the "need" to engage -- begin with what is already known locally -- asset mapping exercise -- needs to be systematized. This can combat the perception problem of tools seen as speculative not results-oriented.
* attracting diversity in the context that many current active members have leisure time, are high capacity with degrees.
* **whose responsibility is it to welcome / orient new members who ask?**
* everyone / no one?
* Welcome Working Group: good, but has scaling issues
* **option to speak to **types** of stakeholders:**
* [reference from Sugar Labs](http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Labs/Getting_Involved),
* and Scott's metaphor below:
[](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/297/original/scotts-metaphor-boat_kite.jpg)
####First contribution / activity
* **"When do I see myself as a part of Public Lab?"**
* **_Hello Moment_**
* **publiclab.org/signup** --> profile page
* **joining a [mailing list](/lists)**
* **going to an event / meeting someone in person**
* **posting a research note**
* **NEW: Ask a question / answer a question** forums
* serves as a venue for matchmaking
* develops a Most Wanted List to prioritize R&D
####Forming peer-to-peer bonds
* **mailing list discussions**
* prompts upon joining to say "I am interested in [...], I can help with [...], bio, location
* **comments on research notes**
* **website:**
* further integration of lists and website (future)
* regionalization of website / feeling of place
* listening to interests and areas
* tours of places through mapknitter
* collaborative editing on wikis / pads**
* **regularly scheduled meetups**
* not just tech, but also goal setting, asset mapping, strategizing, learning
* on research sites
* **cross-group and cross-region exchanges**
* **voice channels: [openhour](http://publiclab.org/wiki/openhour)**
* **ISSUE: social bonds should not result in clubhouse effect**
####Becoming an organizer
* **update / demystify nomination process:**
* change nomination process to focus on profile pages
* self-nomination for folks instantly seeking a higher level of engagement
* options for community organizers who may be offline / won't join email list
* **attracting new organizers:**
* targeting outreach, diversity
**Being an organizer:**
* **resources for organizers**
* buddy system with experienced organizer
* event "guides"
* receive all foldable kits
* direct mail service for distributing kits / GMFs within their region
* speaking opportunities on OpenHour
* Organizers Summit (day before annual Barnraising)
* **benefits / expectations**
* regional focus to nurture new members, partner orgs, and research sites
* staying engaged monthly
* annual survey for re-up
* fundraising support
* Fellows Program
####Developing organizer-supported chapters
* **review and publish pathway for chapter creation**
* have regional organizer in place
* guidelines for joining a regional list before starting a new hyperlocal mailing-list
* **Place pages:**
* highlight research site(s)
* subdomains like boston.publiclab.org
* featuring partner organizations
* **resources for chapters**
* organizers can apply for resources for local events
* funders can "Adopt a Chapter"
* **ISSUE: organic growth vs targeted growth?**
####Circle back
* barnstars model outcomes
* finish and review Values statement
===================
###Priorities for depth:
* **develop better structure to become and contribute as an organizer**
* Organizer Summit
* distributing resources
* **include social process throughout online and offline**
* community asset mapping workshops, dialogue education facilitation, modes of communication beyond email groups, OpenHour, guides and distance learning, offline logbooks, etc
* **make a strong translation model for our "communities of practice"**, see below:
###Priorities for growth
* **improve [first contact](http://publiclab.org/wiki/strategic-plan-community-development#First+contact) experience**
* **integrate with Kits Initiative**