Growing communities of practice

URL:

Software and web development shouldn’t happen in a vacuum — it’s all about a community ecology. Ecologies take care and feeding. A concept we’ve been exploring to grow our local community is Etienne Wenger’s “communities of practice” model.

Using the multi-faceted local Drupal community as an example, we’ll discuss how local groups can organize and thrive.

We’ll talk about the elements of a sustainable local ecology and how to maintain them:

• user groups (“communities of interest”)
• development shops / businesses / startups
• “communities of practice” (study groups, drop-in support groups, development collectives)
• training
• events (sprints, overnight challenges) and conferences
• co-officing
• collaborations
•  ???

All are welcome. While I’m deeply involved with the local Drupal community, it would be great to compare the various local technology communities and share ideas, explore collaboration opportunities, trade best-practices.

barry madore Advantage Labs, Inc.

Event:

Minnebar 5 (2010-05-22)

Presenter(s):

Barry Madore