Node.js Collaborator Spotlight Proposal

kyliewd commented 10 months ago

To better showcase some of the Node.js folks doing good work across our community, I'd like to propose a bi-monthly collaborator spotlight.

Here are some early thoughts on how to approach:

Create a form for folks to nominate a Node.js collaborator who has done something important or meaningful. This form will always be open.
On a cadence (monthly or bi-monthly), post about nominating collaborators for spotlight.
Let's start bi-monthly for choosing a collaborator to highlight (so 6 for 2024).
This person will be highlighted on the Node.js social channels.
If it feels warranted, we can look into doing a blog post on openjsf.org.

Any other ideas are welcome for how we can highlight some of our amazing collaborators here! 💚

RafaelGSS commented 10 months ago

Create a form for folks to nominate a Node.js collaborator

I'm a bit confused. What does "Folks" in this sentence mean?

TSC members
All Node.js collaborators
Open to public

kyliewd commented 10 months ago

Create a form for folks to nominate a Node.js collaborator

I'm a bit confused. What does "Folks" in this sentence mean?

TSC members

All Node.js collaborators

Open to public

Open to public!

RafaelGSS commented 10 months ago

Wouldn't it create a situation where popularity will be more important than the contribution itself? I have a feeling that it might create "unfair" situations where the ones with more recognition by the community will always win. Just my 2 cents.

kyliewd commented 10 months ago

@RafaelGSS you mean like the same person getting it every time? We could make it so you can only be spotlighted once.

Do you think it would be better if the nomination was only by TSC? I’d just like to make sure we are keeping it open and fair!

joyeecheung commented 10 months ago

My 2 cents: personally I prefer not to be highlighted as a person. This is the reason why I avoid interview, podcast, or panels in general, with the exception of doing tech talks because I believe communicating/spreading ideas with slides/diagrams/voice is effective (even then I'd make sure the audience look at the slides, not me). But making my work personal and putting myself in the spotlight is something I like to avoid. That might be just me, but I also see that some of our collaborators choose to hide their real names and real identities online, and/or do not even use their voice in meetings to stay completely anonymous. I think making it too much about people is not great for those who want to keep their identity less obvious/highlighted online, even if they could put in a lot of work in the project and want to see that work highlighted. Making it more about the work, and, give credit to the people behind it if they want to, would be a good idea though.

mcollina commented 10 months ago

I think quite a few people feel major OSS project are "personified", so "Node.js" does XYZ. This initiative is meant to show that Node.js is built by developers, and everybody can contribute.

I think nominations should be:

done by the individual (to avoid the issues @joyeecheung mentioned)
showing/explaning one or more meaningful contributions (can be a bug or a new feature)

We should highlight XYZ done by Bob.

joyeecheung commented 10 months ago

We should highlight XYZ done by Bob.

Yes, I think that would be a great way to use the spotlight (it could be similar to v8.dev, which I subscribe to and think is useful to follow, though that one might come with a lot more technical detail). Even with the notable change mechanism, many of the important changes can still be missed by the community - there are many occasions that I run into:

People don't know a feature that the community used to rely on from an npm package (in a more hacky way) is already implemented in core (in a less hacky way)
People don't know a feature that solves a pain point of a lot of people is already implemented
People don't know a bug blocking them is already fixed

...and this can still happen years after the changes shipped. I think having a better channel to put the progress in spotlight would be very useful, and along with it, the people behind it, and if they are up for it, we can share the story of this work/how they run into it/how they start contributing/what obstacle they overcome to make it more personal and send the message to the community that everyone can contribute. I also feel that if you put too much spolight on a certain person, to an outsider it can still make you feel that this can be done by them because they are who they are, and if you share nothing with them in common, it's not likely that you can follow their path. However "running into a bug/issue" or "wanting a feature" are very common to us all and using those as a starting point can make the stories more relatable to outsiders.

Also note that in many cases, a work is not done by just Bob, it can be Bob and Alice and et, al. - a group effort. This also helps giving credit to more people, and show the community how we collaborate. Highlighting "Here is Bob and they did XYZ" could give people an impression that Bob is a XYZ person and/or they are an owner of XYZ, while in reality we work in groups and we don't really have strict ownership in Node.js (in the sense that no XYZ is dictated by a specific Bob). Highlighting "Here is XYZ and it is contributed by Bob (and Alice, and et,al), and this is how it came to be" could mitigate this problem. This can also make the spotlight not limited to collaborators - many important changes are done by people who are not (yet) collaborators (in turn, this can also help other collaborators evaluate their collaborator nomination, something that can be somewhat difficult these days given the volume of noise in the issue tracker).

mhdawson commented 10 months ago

I think it's important to recognize people for the work they do in the project as I believe it is one of the ways that we can grow and retain our collaborator base. I think it helps by:

1) Ensuring people know that the project appreciates their work 2) Encouraging people to repeat/grow their contributions 3) Helping people demonstrate to their managers the value of the contributions they are making, which in terms helps their manager support their employer investing in the project (unfortunately this is something that matters) 4) Highlighting the new features in Node.js and showing that they are being added by individuals like those mentioned. This should encourage other people to get involved and make similar contributions. 5) Highlighting those leading efforts/initiatives and they are being done by individual like those mentioned. This should encourage other people to get involved and make similar contributions

mhdawson commented 10 months ago

In terms of the original proposal, I think I'd add that nominations are approved by the TSC.

mhdawson commented 10 months ago

I'd also add that a spotlight would not always need to be an individual, it would be for example a team that is doing a great job and we would mentioned the members of that team.

kyliewd commented 10 months ago

I'll add too that we wouldn't spotlight someone without their approval.

RafaelGSS commented 10 months ago

I'm definitely +1 to spotlight the group effort, I concur with all the above affirmations. I'm just raising the concern that open-to-public voting to define who to spotlight might lead to unfair results. Perhaps, restricting it to nodejs collaborators could avoid that.

Overall, I love this initiative.

kyliewd commented 10 months ago

Thanks everyone! Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Let me put this together in a more formal plan + get the form ready.

We'll aim to launch this in the new year 🚀 💚

kyliewd commented 7 months ago

Hi all - here is a peek at the form I created for the spotlight nominations. I'd love to hear if you have any other question ideas or thoughts: https://forms.gle/piDkMfKfumUy6H4m6

mhdawson commented 7 months ago

@kyliewd I tried to access the form but I did not have enough permissions.

mcollina commented 7 months ago

same

kyliewd commented 7 months ago

apologies - please try now: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfvXjLq_YaC2BrhefEhi-xQpmpF02x3B7r9oEvI6LfjxHfs3w/viewform?usp=sharing

@mcollina @mhdawson

mhdawson commented 7 months ago

I still get

You need permission This form can only be viewed by users in the owner's organization.

Try contacting the owner of the form if you think this is a mistake. Learn More.

kyliewd commented 7 months ago

chatted with ben and there were permission issues but they have now been removed: https://forms.gle/dXBXZn8yu83HLJ57A

mhdawson commented 7 months ago

That form looks good to me. I don't think we need more than that.

mcollina commented 6 months ago

sgtm