Sprint activity: Q&A session between core devs and Python community/users

[Mariatta]

At past sprints, sometimes we'd have a core dev Q&A Panel at the host company. Since we're doing a virtual event this year, there is no host company. So instead I think it would be great to have a core dev Q&A with Python community members.

~Some ideas on how to make this work:~ ~- collect questions ahead of time: create a form / slido?~ ~- We can record the Q&A and publish the video later~

We will collect questions as issue comments in this repo. We need a list of core devs participating in the Q&A. We will record the Q&A session. We will schedule a time for core devs to meet and answer the questions.

Tasks to complete:

• [x] Schedule a time during sprint (maybe 1 hour) to host the Q&A
• [x] Post the list of core devs participating in the Q&A
• [ ] Create the issue within this repo for collecting community questions, along with instructions to give a :+1: reaction to comments they want to upvote
• [ ] Send out announcement about the Q&A to various channels
• [x] python-dev mailing list
• [x] Python Discourse under Users category
• [x] psf-community mailing list
• [x] Twitter
• [ ] Facebook (?)
• [ ] LinkedIn (?)

[aeros]

For putting together the Q&A ahead of time, the staff over at Python Discord offered to help with collecting some questions through a community poll. Some of them also help manage the reddit.com/r/python subreddit, and could pin/sticky a post where users could ask questions. Then, we simply take N of the most highly voted questions.

Slido seems like it would be great for live questions. Maybe we could do a combination of prepared and live, based on the amount of time remaining? I would suggest allocating at least 30 minutes for the community/user Q&A session, starting with ~10-15 prepared questions and using the remaining time for live questions.

When will the Q&A take place?

If we want to maximize visibility of the community Q&A panel, I'd suggest starting it just after the opening talk for the sprint, and doing it in the same Zoom session as the opening talk. Then, we could do the Core Dev -> SC Q&A (https://github.com/python/core-sprint/issues/7) just before the closing talk.

[ejodlowska]

To make things a bit easier and smoother, I'd say that collecting questions before hand is best versus taking live questions. It helps prevent heavy moderation during the event and helps ensure the content is good quality...esp if we plan to record.

[Mariatta]

Personally I would like a break between this QA and the core dev & SC QA.

Regarding collecting questions, some ideas:

• Set up a form like google/typeform etc, and let people submit their questions. This way there will be no "community voting". We just get to choose the questions ourselves.
• Open an issue on GitHub (this repo), and let people submit their question as an issue comment. People can vote by reacting 👍 to the issue comment.

I'm not interested in doing poll via reddit. It is one external platform that we have little control over in terms of moderation.

[aeros]

Open an issue on GitHub (this repo), and let people submit their question as an issue comment. People can vote by reacting 👍 to the issue comment.

I like this idea, particularly since it would be the easiest for us to see the most popular questions and choose from a decent pool. However, we will need to make sure that we advertise the issue (via python-dev, python-list, PSF twitter, etc.), as I suspect it won't get too much visibility otherwise.

[ejodlowska]

I can help spread the word via PSF channels and social media!

[Mariatta]

Decision from today's meeting;

• We will plan for a 30 minutes live Q&A session.
• We will use Slido to collect questions, where people can upvote questions, and we can see the popular questions
• We will assign a question to a participating core dev ahead of time

[terryjreedy]

I answered 'Yes' on the form mainly in case there are any IDLE questions. I am rather curious what type of questions we will get from 'the community'.

[Mariatta]

The list of core devs participating in the Q&A session has been published here: https://python-core-sprint-2020.readthedocs.io/community_qa.html#core-devs-participating-in-the-community-q-a

I will update the list as we receive new signups.

[Mariatta]

The Q&A session has been scheduled to Tuesday 3 PM US Central time. We've created the slido and it will be active between Sep 24 - Sep 30. So now we need to share this link and advertise and collect questions.

[Mariatta]

It's Sept 24 already, can we start promoting the slido link to various channels?

[aeros]

@Mariatta

It's Sept 24 already, can we start promoting the slido link to various channels?

I believe so. I can try adding a test question, and then you can confirm if it's visible. I'll withdraw the test question after confirmation.

[ejodlowska]

I confirm that it is visible

[ejodlowska]

Reminder that the slido will close Sept 30th

[Mariatta]

Thanks! I can write a post to python-dev, psf-community, and Users category on Discourse.

[aeros]

Awesome! I'll share it over on Python Discord. @ejodlowska could you promote it via the PSF twitter?

[ejodlowska]

Will do @aeros

[gvanrossum]

Once it's tweeted can you post the twitter link here? I will then retweet.

[ejodlowska]

@gvanrossum: https://twitter.com/ThePSF/status/1309247500575006720?s=20

[Mariatta]

I've posted to Discourse, python-dev, psf-community, and PyLadies Slack channel.

[gvanrossum]

Does anyone have moderation powers on the slido? There are a few homework questions in there.

On Thu, Sep 24, 2020 at 2:51 PM Mariatta notifications@github.com wrote:

I've posted to Discourse https://discuss.python.org/t/ask-a-core-dev-anything-you-can-even-ask-guido/5306, python-dev, psf-community, and PyLadies Slack channel.

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/python/core-sprint/issues/5#issuecomment-698607787, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAWCWMWELBONFLSRBJU4WU3SHO5MTANCNFSM4PX7HVPQ .

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[ejodlowska]

I've deleted the ones that stand out to me and will check again on Wednesday.

[ejodlowska]

@ewdurbin will be moderating the Community Q&A session! 🥳

[ewdurbin]

This is exciting! My co-hosts Frank and Deja may be present for comic relief in the background, or a soothing purresence if things get tense <3

[Mariatta]

I've exported the questions to this Google Sheets: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WjXUc1Ryh_XTeHGCMmY1KTfT-EiKJzYcWNBu2v-SnoE/edit?usp=sharing Those participating in the sprint should have access to it already.

@aeros when will you be sending email asking for DIscord usernames? Perhaps in the same email we can ask people to assign one question to themselves. (max 1 question per core dev, prioritize the ones with most upvotes)

[aeros]

when will you be sending email asking for DIscord usernames? Perhaps in the same email we can ask people to assign one question to themselves. (max 1 question per core dev, prioritize the ones with most upvotes)

Sorry, I had written out the announcement and sent it to the MLs prior to seeing this (on Oct. 2nd just after midnight EST). It looks like Mariatta took care of this yesterday by sending out a private email to everyone that was interested in participating in the Q&A from the sign-up form.

[Mariatta]

I've shared the q&a questions to Ernest and Python Discord team. So I think this can be closed.