Quim is interested in presenting a proposal for FOSDEM 2018. Something within the scope that the Technical Collaboration team is working on.

https://fosdem.org/2018/news/2017-09-03-call-for-participation/

Previous editions have featured main tracks centered around security, operating system development, community building, and many other topics. Presentations are expected to be 50 minutes long (including audience questions) and should cater to a varied technical audience. The conference covers reasonable travel expenses agreed in advance and arranges accommodation for accepted main track speakers if needed.

Submissions will be reviewed in two batches, beginning with those received by 13 October. The final deadline is 3 November.

Key dates:

13 October
deadline for first batch of main track proposals
3 November
final deadline for main track proposals
1 November onwards
main track talks announced (in batches)

Draft submitted

What makes newcomers stay or leave?

Developer outreach and onboarding are very important, but rather pointless if your retention rate is 0%. Attracting new developers is hard, retaining them is arguably harder. Or is it? It ultimately depends on how important it is for your project to be welcoming.

I came for... I stayed for...

While technical aspects are very important for developer outreach and onboarding (vision, roadmap, documentation, standards, collaboration tools and processes...), social factors are critical for retention.

What social factors are we talking about?

• Contacts. Peers or mentors who help you understand, learn, and establish more contacts. (User)Names that emerge and connect you to "the community".
• Friendliness. A welcoming community embracing the importance of helping newcomers, promoting diversity and multicultural perspectives.
• Growth paths. A conscious effort to offer good first tasks, feature interesting projects, and suggest next steps to acquire more experience, reputation, and also perks.
• ... Saying Thank You to newcomers (and, well, just to anyone who is being helpful). It makes wonders.

I didn't find much of that when I started, and here I am...

Sometimes these social factors will not be seen as the most relevant by the existing project members. Their own experiences were different, and yet there they are, committed to the project. Technical factors like good documentation or a fluid code review process will be put upfront. Technical factors are surely important, but they alone will not cover for the social ones. What worked for a previous generation (i.e. the pioneers who established the basis of a project) maybe doesn't work today. What worked for a specific profile (i.e. the famous Western white male) maybe doesn't work for other.