In order to save everyoneâs time at the forthcoming meeting, here is a synopsis of my thoughts on the subject:
The Buddies programâs main goals may be:
- To help new Contributors find their way around SUMO and how they can best contribute
- The train and guide the new Contributors so their contribution is of as good quality as possible.
If ONLY (1) above is the goal
The only thing that we need to do is to make sure that no new Contributor is left without a Buddy. There is no need to do anything else since the Newbie will (hopefully) keep asking questions, and the Buddy will (hopefully) keep answering them until the Newbie finds what he/she wants to do.
Furthermore:
- the program does not have to be obligatory for all new Contributors,
since there may be some who do not need a guide.
- we do not need to keep track of anything since the program will depend basically on the
willingness of any new Contributor to participate or not. Keeping track of progress etc. could only serve statistics IF there is a serious follow up of the quality of contribution of trained Vs untrained contributors.
If (2) above is ALSO a goal
If this is the case, then I donât see how we will choose NOT to make the program obligatory for ALL new Contributors. How can we decide to train only those Newbies that decide to register with the program and allow the rest to contribute irrespective of their contribution quality?
So, IMHO, the meeting should first decide what the actual goals are. Any further action should be based on those goals. A âmixâ of the above (we only train SOME of the new contributors; therefore, we need to keep track of their training etc.) does not make sense. âChasingâ untrained newbies in the fields and putting out fires, instead of developing a fireproof system, is counterproductive and more time-consuming in the long run.
Thank you for your time!