2020-03-14 Hypha Worker Co-op: COVID-19 response

Time: Saturday, Mar 14, 2020 @ 3.15-4.30pm
Location: https://jitsi.hypha.coop/hyphacoop
Attending: yj, bl, uv, gi, el, dc Cultivator: uv
Notetaker: dc

Agenda

Story so far
Supports for us as an org
Our solidarity response

Notes

Story so far

What we can so as org to support us in the crisis that is unfolding
Both in terms in solidarity we could be showing and aligns with goals
Could talk through what people think is needed, go around and share?
UV: tl:dr:
- ideas for response in chat
- resources and practices being shared on gh issue
- question: what we could do?

Supports for us as an organization

dc: Can we bracket out our internal ops approach, especially given timing. plan for that convo more in all hands

Our solidarity response

Round-robin brainstorm:

bl: can help with things, low capacity next week. can collaborate writing, content, materials. In isolation for week, more responsive than usual, current projects heavy on plate
uv: help people transition to being more remote friendly
uv: share our infra?
- jitsi
- matrix
gi: enabling orgs to be more remote friendly. documenting/sharing back our strategies, what’s been working
- reccomendations, best practices etc… 1-to-1
- capacity? company full remote. still fulltime. same availability tho some days off
el: could help with infra, maintaining/spinning up more stuff if needed. could also teach people how to use tools we’re spinning up
yj:
- capacity? busy at work. still fulltime, lots of uncertainty given how work unfolds. limited capcity. Still able to support infra, ad hoc right now
dc:
- on self isolation, completely canceled plans. more time than anticipated. part-time to full time amount of work to be done. uoft is in covid brain. more slack in phd work. lots of ideas
  - offering 1-1 consults; soundboarding; no-prep
  - provide/share infra for orgs; low use; nice gesture
  - sol networks neighbourhood or block level
  - here’s all the work people have done around remote transition
  - more ambitiously: co-op relationship development; change movement culture (from NCBA call)
  - another call on Monday co-hosted by cwcf
uv:
- offering office hours for people to drop in, finding collective solutions
- putting together simple website with links and resources (incl. our own)
- what is our process for responding to requests for hosting, etc…?
- new matrix channel for people to come together and raise issues, share what they are p to? see how we can help?
- building rel’ns with other orgs and co-ops. think we should and that’s a good idea

Capacity:

Given identified capacities:
- approach that is flex, low-commitment

Our Response:

Able to attend calls:
- dc
- bl
Infra:
- START => existing use: Jitsi
- START => existing use: Matrix rooms
- mumble?
  - dc: can infra investigate this for later rollout
- loomio?
  - dc: is there an export, or are we comfy hosting long term?
Resources/materials:
- resource collecting existing stuff
- point to ways that show how we work
- needs:
  - accessible to less-technical website
  - easy to share
  - east to update
- format:
  - simple website +1 uv, dc, bl
  - blog post? newsletter?
- content:
  - pointing to handbook; “virtual office” (we don’t have to position ourselves as experts)
  - what we can offer from a infra pov and how to get in touch
  - bl: private companies have an answer. open source has trouble in on boarding, this is where we can provide value.
  - dc: there’s a lot of uncertainty. our mission is to help neighbours/small businesses.
  - yj: short onboarding process
  - dc: zoom is probably better for many contexts (esp. teaching); lets be honest
  - bl: mostly a directory
  - uv: some of our own perspectives
- types of questions:
  - types of virtual events, tips, platforms?
- onboarding:
  - bl: combination approach
    - START => web site
    - START => chat on matrix, direct to web-client
    - whatsapp? group invite by link.
    - telegram? (less popular here)
    - bl: internal hypha aether to show up in email
  - yj + dc: email hell
  - bl: guest accounts have issues because they expect sync

Timeline and #TODOs:

Draft now, Mar 15
- uv: TOC for call tomorrow
- dc+uv: first draft - hackmd pad on Sunday
- gi: talking thru site with general content Mon
- bl: review Mon, can transform pad into website or work with someone to do that
Review collectively at all hands, Mar 18
Launch on Wednesday, Mar 18
Website logistics:
- subdomain? or page?
  - bl: subdomain gi: +1
#todo infra-wg list of what infra actually run if we need to. knowledge/estimate of effort and cost to bring to Wed all hands

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