Since some have expressed some interest in using Slack. Here is an invite to a free workspace I made. As I said in the community meeting I probably will lurk on it more (at least at first). But I don't want to stop people from having a place they feel comfortable communicating in.

https://join.slack.com/t/biotechwithoutborders/shared_invite/zt-ozkqqxli-rDcLMqj01W9QyD_9_3zphA

So We don't do BWOB domains but we need one to enter slack? what's up with that?

If folks want to join the slack send an email to [email protected] and someone will generate you a link. Also any person in the slack should be able to invite new folks. No official policy yet on getting an email with our domain. I assume this will be for Officers.

For members I started a Matrix server to chat with. It'll be bridged to discord and slack channels as appropriate. Mattermost integration will come eventually.

was this efficient? I think yes.

I don't understand. What is efficient?

this process of engaging on loomio with the benefit of records to go back to. project management suite seems functional

We will see :D Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Actually I probably didn't think the previous answer through enough. I don't see Loomio as a project management solution. We will probably use a kanboard on Nextcloud for that. I see this as a decision making tool. But in order to make a decision one has to again support and that is the purpose of the poll tool.

I'm glad to see the robust discussion taking place in this thread! One thing I'd like to mention that can make Loomio work better/make the record easier to parse in the future is to have back and forth discussions in the new slack here: https://join.slack.com/t/biotechwithoutborders/shared_invite/zt-ozkqqxli-rDcLMqj01W9QyD_9_3zphA

Slack is also a great place to connect with other members to have general discussions, participate in group chats, reach out to members regrading questions, etc. In this context, it would be useful to have parts of the discussion either in a slack direct chat or in a slack group chat (Feel free to create new channels as well!!) and post a summary of each side of the discussion here to Loomio.

joined slack, migrating over.

Just one additional note about making the record easier to parse on Loomio. If you look at the example of the logo there is the ability to pin comments to the "timeline" (I pinned Frank's comment about the typeface). So I disagree that back and forth discussions have no place on Loomio. The key in my mind is that responses are polished to the best of their authors abilities and made in light of the context. Again, I am happy to create a new thread or allow participants to create a thread if the seems like it would be a useful ability. Let me know.

Sorry to break the fluency of your comments Vik but these points belong on the thread about software collaboration. Perhaps a small edit would help it flow better?

This is the one I was thinking about @Vikram Krishnamoorthy

I'm talking with Marc Juul about setting up a Matrix chat

Let's please not use open source chat apps. I know open source enthusiasts are head over heels for them and for self hosting etc but they create huge amounts of friction for onboarding new members, especially tech non savvy users. And they have limited features and app integrations. People are already familiar with slack and discord, using those is zero friction, and it let's people focus on lab work and classes instead of fiddling with an open source chat app

I hear you about the new software part. But the idea behind Matrix is to provide interoperability between all sorts of services to reduce friction. Folks should be able to join a Matrix channel using Slack, Discord, Mattermost (I know Open Insulin is here), Element, or whatever service they choose. Although I think Marc has to set up the integrations for each service. Also I experience some friction on Slack and for sure on Discord.

I also think a channel might let us become discoverable with the folks who run and associate with Noisebridge and other community labs who are working with Marc to set this up. Still asking about the exact hosting set up they are thinking about.

Also I saw this thread on social.coop's Loomio and would like to implement Metagov when it gets more stable. Looking though the documentation with my partner led us to believe that it would be difficult to implement and maintain as of now.

Previously we used google sheets in place of Loomio. The notes we took there can be found here. I'm also going to link it in the Nextcloud in the Meeting Minutes folder.

Also is there a cost associated with this?

If we support many accounts then probably yes we would have to pay for some additional server infrastructure. I asked the wider community in the previous poll because I was thinking that if we do have interest from outside the membership we would establish a separate collective to collect those fees. But for the institutional account I'm hoping to just using the existing servers we have for Matrix and the website.

I saw the presentation, totally impressed with the depth and your commitment to community.