I joined the EllisLab community when it was a humble 200-ish people and I've been fortunate enough to watch it grow to 75,000 (and going strong). This adventure has taught me a lot about creating an environment where people feel safe contributing to each other's success, knowing that their time won't be wasted or opinions trampled on.

The 2x4 of Kindness is one tool we employ to create this environment and its designed specifically to keep bad attitudes (and sometimes people) out, providing a secure oasis that lets veterans and new folks engage the community without fear of flame wars, trolls, spammers, and other enemies of the productive.

At first glance it may appear to be nothing more than a blunt weapon but at Refresh Seattle I'll show you how it can become the scaffolding that enables your community to grow successfully.

About the Speaker

I’m a father, husband, nerd, and the President of EllisLab. I love life and help people. I've been involved in online communities since discovering I could play Dungeons & Dragons on Prodigy Online over my 2400 baud modem.

EllisLab hosts an open source community and a commercial application community, both aimed at improving the lives of web developers. Combined they represent 75,000+ super-intelligent, highly opinionated people who aren't afraid of expressing themselves. At Refresh Seattle I'll share a few of our secrets tools that we use to keep this wonderful & diverse group focused on improving the web by helping each other.

After Party!

After this event, we will all head to the Red Door for drinks and food!

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