Unlock Your Full Potential with Django - My story by Abigail Mesrenyame Dogbe

Speaker 1: Thanks to you all for joining um I mean this session and thanks for inviting me as well to to share. I get excited to um share my journey in open source and especially when it's got to do with like the Django community. I even get like more excited um because this community um has or is actually where my journey started. So It's always amazing to interact with, I mean, um folks who are also doing a lot of jungle stuff and then um especially also newbies Getting

Speaker 1: them to listen to how I also started, I feel might inspire them to also do more. So thank you for inviting me and I hope that you enjoy this session. So like um Tim mentioned, um I love like open source and I'm affiliated with um some organizations like he he mentioned earlier, the PSF, the DSF. I've done a few like work um globally and then some locally. I'm Ghanaian.

Speaker 2: Um

Speaker 1: but I I currently Live in Cincinnati, Ohio. And yeah, most of the work that I've done over the years, like since 2017. Um has like or majorly started from Ghana and it's centered around open source programs management. I love brainstorming and coming up with programs. That it's engaging and bringing more people into open source or the Python software community. And I am a community builder as well. And Um recently or say like in 2022, I found out that I could actually do research in open source and Like Tim said earlier, I just defended my master's thesis, so I can probably officially call myself a researcher.

Speaker 1: When I'm not doing like open source as well, I love advocating for girls in STEM. I mean love interacting with other women in STEM and then also coming up with programs at my nonprofits, Mr. Nyami and Friendsware We are introducing young girls to STEM through practical sessions and then also giving them like mentors. So, this is where like my journey started. In this talk, I'm just going to share about my journey, um, how it has impacted my life, and hopefully. Anyone who is listening to this or watching this can also carve

Speaker 1: their path as well. So my journey into I mean getting to know open source in general started at Django Girl Sakura in 2017. Um I I didn't know about open source. I mean, I've been using a lot of tools. I mean free tools and all. And then I got to hear that, you know, most of these tools that I use were open sourced. And there are like amazing communities out there who are behind these tools that I have been using like way back and even currently. And I got very much interested And at this Jango Girls event, I got introduced to Django.

Speaker 1: I remember I didn't even finish. the tutorials then um at the session or at the event and I but I was curious to actually finish it up after the event. So um after the event I I tried to do that and I was challenged to um Be a mentor in other sessions or like other events that were upcoming in Ghana. And I wasn't so much excited to do it, but I was curious and decided to like like really do it. So um shout outs to Silent Works for encouraging me to take that bold step. But

Speaker 1: I'm grateful that this is where it started, Jungle Girls. And I'm um excited that Jungle Girls keeps like spreading um throughout the world. And I I I hope that more women can get can get through tech, through the Jungle Girls Initiative, because it's a very great initiative and it has really impacted my life. um that I'm gonna go into details about what my journey has looked like or what it looks like. In 2017, like I said earlier, that is where I heard about open source for the first time. I became MNT at Jungle Girls and

Speaker 1: Eventually I became a mentor and I joined the Python Ghana community that same year as well. In that very year, too, I started my national service. So usually After your undergraduate study, you are placed in a particular region or a particular field to serve um the country. So I got lucky and I I did get a tech company, but I was working within the internal audit department And at the time, my role didn't involve like me coding that much. And so I I mean I I only wrote like few lines of code if I needed to automate my task

Speaker 1: Or if I needed to do some analysis and then out, I mean use some Python and all. But um the place where I found myself really writing code or like for uh as a side something was like a jungle girls event and this like jungle girls events continued um with I think we've had more than hexy jungle girls events in Ghana, I should say. And uh it sort of also helped me to Get to see different parts of Ghana. And I'm always grateful for that as well. So in 2018, I became the team lead for Django Girl and for Pie Ladies

Speaker 1: Ghana. It was like the community had also just started and uh we were looking for a team lead for that because at the time too when we started when jungle girl started I was um the only female coach. I mean moving or traveling to different parts of Ghana, teaching other women how to code. um using Python and Django. And so I mean the team thought it was great to have me lead Pilates Ghana. And so I took that. Again, it wasn't something I was very much excited about. Or I should say that it was something I was also scared about doing because I didn't feel that I knew enough. And I also felt like I wasn't even coding enough.

Speaker 1: Like You know, it takes I I have to, I mean, carve out like some time to actually do some coding because from Monday to Friday I spent most of my time doing internal audit work, which didn't really require me doing a lot of coding. So I doubted myself in a lot of times, a lot of ways, and all of that. But I still accepted to do this anyway. Um and in that same year I was also curious and started interacting with international pie ladies um community and what will happen um was I would invite different people within the global pilot community to um share like talks with us

Speaker 1: and I mean I think we had very great sessions and I personally learned a lot Also from other community managers with regards to how they were managing their communities. So in 2019, I helped organize or co-organize um PyCon Africa and I started actually like contributing to Pilates Global. I was a part of the communications team And I remember then we were um trying to put things together for, I mean to start the interim like that the High Ladies Global Council. So we had like the interim council, which I was a part of. And I continued to do a lot of travel, like for Django Girls events.

Speaker 1: Some of the times were actually interesting because I would I couldn't ask for permission every time. We had Django Girls events for like two days. So it's it's usually would start on a Friday and we'll try and finish up on the Saturday and we'll we'll get back um or we'll travel back to um where we traveled from like on a Sunday And I remember that it was a hassle trying to ask for permission every time from work. So there were times that I would close from work at 5. 30 p. m. and then do the travel. And sometimes the travels would last for like seven hours. Um, because sometimes we travel to like

Speaker 1: um remote like areas to to bring more women or more girls like to um tech through jungle girls and um those places were actually quite far. But I enjoyed it. My parents were sometimes worried uh because you know doing some of these travels I I wasn't driving then I would go with the public um like the bus and all and so like um you know every parent would be concerned or worried or you know um uh about like sad travels and all of that but I was always excited. Usually we'll come back on a Sunday and I'm so exhausted and I have to wake up on Monday

Speaker 1: to go back to work. But um I mean, nevertheless, I still enjoyed like doing Django Girl stuff. And in that same year, I became a fellow at the PSF and I volunteered for the first time at PyCon US or online. And those moments too were very special because I got to like really meet new people who were doing amazing things within the Python software community. In 2020, I think that is actually when COVID hit. I gave my first keynote um at EuroPython. I won a community service award from PSF that same year.

Speaker 1: And I won another, I won another award from Google. And I also organized PyCon Africa in 2020. And I think that same year too, that event was virtual. It was the first time organizing a virtual event. It was It was an experience. But again, like I really enjoyed it. And mind you, Throughout these years, all of these things that I was doing were all volunteering. I was still working for the organization that hired me. And I'm always grateful for them because I didn't hide the fact that I was doing community work and they embraced it. They always encouraged me to keep doing more.

Speaker 1: But Also, I I I also had to learn how to know my limits because you don't want to take advantage of the fact that These people around you are giving you the chance to do all of this and you you are not trying to also do um what you are being paid for. Like you're not trying to pull your weight as well at work. So um yeah 2020 was quite an interesting year. And I'm sure I might have missed a few other things that I did, but these were pretty much the major things that I did In 2021, I stepped down as team lead for Py Ladies Ghana. Throughout the years that we started Py Ladies Ghana, we hosted different sessions.

Speaker 1: Um, of course, we're we're introducing our members to web development, and of course, we would use Django as the framework. um or what to to to sort of introduce them to web development. And we um did boot camps for like data science. We had um cybersecurity sessions as well. We had we even had like masterclasses as well. And um I mean, I felt like we had done a lot and from 2017 where I started volunteering as a Django Girls coach I mean by 2019 we had a lot of females who had now also started wanting to give back as

Speaker 1: being mentors. And there's this thing that I usually embrace or I usually try to think about when it comes to building our communities. It's it has got to do with sustainability. I I I mean almost every time when I start something, I start to think about how to sustain it And I believe that one of the ways that we can help sustain our open source communities is if We invite other people to also step up and take up leadership roles and also help them to to continue building the communities while she

Speaker 1: also take up other interesting stuff or other um I mean other parts of community building to also do. And so turning it, it was no-brainer for me. High ladies community had really formed like well. I would wake up and the the work is done. People were always like interested in contributing as much as they could. And so I stepped down. Um but most importantly I didn't like leave completely right um till date i try to contribute as much as i can but it's really mostly um providing some kind of um

Speaker 1: strategy and things around sustainability and then just guiding the team the current team lead and um other um people who have taken up specific roles like within the Piety community in Ghana. And that same year too, I started a STEM for um girls legacy project. Which I call Mr. Anya Me and Friends. So it's just myself and my friends making an impact in the lives of the next generation of women in STEM. Um and in 2022 I started everything open source. Um I mean this started as a Twitter space and

Speaker 1: I've had Jeff join us as well to share. I've had like other people within the jungle community also join us. um on Twitter, like to share on different um open source topics. And this is actually something that I always reflect on and I'm always grateful for because you become a part of like this community and people are always willing to help. People are willing to contribute as much as they can to things that you are doing. And so everything open source started as a Twitter space. And now what we are doing is we are sharing resources and we are coming up with different ways to bring people into

Speaker 1: open source. That same year as well, I became an individual member at the DSF and I started grad school, which led to me starting my journey in doing research in open source. So in 2023 I got my first paid open source internship. So I've been doing open source since 2017. In 2023, I got this chance to work with a PSF or an internship. And it was cool that I could earn money. Or I could get paid whilst contributing to open source. And in that same year too, I gave three keynotes. I helped organize DjangoCon

Speaker 1: Africa and I participated in other open source communities. Um yeah, I think twenty twenty-three um is also a year that I would always remember. I I remember that when I started contributing to open source in 2017, I would shy away from giving talks. I would shy away from um you know even sharing about what the journey looks like. or some of the things that I'm engaged in, or some of the things that I'm up to or doing with the community. And so in 2023, I made a conscious effort to say yes um to more talks

Speaker 1: and to also like share some of the things that I have done in the past, what has gone into it And, you know, how other communities or other leaders who are building their communities can also learn from these different things. So 2023 was actually a great year and I was still on the journey of contributing to open source through research, my research work. Which is focused on open source governance. So we are trying to see how we can build a tool to help open source communities, learn more about your leadership groups or teams, and especially when it comes to elections

Speaker 1: ensuring that this tool can help them learn about these different nominees in order to help them make informed decisions during elections. And the end goal of this is to help that particular open source community to actually improve their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within their community. This project or this like project is still ongoing though. I'm done with my defense and we are looking at how we can um interview more people and then um also um publish this paper um work so that more people can also have access to it

Speaker 1: So 2024, I've done more speaking engagements, I've shared more resources, and yeah, I defended my thesis and the journey still continues. This is how my journey has looked like since I first heard about open source in 2017. And I'm very grateful that I found myself in these spaces. I'm grateful that I was or I'm still curious about um different things when it comes to community building. And above all, I'm grateful for the jungle software community. Now these are um a few challenges that I'm going to share, um

Speaker 1: personal challenges that I went through. um throughout this journey of community building and even personal discovery. So I did have some challenges with like work-life balance. I mean, I was I I had a job and I was still exploring, just pretty much trying to find myself where I fit in tech. Um, but I mean It was very challenging trying to do all of that. And I think I mentioned one of the challenges how um I would travel and spend so many hours like by road.

Speaker 1: um to go and teach a jungle girls event. So my weekends were pretty much involved and engaged almost all the time. And even some um weekdays as well because of times I would spend like two hours every morning um trying to do some community work um before I I do my um usual like nine to five. And I also battled with imposter syndrome. Um there were times I also H had challenges handling like constant change and uncertainty because there was a time that I lost my job and

Speaker 1: It was I mean it was very challenging because um I had to navigate Trying to, you know, um find a new job whilst also still giving back to the community. And it's not a joke because At a point you want to give all your time to trying to find that new role. And another point, your community also needs you. So it's just like you trying to um handle and balance like it all and eventually I'll get bent out. But yeah, I 'm I'm thankful that I now know how to take breaks.

Speaker 1: And I also did have limited resources. I remember when I started community building. There was no handbook to say, you know, this is a guideline. You could use this. You could start from. decide and you know use these resources um invite these particular people have host these particular topics like And even for, I mean, funding as well. But we're always thankful for organizations like the DSF and the PSF who would come through for um us to get some form of funding to organize our events. But it was very challenging and um I

Speaker 1: think my organization that had me then to did help in so many ways by hosting us to have events in their space and all. But It was very challenging trying to navigate like all of these while I was also trying to find out where I fit in tech So, how did I overcome these challenges? I connected with other open source contributors like globally. It sort of helped me learn how to do better um even in terms of contributing to open source itself and even how to manage like the community. I also started setting realistic expectations

Speaker 1: because I I am really a sucker for coming up with big ideas. Like when it comes to like organizing programs and all of that, I I I I my mind is like I have big dreams and like big programs like I want to organize and all of that, but Um, I had to learn that sometimes you have to be realistic, right, with some of the things that you come up with. Um and it sort of um helped because I would break down those tasks into smaller tasks and then um try and find out when it's it's realistic to actually implement some of these things.

Speaker 1: And it really, really helped overcome the challenge of getting like burnout and all of that. And I also do and or did or still do embody the mindset of bringing other people into leadership opportunities. Um I remember I would like invite other members of the community to take up roles. Now these people are leading and at the forefront of these different communities that like we built and they are also spreading that same awesomeness They are also bringing other people into like the community to lead stuff, which is actually a great thing. And I also started delegating some more.

Speaker 1: I remember when we started the whole community building in 2017. It was hard for me to delegate because I, like I said earlier, like I had this whole big ideas, big plans, you know, coming up with programs, and I would usually want to do almost everything by myself, but that is not sustainable. So I started delegating m tasks like some more. And I started also prioritizing self-care. I love art. I mean I love drawing. I love painting. Um I love going out to see places like the museum, you know. things that gets like me like inspired um

Speaker 1: but it also doesn't really involve like doing so much right Um I learned how to swim though. I consciously learned like how to swim. And I I find that now as a self-care that uh I keep trying to like go to um which is is is really helpful. Um Another way, or the last point that I would like to share here, is gathering feedback and doing some kind of retrospection. You're building a community, you're dealing with humans. It's always important that you are interacting with them, trying to find out how the community is doing.

Speaker 1: So what I'll do is every year, at the end of every year, I'll like we would conduct a survey to find out how we did in the year. And then also try to learn for our community members what they are looking forward to us doing in the coming year. So these sort of helped us come up with specific programs tailored to the needs of our community members. And it really made the the um the whole like the work um I won't say like easy but it it it made it it made the workflow um seamless because you sort of And not trying to come up with things all by yourself, but you know, you're taking the feedback of your community members at heart

Speaker 1: and you're providing value. So what are some of the benefits or some of the things that I have personally like um come to enjoy out of My journey or out of doing all of these different things. It has obviously improved my skills. Um, I would usually want to be at the background doing a lot of work. I would usually not like to put myself out there. But saying yes to a lot of speaking opportunities is helping me with my public speaking Jenny. Um I'm doing well like when it comes to that.

Speaker 1: And Um also improving my skills in different aspects when it comes to like technical contributions, like to open source itself like navigating my way around, like using GitHub and all of that. Being a part of these communities and actually trying to lead staff also challenged me to learn those things. Because it's like, how are you building a community if you can't like you don't even know some of these things, right? Um, even though I believe you don't need to know everything. Um to be able to bring other people into what you're doing, at least knowing something helps.

Speaker 1: So it's helped me also improve my skills in those aspects as well. It 's also helped me embrace. discomfort. Um I I think this is a perfect example for the whole speaking engagement thing. And then also pretty much trying to think about things that I want to do or want to pursue, right? Trying to come out of that shell and actually um taking the step to pursuing those things, which initially would have been like a discomfort to me. I've seen like personal growth as well. I've um

Speaker 1: had a chance to meet amazing people globally who have poured into me so much, like in my personal life. in my career, um, in in my um education and all of that. And I'm always grateful for that. And above all, I am I have or I feel this sense of purpose because I'm actually always finding that like contributing to software that you rely on can definitely give you some sense of purpose. These tools that are made freely available to us are built by People who are giving out so much, like their time, their efforts, even their finances and all.

Speaker 1: And we get to use like these tools for free. Um, why not also find other ways of being a part of this community of people who are trying to make the world like a better place? I find that it's actually giving me purpose and as Help me find um a path within tech that I'm actively pursuing now. Throughout this journey, one thing that I think also stands out for me is um actually bringing other people along and I hope that whilst you are also um contributing and trying to find your um

Speaker 1: way within this community and or you also try to bring other people along because I believe that we rise by lifting others Um I mean I I one of the things that I think I didn't do well was to actually um speak more or um share more about some of the work that I have done or I did. And so sometimes when people who are way outside of the community hear about some of the work that I have done and they're like, oh, you know, this girl or this lady got this um recognition and all. I'm wondering like what did she really do? And all it's like there's been years of hard work.

Speaker 1: Years of figuring it out like and and um years of just like being curious and just like doing it even when I didn't know how to do it Um and this really, really stands out for me when it comes to community building, bringing other people along. Because the open source um softwares and all that like we build are actually done by the community and by the people. And so how or what are we doing to ensure that um people also come into our community. And I definitely am a testament of this particular quote.

Speaker 1: Because I've really come far by actually bringing other people along. And throughout that journey, I have found my purpose and I'm living it. So I'm back here to Jungle Girls where it all started. Just to say that I'm grateful for this community. It's It wasn't easy the first time, but I found that um first of all I could write Simple lines of code in Python, and then that was cool. I had done some Java and all of these other languages before, and I was like, how or why am I now learning Python?

Speaker 1: Right. And I learned about like Django and got to find out that there's a whole community that I could actually be a part of and contribute to. So I'm grateful that this community exists. And I definitely want to do more at everything open source, at a PSF. um definitely spreading um the use of the Python software uh I mean in different parts of the world, especially in underrepresented areas or communities. I also definitely want to do more within my girls

Speaker 1: in STEM projects. We are definitely going to start introducing these young girls to Django soon. And I'm gathering resources on how to actually introduce teens to open source So definitely do share any resource that you find or that you have used that has been helpful to you. And I'm also on a journey of gathering books for people who are in tech. and starting out and all people who are just trying to figure out um what it looks like that tech can offer to them Thank you. And yeah, I'm excited to have shared my journey

Speaker 1: and I hope that inspires you. I hope that you are able to take a few things from my journey to also cover your journey. Let's connect. Happy to connect with you and yeah, definitely do um reach out and Let's collaborate as well. Thank you.

Speaker 3: Thank you, Abigail. That was fantastic. I was a little embarrassed to say it was like slide three or four. I realized you had Django Not space branding. It was like Yeah. No, I I really love uh hearing about your experience and uh what you went through and like explaining the challenges you go through and how you overcame them, like all it's all very relatable. Um uh yeah. Anyone have any questions for Abigail? I have one. Um one of the s things you had said was inviting others into positions of leadership. I'm curious, how did you know when people are ready to be to to step up into those roles?

Speaker 1: This is actually a good question. So I like we had been doing this like uh for quite some time. Um Some of it though were people being curious. You know, some people would reach out to you to say, I'm curious to learn how I can Be a part of like the team, or I can contribute. I want to contribute beyond just being a community member And then you sort of have interactions with the person or those people to find out, you know, what are some of the things that you find like interesting to you or these are the sort of like

Speaker 1: roles that the community requires and then um I mean we take it we take it from there But on the other side, like I would find people do things, like for example, when we have um like a community event. And people ask like specific questions. Um, you definitely find people with different um Different characteristics, different energy who come into the room. And so I would really like observe And I just reach out to people and I preach to them.

Speaker 1: You know, I think you're very good at doing this. You ask this particular question. And I think that you you you sort of um can help us navigate this aspect within our community. What do you think about it? And that is where it starts. Like And I'll usually like do um or start with them. Like when I I reach out to anyone and all I don't just dump um the all the work on on them to actually do. We will try and figure it out. We will try and start like together. But then as time goes on, people start to take ownership of their work. And I found that like it really, really helped.

Speaker 1: Um, because sometimes people just really don't know that um they are they are needed in these different aspects when it comes to like the um the community. And I remember there was this lady too, she 's like Vanessa She's done some coding before, but she's really more of a communications person. Like um she went to the Ghana Institute of Journalism. Um she She's she was curious about coding and all of that. But I realized that coding full-time might not really be what she really wants to do But we sort of need someone to help us with um

Speaker 1: posting social media content um helping us respond to emails, helping us like generally communicating with our community members. And so this person would maybe because the person or because like the community seems like it's just like a coding community This person wouldn't necessarily feel like they belong in this community. But when I realized that, you know, okay, no, this person has shown interest in attending our events and all of that. How can we bring this person into our community to make a difference? It doesn't matter if the person is actively writing code or technical documentation

Speaker 1: or whatever like other aspects that we have in software development. And you find that they are very much like excited to do it because hey um they found a way that they can contribute to the community. So it's just like pretty much observing trying to know people um on a deeper level and just trying to come up with um something that I know very well that the community needs And pitching it to them to see if it's a good idea, if to see if it's something that they would like to do. And usually it works. because it is something that they are interested in doing and are

Speaker 1: interested in contributing to when it comes to the community. So yeah. It's not a secret, but maybe that's my secret.

Speaker 3: Yeah. I for me it's always like the the Like when you stepped down from the Pie Ladies lead in Ghana, like that that transition I imagine had to be a little um Nervous.

Speaker 1: Yes. So um it was a lot, I should say. It took, I think, more than a year for me to even get convinced that you know Okay, like it's really time. Um, because sometimes um people might not do things the way that you might like things to go or even the way that um it's supposed to like help the community, right? And you know, people make mistakes. So sometimes, like as a leader, it's important that you keep guiding people. Um, so when I started getting people to take up um these different roles and all,

Speaker 1: There are times that people would just wake up and give up. There are times that you just not hear from people at all. So there's that aspect as well. And there were other people who kept showing up, right? So Some it took it took a whole lot of a lot of like trust, you know, to say, hey, um I think I trust that you can do this and I'm I see that you're doing this. However I'm happy to help as much as I can. Don't hesitate to like to reach out um when like you need help. And we try to do things like together. It doesn't matter, even if You've been given a specific role within the community to do.

Speaker 1: We're allowed to say, oh, hey, Is anyone within the team able to step up to do this? Maybe I'm not feeling too good today to do this. Anyone is able to step up and then and then do that, right? Um and so it went on and on and on and After like a year, um, I would remember I I mentioned in my story that usually I'll spend two hours every day um trying to do some community work. And they were usually in the mornings. So imagine where you started building this leadership team or group and all. And You uh you get it get to a time where you wake up and the work is done.

Speaker 1: Like it really felt like um that, you know. I mean, we are getting there, or this is actually like really the time where I can step down and have other people also shine. um within like the community as well. So it did it did take a a lot of like work. I didn't have a specific time period to say I'm going to step down at this time Um, but it took a lot of observation and pretty much a lot of like hand holding and um I mean, and just allowing people to also make mistakes and being empathetic as well and giving people room.

Speaker 1: to to just explore um their potential as well within the community. Yeah.

Speaker 3: That's really good advice. Thank you. We have time for one more question. Did one have one? Uh Priya, yes.

Speaker 4: Yeah, hi. Uh it was an amazing talk. You mentioned that you started interacting with the international piladies. speak uh people right when it comes to uh communities it is common that when it comes to the local community versus the international community there is that certain gap that needs to be bridged In all the ways. If that would be multiple, multiple ways, right? So there I want to know were there any shared struggles that you were facing within the local communities which help you know, see a source of inspiration from the international uh interactions and help that within in any aspect.

Speaker 1: I'm really not sure I got your question well. Could you kindly repeat your question?

Speaker 4: Okay, yeah, sure. So for example, when it comes to local communities, there are certain struggles, right? You mentioned that there are certain challenges, be it burnout or be it anything uh personal, professional And when we interact with an international organization, let's say. So their challenges are different, their solutions are different. There every there is that certain gap Somewhere, so how to bridge that properly, or were there any sources of inspiration, or were there any sources of you know beacon of light to bridge that gap within the local communities versus the global communities So that's what I wanted to know.

Speaker 1: Yeah, this is actually a great question. Um I think I think Personally, um some of the things that really popped up when I started interacting with leaders from the global communities were finding resources, right? Things related to like resources, I don't really think Um, it I mean it definitely depends on the community that you're building. But I found that like interacting with different people like globally helped me Find different resources for my community. And once a while I will bring some of these people

Speaker 1: to also share. um different things. Some of them even were mentors on in some of the different programs that we had, right? Would bring them um to to share Different talks, and sometimes you find that those things are standard practices, I mean in the whole world, right? So Being able to interact with um global communities sort of like helped with Streamlining things around resources and just really getting inspired by things that people are building globally. But when it comes to running the community locally, right

Speaker 1: There were definitely some ideas that I picked, right? Other I aside from getting resources and all of that to help build my community locally, there were definitely some ideas that I picked, right? Sometimes we would implement these ideas to see if it works right. I'll give an example. The example of um Pie Lady's night, I think I I chanced on that like on the Pie Ladies platform and all. And um I saw that they had that that particular person who was ex um sharing that experience had it in a different way. And we also, when we brought it into our community, we also had it in our own way, in the sense that a

Speaker 1: pilot is gun, a pie lady's night. We sort of that is actually a session where we interact with our community members and even external people to come share different things. We call that Pie Ladies Night. And we pick a night and then we get we pick a topic and we discuss it, right? And but These other people that I was also interacting with were also having it in their own way. I I remember others who have like um coding and pizza like you know things like that but you realize that there are things that work out for them but Some of the things that you can take note of is, you know, what are these other global communities doing

Speaker 1: Even if it's it has got to do with the naming, how can we adapt it in our own way within our community? It doesn't have to be the same steps It doesn't have to be the same things that they are actually doing because like you you rightly said, what might work in the global community, a global community might not necessarily work for um your like local community. And I think I mentioned something in my talk as well. Trying to get feedback from like your community members. It really, really helps. So you're getting feedback on how to serve them better, right? What does it look like in their journey? What do they need at that point, right?

Speaker 1: Getting such feedback as well can help you come up with initiatives or programs that is going to be for your community. In fact, there's really no harm in even asking people, okay, these are some of the things that um Our community said like they need or they want. How can we go about it? Sometimes we put it on ourselves as leaders to Try and brainstorm and come up with all the ideas in the world, but sometimes just being curious to even learn about how to implement things from your community. also like can help you um come up with programs or initiatives that are tailored to um the people within like

Speaker 1: your community So yeah, I think those are things that like um really helped. Um I just really think that some of the things are best practices uh practices or standards that like can work anywhere and some of the things are just like ideas you can pick up from um Um, these global communities. But again, even if you pick up an idea and you try to implement it within your local setting and it doesn't work out, there's always room for you to learn You know, it doesn't work out, but you realize that an idea will pop up. But if you don't try it, sometimes you might not really learn how um whatever idea that you found that is working out

Speaker 1: there can work um out for your local community So yeah, sometimes it might not go entirely well, but you find that an idea will come out out of that experience and you can use that um to help build your community Thank you, Abigail.

Speaker 3: Thank you again for the wonderful talk and joining us. This was amazing