WP Book Club Week 1  ## Metadata - Author: [[jorbin]] - Full Title: WP Book Club Week 1 - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: - #wordpress - #bookclub - #opensource - #community Author: jorbin Source: Personal website (blog) Reference: https://aaron.jorb.in/wp-book-club-week-1/ date created: 2025-09-02 00:00 --- # Title: WP Book Club Week 1 ## Table of Contents: - [📌 Overview](#-overview) - [📅 Session Plan](#-session-plan) - [🤝 Norms](#-norms) - [💬 Discussion Focus](#-discussion-focus) - [📝 Post-Session Blogging](#-post-session-blogging) - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#-️-notes) - [📖 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical validity](#-logical-validity) - [🔍 DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🔍 SEO Evaluation](#-seo-evaluation) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### References: - Original post announcing Week 1: “WP Book Club Week 1” on Aaron Jorbin’s site: https://aaron.jorb.in/wp-book-club-week-1/ ## 📝 Summary: Week 1 of a WordPress-focused book club will discuss the Preface and Chapter 1: Introduction of an open source–oriented book. The session opens with participant introductions about names and tenure in open source, followed by community norms emphasizing equitable participation, “enthusiastic collaboration,” and camera-on by default with no pressure to justify opting out. The core is a facilitated group discussion; participants are encouraged to bring questions, especially about applying open source lessons beyond open source. The organizer strongly encourages blogging reflections after the session. ## 📖 Main Content: The article outlines the kickoff format and culture for a WordPress book club: - Introductions: Each participant shares their name and how long they’ve engaged with open source, using a popcorn style to keep momentum. - Norms: - Make space for others (be mindful of airtime; avoid cooperative overlapping). - Embrace “enthusiastic collaboration” (assume good intent; come to learn and share). - Camera on by default to foster engagement, while affirming no explanation needed if off. - Discussion plan: The group tackles the Preface and Chapter 1. The facilitator brings seed questions but welcomes participant-generated prompts. Anticipates practical “how do I apply this outside open source?” angles, given many do not work in OSS daily. - Aftercare: Participants are encouraged to blog reactions, notes, or takeaways to extend learning and community knowledge sharing. This structure demonstrates a deliberate learning environment merging social construction of knowledge (discussion) with reflective practice (blogging), aligned with open source values. ### 🗒️ Notes - Kickoff scope: - Preface + Chapter 1: framing open source culture and the book’s context. - Goal: establish shared understanding for subsequent weeks. - Introductions: - Share name + tenure in open source. - Popcorn style to maintain flow and inclusivity. - Norms and facilitation: - Make Space: - Monitor speaking time; invite quieter voices. - Avoid “cooperative overlapping” to reduce speaking over others. - Enthusiastic Collaboration: - Term borrowed from the book’s preface; cultural value of OSS. - Assume good intent; come prepared to share and learn. - Camera Policy: - On by default to improve engagement. - No justification required to keep camera off. - Discussion mechanics: - Facilitator will provide prompts. - Participants encouraged to bring their own questions. - Expect cross-context application questions (beyond OSS workplaces). - Post-session blogging: - Write reactions to reading or discussion. - Alternatively publish reading notes. - Purpose: reflection, knowledge capture, public learning. - Community expectations: - Psychological safety via norms. - Low barrier to participation regardless of OSS background. ## 📖 References: - “WP Book Club Week 1” announcement: https://aaron.jorb.in/wp-book-club-week-1/ - Related concept: “enthusiastic collaboration” as described in the book’s preface (referenced in the post). ## 🗣️ Paraphrase: 1) Original idea: “Approach this club with enthusiastic collaboration … everyone is coming with a positive attitude and a desire to share and learn. We will all assume good intent…” Paraphrase: Enter the group ready to contribute and learn with optimism. Treat everyone’s participation as well-intentioned, and engage in a spirit of mutual support that reflects open source culture. 2) Original idea: “Camera On by default, no questions asked if camera is off… You don’t need to explain why your camera is off, but if you can, please turn it on.” Paraphrase: We encourage video for connection, but there’s no obligation to justify keeping your camera off. Use video when possible, and choose what’s comfortable for you. ## 📰 Newsletter: This week in WordPress learning: we’re kicking off a community book club diving into the Preface and Chapter 1 of an open source–centric read. Expect a friendly roll call (tell us your name and how long you’ve been in OSS), a quick tour of ground rules—like “make space” for others and our favorite, “enthusiastic collaboration”—and then straight into rich discussion. Not living in open source 24/7? Perfect. Bring your “how do I apply this at work?” questions. Afterward, ship your thoughts as a blog post—reaction, notes, or sparks of inspiration. It’s learn-build-share, the WordPress way. Read the kickoff plan on Aaron Jorbin’s site: WP Book Club Week 1. While you’re sharpening your skills, check recent core updates, explore new plugins that boost editorial workflows, and don’t miss community highlights from local meetups. Got a favorite learning resource on PHP, JS, or Gutenberg? Hit reply and we’ll feature it next issue. ## ✅ Action Items: Prompt for aligning articles with your Developer Advocate/OSPO trajectory: “Analyze how this article advances open-source advocacy, contributor engagement, and education within the WordPress ecosystem. Identify: - Advocacy: Which open source values are modeled (e.g., transparency, collaboration, sustainability)? How can these be amplified in corporate OSPOs? - Contributor Onboarding: What practices lower barriers (e.g., popcorn intros, make-space norm)? Propose adaptations for contributor days, mentorship cohorts, and first-issue programs. - Education/Instructional Design: Which learning strategies appear (social learning, reflective blogging, scaffolded prompts)? Map to curricula for PHP/JS/Git and community workshops. - Sustainability & Funding: How could post-session blogging and public reflections support funding narratives (impact reports, community metrics)? - Inclusivity & Transparency: Evaluate camera policy, assumption of good intent, and anti-overlapping guidance; recommend codified codes of conduct and facilitation guidelines. - OSPO Readiness: Translate the session format into an OSPO playbook entry (objectives, norms, facilitation, measurement) to scale culture across teams. - Stage-to-Strategy: Suggest talks and internal trainings connecting these practices to measurable outcomes (retention, PR velocity, docs quality).” ## 🧪 Hypotheses: - Establishing explicit inclusive norms increases speaking equity and participant satisfaction in OSS book clubs. - Encouraging post-event blogging increases retention of concepts and subsequent community contributions. - Participant-generated questions yield more practical “transfer” to non-OSS workplaces than facilitator-only prompts. - Camera-on encouragement (without pressure) improves perceived connection without harming psychological safety. ### 📊 Methodology: - Mixed-methods cohort study across multiple sessions: - Data sources: speaking time analytics, participation counts, sentiment surveys, blog post counts/quality, follow-on contributions (issues, PRs). - Design: A/B compare sessions with - Summary: If you signed up on the original post, you will also receive this info in an email. For week one of a WordPress Book Club, we will be discussing the Preface and Chapter 1. Introduction. To start the club, we are going to do introductions. I’ll ask everyone to share their name and how long they have been involved […] - URL: https://aaron.jorb.in/wp-book-club-week-1/ *If you signed up on the [original post](https://aaron.jorb.in/a-wordpress-book-club/), you will also receive this info in an email.* For week one of a [WordPress Book Club](https://aaron.jorb.in/a-wordpress-book-club/), we will be discussing the [Preface](https://producingoss.com/en/preface.html) and [Chapter 1. Introduction](https://producingoss.com/en/introduction.html). To start the club, we are going to do introductions. I’ll ask everyone to share their name and how long they have been involved in open source. We’ll do this [popcorn style](https://www.facilitator.school/glossary/popcorn-style). Next I’ll quickly review some norms for this club: * **Make Space** for each other — Be conscious of how much you are speaking and encourage others to speak as well. While [cooperative overlapping](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/25/opinion/interrupting-cooperative-overlapping.html?searchResultPosition=1) is a conversation style that is natural to some, it’s one we should avoid in this context. * Approach this club with **enthusiastic collaboration** — This is a phrase that I stole from the preface and is one of the ways that the author describes the unique culture of open source. In this context the phrase means to me that everyone is coming with a positive attitude and a desire to share and learn. We will all assume good intent since everyone is approaching this with good intent. * **Camera On by default**, no questions asked if camera is off — It’s easier and more engaging if we can see each other, so I want to encourage you to have your camera on, but there are also a multitude of reasons that you may want it off. You don’t need to explain why your camera is off, but if you can, please turn it on. After that we will get to the meat of the session, and discuss these two sections. I’ll bring a few questions to help get the discussion flowing, but I would also love if folks brought their own as well. Since the majority of participants don’t work in open source day in and day out, I expect some questions to be about ways to apply our learnings outside open source. Finally, I am going to encourage everyone to spend some time blogging their thoughts after the discussion. This can be a reaction to something you read or something discussed. It can be notes you took while reading, but I would like to encourage blogging. Some content could not be imported from the original document. [View content ↗](https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.9.1#blog_id=198797476&post_id=239215&origin=aaron.jorb.in&obj_id=198797476-239215-68b6ed0237000), WP Book Club Week 1, jorbin, 01k458vtrksb049kg56v3wm7ed.