Hackathons/Handbook/Mentoring program

A good way to make your event newcomer friendly is by implementing the Mentoring program for your hackathon.

Related chapter: Newcomers

Definition: What is the Mentoring Program?
The mentoring program is a more guided approach to onboard newcomers. It leans on the help of experienced Wikimedians who will be at the hackathon exclusively as mentors. The focus is to welcome more newcomers into the community, by introducing them to the different aspects of working with MediaWiki, and help them achieve their own first steps during the hackathon weekend. Additionally, we want to create a welcoming social atmosphere, so we can further diversity and growth in our community.

Mentors
Experienced developers or MediaWiki maintainers who enjoy working with beginners, are open and patient and like to help. They will come up with newcomer-friendly projects and ideas and, during the whole weekend, work with groups of about two to six newcomers, to help them with the whole onboarding process, and make their way into the great Wikimedia tech community as easy and as much fun as possible. Note that nobody should ever feel forced to be a mentor – this is a strictly voluntary role, but can be taken up by both Wikimedia employees and volunteer developers. (See chapter: Volunteer roles)

A mentor is not a buddy: Read more about the buddy system below. It's advised to actively avoid the use of the term "buddy" in the Mentoring Program, as a way to distinguish the guided mentoring role from the self-organized buddy-role and also demonstrate the differences in the roles (being a mentor requires more commitment than being a buddy). It will certainly happen that participants and maybe also team uses this term, and it’s of course no problem, but let’s not use it in our official communication to avoid confusion!

A mentor is not a host (See: Volunteer roles)

A mentor follows the mentoring guide. (see below)

Newcomers
(a.k.a. mentees) are the ones we do this program for: They will work with the mentors on projects, if they choose to join the Mentoring Program (generally, most newcomers do, unless they already come with a group/ project idea).

Depending on your event and the participants, you will have different sizes of mentor-newcomer teams. Ideally, each mentor teams up with about 1-4 newcomers.

The Mentoring Program coordinator(s)
He/she/they will develop the program to fit to the specific event, recruit mentors before the event and make sure that they have the structure to work: Coordinate their efforts before and during the event, provide a framework where mentors and newcomers can find each other, and help them get what they need.

History: This program builds on lessons learned
The Mentoring Program (in the above definition) was first implemented at the Wikimedia Hackathon 2017 Vienna.

The Buddy System
The first initiative for newcomers, the Buddy System, was introduced at the Wikimedia Hackathon 2015 in Lyon.

A buddy is defined as an experienced user who is willing to help out newcomers. One-on-one ratio was planned; being a buddy was not exclusive to doing your own work. The guidelines for buddies were rather wide. The organization process was left to be mostly self-organized. Buddies and newcomers could register on a mediawiki page, as “looking for a buddy” or “confirmed buddy”. While the idea to help newcomers was appreciated, the process felt a forced for some, esp. WMF employees, others were a bit lost. Suggestions for improvements called for an improved pairing process (e.g. based on projects, not people, and giving people the option to switch), guidelines for best practices (how to be a good buddy) and managing expectations in advance. (Link to lessons learned from Lyon 2015)

The mentoring program is being developed to be a more guided, documented, and participatory process.

The buddy system was used again at other hackathons. While it changed a bit for each event, the basics stayed the same as in Lyon: suggestions rather than concrete guidelines, during the event always self-organized by buddies/newcomers and not managed by the event team.
 * Hackathon at Wikimania 2015 Mexico City
 * Link to their paragraph on buddies


 * Wikimedia Hackathon 2016 Jerusalem
 * Pre-hackathons/ install-parties were held
 * Special design: separate badges for newcomers (Stormtrooper) and experienced users (Darth Vader).


 * Hackathon at Wikimania 2016 Esino Lario
 * email to mentors (5 days before event), email to newcomers (5 days before event)
 * Newcomers were given resources (link to instructions on how to use phabricator, how to become a MediaWiki hacker, required laptop setup) and infos (basic technical knowledge is required; come to the opening ceremony to find a project)
 * Mentors were asked to: sign up for an introductory talk, develop ideas suitable for newcomers and volunteer at the helpdesk, present their projects at the opening ceremony, prepare little task and add #easy tag to projects on phabricator, be generally welcoming.


 * Wikimedia Conference 2017 (March/April) in Berlin
 * They had a buddy project - page on the conference wiki, and placards during the conference
 * Special design, used on placards and stickers for name badges: (grown dinosaur for experienced users, hatching dino for newcomers)
 * WMDE staff managed the pairing. Buddies and newcomers met at the pre-conference or at the first evening.

Make a list of people who want to be mentors

 * Make a spreadsheet of people who marked themselves as mentors in the registration form
 * and a separate one who registered as newcomers - do this as soon as registration is closed!
 * Treat WMF employees same as volunteer developers

Establish a core mentor team for your first line of approach

 * These are people you personally know to be definitely qualified for the mentoring program - regarding technical skills but more over motivation to teach and social skills
 * They will help you shape the outline of possible projects
 * If you have pre-hackathons in your local area, mentors of those should be in the core team
 * Get a list of suggestions from WMF team

Send Email(s) to mentors
Example: Wikimedia Hackathon 2017/Mentoring Program

Create Form for them to fill out as a first participatory action
Questions to ask:
 * What’s your T-shirt size? :)
 * Do you already have experience with tutoring/ mentoring?
 * Do you already have any ideas for projects? If so, please outline them here in one sentence/ keywords (writing a simple bot, writing an extension, etc.) and put them up on phabricator.

Send at least 3 emails to mentors
The preparation requires a committed coordinator who can take the time to write and reply to emails in a personalized way.

Have a guide for mentors for the hackathon
use the mentoring guide below or adapt it to your needs

Make it a point to appreciate mentors for their engagement as often as possible

 * Tell them how much you value their commitment, and show that we appreciate their role as heart of the initiative to get more newcomers on board
 * Show their special status at the event (e.g. at the Wikimedia Hackathon 2017 Vienna, mentors were given a T-shirt with an owl motive)
 * Introduce them during opening ceremony, invite them up to the stage, with special cheers
 * Special token of appreciation: a special gift given to them at the closing ceremony (e.g. at the Wikimedia Hackathon 2017 Vienna, mentors were given a special silver coin at the closing ceremony)
 * Round of applause for them during closing ceremony, too

Share all the info you already have at a ‘Mentoring Program’ sub-site on your event page
This page should contain:
 * make this your landing page for mentors and newcomers and other participants alike.
 * This prepares both mentors and newcomers in advance!
 * Also, it stresses the importance of this program, with regular participants too, and it makes the whole program more visible and transparent.
 * Mission statement
 * Definition of the mentoring program and why it’s important to us
 * Lists of confirmed mentors
 * So newcomers can look it over to meet them in advance
 * Mentors can add a description of themselves, or a quote, and their contact details if they like


 * Link to possible projects on features projects page in MediaWiki
 * Resources for newcomers
 * Schedule of mentoring program during the hackathon

Templates and examples for a Mentoring Program landing page:
 * Opening ceremony together, then mentors and newcomers will go to separate room to meet each other and get acquainted, afterwards they separate into groups to work on projects.
 * Develop this in close cooperation with WMF Developer Relations team
 * for a more detailed description of the schedule, see below
 * Wikimedia Hackathon 2017/Mentoring Program

Send Email(s) to newcomers

 * Prepare them by giving them information: This is how the mentoring program will go down, have a look at the landing page: These are your technical requirements.
 * Invite them to tag themselves as newcomers in participants list – mentors can use this information to prepare
 * Example: Wikimedia Hackathon 2017/Mentoring Program

Set up communication channel for mentors

 * So they can prepare and meet among each other, share experiences etc.
 * Beneficial for team-building spirit and fun
 * Use a mailing list (suggestion for improvement after Wikimedia Hackathon 2017 Vienna)
 * Use Telegram group chat:
 * Telegram Group Chat for mentors and newcomers: https://t.me/wmhackmentoring
 * Telegram Group Chat for mentors only (invitation required)

Actual matching takes place on the first day of the hackathon
'''When? Day 1, for 2 hours right after the opening'''

'''Where? Ideally in the same room as the opening!''' Anticipating potential problems: What if there are too many people in one group and too few people in other groups? Solution: Mentors will have to be flexible. If there are too many people in one group, they can either split up or …?
 * Do not assign people like on blind dates - let them choose for themselves.
 * On the first day of the hackathon, newcomers and mentors will meet in person before choosing to work together for 3 days.
 * Make this meeting nice and friendly, with a get-to-know-each-other part like during the pre-hackathons.
 * A time slot of 2 hrs after the opening ceremony should be set aside for this.
 * Mentoring program coordinator should come up with a detailed program for this slot.
 * Mentors will pitch their projects, and newcomers will sort themselves according to interests.

Improve the matching process
At the Wikimedia Hackathon 2017 Vienna, the Mentoring Program was first tried out. While the program went well and got good feedback, an area for improvement is the matching process.

Some mentors could not find newcomers.

maybe make a poster: "floating mentors" / "unassigned mentors"

this should happen in the registration: have a few questions to segment newcomers

Success Stories going well, we had a concrete target, we teamed up with other mentors, we stepped on community requests, there was already a phabricator task on that

it's important to be on the lookout for potential newcomers to mentor

maybe before have a session to find out what the participants want? > after this is clear, you can direct them to mentors

in advance prep is necessary: cluster projects and mentors an advance

like the presentations we had in the morging on friday, we do this in advacne and then group projects in advance

Schedule sessions for beginners
Prepare sessions like
 * Introduction to Phabricator
 * MediaWiki Extensions
 * Have an install party for MediaWiki on the first day (and optionally, on day 2 and day 3, too)

Send frequent updates via Telegram and IRC, important info via email
More important things should be sent via email (maximum once per day)

The connection between mentors is really important for the program to work well!

Have a designated Mentoring Area
As a working space, but also as a place where mentors and newcomers can meet.

Set it up in the big hacking space or in a separate room - it should be accessible and inviting.

Make a sign that says "Mentoring Area" and hang it up!

Have mentors visibly stand out, so that newcomers can find them easily
With a brightly colored item. Ideas:
 * T-shirt
 * Sache
 * Cape
 * Hawaiian leis
 * Mardi gras beads
 * Hat

Have short, frequent meetings with mentors + newcomers

 * Have newcomers and mentors start the day together: Just a brief, 10 minute good morning, time to ask questions and find each other
 * Collect feedback from mentors in the evening at a mentor meeting - maybe you can implement ideas for improvement right away?

Info-Bar
A bar, like an info-desk, where newcomers or anyone with questions can walk up and get information. It would be staffed by mentors, who do shifts.

More install parties
Have an install party not only on the first day, but also on day 2 and day 3.

Timeline to coordinate the Mentoring Program
The mentoring program coordinator should adjust this timeline to the needs of your specific event.

4 weeks before the hackathon

 * Mentoring Program landing page is up on event wiki
 * Potential mentors got first email
 * First Phabricator projects are started (coordinate with WMF Developer Relations team)

3 weeks before the hackathon

 * potential mentors have responded
 * Mentoring Program landing page is updated with these infos:
 * How to create projects on phabricator
 * More info on the Schedule/ process of the program
 * These people will be your mentors
 * 1st email to newcomers is sent
 * More projects appear on phabricator

2 weeks before the hackathon

 * More mentors will respond
 * Communication channel for mentors is set up

1 week before the hackathon

 * Mentors have their projects ready
 * Final follow ups

Day before the hackathon

 * have a first mentor meeting to go over everything in person

During the hackathon

 * After opening, newcomer and mentor session starts
 * Document process as detailed as possible
 * Mentoring Program coordinator helps mentors out actively: ask them what they need, how we can facilitate their work
 * Mentors should be credited during opening and closing ceremony
 * Mentor-newcomer meeting once every morning, to start the day together
 * Mentor-meeting once every evening, for supervision and feedback

After the hackathon

 * Collect feedback
 * Document lessons learned
 * Maintain network via established communication channels
 * Local newcomers in your area: follow up event

Mentoring Guide
''As a mentor, you are the heart of the initiative for newcomers in the movement. In order to make the mentoring program work as best as we can, we are establishing this guide. We will need all of your feedback and learnings to improve the program in general, and this guide in particular – we are excited to do this with you. The goal of this guide is to help you being well prepared, and to give you options and inspirations to draw from.''

''This guide is focused on creating a friendly and open environment for learners of all sorts – but also for you, the mentors, yourselves. This guide strives to help with making everyone feel comfortable, to have a pleasant learning and mentoring experience, as well as having a great weekend together.''

Building on lessons learned

With this guide, we are building on lessons learned from previous newcomer-initiatives, mainly the buddy system, which was first introduced at the Wikimedia Hackathon 2015. While the idea to help newcomers was appreciated, the process felt a forced for some, while others were a bit lost. Suggestions for improvements called for an improved pairing process (e.g. based on projects, not people, and giving people the option to switch), guidelines for best practices and managing expectations in advance. With this guide, we are trying to make due on that. (Read the full lessons learned from Lyon 2015.)

Sources for this guide

This mentoring guide is built from the Open Tech School coaching guide (CC BY-SA 3.0 Open Tech School), which itself roots in the RailsBridge teaching style (CC BY 3.0 RailsBridge). Additionally, we draw from the Django Girls Coaching Manual (CC BY-SA 4.0 Django Girls), the Rails Girls Guide for Coaches (CC BY-SA 3.0 Rails Girls) and the Jugend hackt Handbuch (CC BY 4.0 Paula Glaser, Maria Reimer, Daniel Seitz for OKF DE and mediale pfade.org). All of these links are excellent sources if you want to dig deeper into the art of mentoring.

Mentoring isn't teaching…

in the sense that mentors are not standing in front and teaching a class.

Mentors... Creating a friendly environment
 * Stand by on the sidelines
 * Are right there when needed
 * Focus on the learners
 * Have sympathy for their (in-)abilities
 * Encourage learners to go further through positive motivation
 * And ensure they have fun doing it.

Atmosphere Encouragement Questions Questions are good! Responding to questions
 * Smile
 * Make eye contact
 * Admit when you don't know something
 * Be kind and friendly
 * Use their name (on the name tags)
 * Tell learners it's ok to make mistakes
 * And to take breaks when it gets frustrating
 * Assume everyone you're mentoring has zero knowledge but infinite intelligence
 * Use normal language instead of slang
 * Make sure the learner understood what you said...
 * ...and explain it again differently if that's not the case
 * Encourage learners to play around on their own
 * Whatever they do is great!
 * Look around to see if someone else might be having trouble
 * They might just be afraid to ask
 * Come by once in awhile and ask: “Hey, how is it going? Anything I can help you with?”
 * This is a very powerful tool: It helps shy learners, builds rapport and increases engagement.
 * Another trick: Sit next to them and chat about what they are doing.
 * Get people comfortable asking questions
 * Emphasize that there is no such thing as "dumb" questions
 * Ask if learners have any questions
 * Give other learners the chance to try to answer that question
 * Coding is collaboration — make sure learners understand that

Chances are, there is a specific question when the learner asks you to help them. How do you respond? Pacing Be encouraging Don'ts
 * Positively:
 * "I’m glad you asked that."
 * "What an interesting question!"
 * "Great question!"
 * "Hm, I'm not sure... Let's look in the Internet/ask someone else."
 * If in doubt: blame the material, never the learner.
 * Their interpretation of the material might be as good as ours!
 * This is not about you, but about the learner. We go at their pace.
 * Everyone learns at their own pace. That's a good thing!
 * Talk sssssslllllloooooowwwwwwllllllyyyyyyyy.
 * Wait much longer than you feel is comfortable for questions/comments (count to 10 in your head)
 * Don't accept any learner saying they are too whatever to do it, answer that they can do it.
 * Congratulate people on their achievements, take some time to let them show them to you.
 * If people get off the path but have fun, encourage them to go on.
 * Encourage learners to show their work to others: invite them to present at the showcase at the end, or to show their stuff to other participants during the event. Tell them twice. Or three times. Whatever it takes.

A few things we are not doing: Their keyboard – it is made of lava! We do not discuss programming languages
 * We do not hit on anyone or make sexually suggestive remarks
 * We do not roll our eyes or laugh at questions
 * We do not use the time to advertise our own companies/jobs/ourselves
 * We do not pick on or make fun of anyone or anything
 * We do not debate which programming language, methods or technologies are "better"
 * We do not touch their keyboard
 * Learners don't benefit from you taking over their keyboard.
 * Don't touch it.
 * If you absolutely, ultimately must type something on their computer — chances are you don't —, ask whether that is okay with them.
 * And explain what you are doing.

Doing so confuses learners. In the tech community we have some strong opinions and our ways to express them, but for people new to it, this can quickly look like a huge fight. We do not fight each other!

“We are here to mentor you in this programming language/method/technology and that is the focus for this event.”

Thank you for being a mentor at the Wikimedia Hackathon!