[commops] FLOCK 2016 CommOps Workshop : Election Related Discussion Summary

[Bhagyashree Uday]

Hi ,

This is a summary of the Election-related discussion we had in the CommOps
workshop in FLOCK 2016. We were starting to discuss some of these ideas and
how we can implement them for the next election. We thought you'd be
interested in some of these points and we could start working together on
creating a plan for the next elections cycle based on this feedback. The
notes follow below:

Overall, there was a wish for increased focus on improving interaction
between candidates and community members. Some of this could be by
improving how questions are submitted for interviews and using tools to
help motivate voting without putting too much strain on a single person
(i.e. automating them).

*New ways to encourage questions*

   - Utilizing social media as a way for the user community to participate
   in the elections (since anyone with a FAS account could participate in the
   Council elections)


   - Comments on Community Blog for taking questions. The questions could
   then be taken out of the comments and into wiki (if this is communicated
   to the community ahead of time, maybe its own post?)

*Visual Summary of all Candidate Interviews*

   - Improved format for "what kind of issues" at the table


   - Chart / table for where candidates fall on some of these issues or
   topics (even as simple as Y/N with links to full interview?)


*Sending surveys after election for feedback and suggestions*

   - Measuring voter satisfaction over what was successful and what was
   ineffective


   - For Survey collecting tools / follow-up with Diversity Team


   - Open vs. closed tools, what options are available


*"I voted!" badge*

   - Privacy concerns ? Why hasn't this been implemented yet ?


   - Awarding the badge during / after election to encourage people to vote


   - If the badge is awarded during the elections, it encourages voting
   immediately?


   - Utilizing fedmsg to deliver the badge


   - One or per release cycle

*Sending statistics related to voting metrics daily to improve voter
turnout and keep contributors engaged*

   - There was a peak in number of voters on the first and the last day
   when reminders were sent out.


   - On these lines, if we could send mails with # of voters per day, it
   could perhaps help


*Pre-Election Promotion*

   - Teaser article on Magazine about elections


   - Done in Dec. 2015, but not June 2016 (one thing that maybe impacted
   lower turnout in June?)


   - Promotional piece about elections, what it means,


These are some of the ideas we collected at the workshop. We would be
interested in knowing what you all think of this or what some of your ideas
are based on this feedback.

Thanks!

Cheers,

Justin and Bee