Author: Christie Koehler

software engineer, geek, yoga practitioner, bike commuter, zen buddhist, queer, vegan, legion of tech board member, osbridge planner, engineer@ShopIgniter

At OSCON All Next Week

I’ll be at OSCON all next week. I’m very much looking forward to giving our workshop, Event Planning for Geeks. And, it’s on the first day of the conference, which means once we’re done, I get to relax and just enjoy the rest of the conference. Oh, what a nice break it will be to simply attend an event, rather than be one of the organizers.

If you’re planning to attend, and would like to connect, please do get in touch. You can find my info in the attendee directory.

Also, be sure to stop by the non-profit pavilion of the Expo Hall, where the Stumptown Syndicate will have a booth.

The Expo hall is open during the following times:

  • Tuesday, 7/17: 5:00pm – 6:00pm (Opening Reception)
  • Wednesday, 7/18: 10:00am 4:30pm, 5:40pm – 7:00pm (Booth Crawl)
  • Thursday, 7/19: 10:00am – 5:00pm

If you don’t already have a ticket for OSCON, use the code OS12FOS for a 20% discount, or register for a free Expo hall pass.

And, we’re still looking for a few volunteers to help staff our booth. If you’re interested in helping for an hour or two, let me know.

Oh, and will also attend at least part of this weekend’s Community Leadership Summit.

Mozilla Now Has Guidelines for Community Participation

Mitchell Baker announced today on mozilla.governance that Community Participation Guidelines have been posted.

While I remain critical of the version that has been put forth (for reasons I don’t have time to articulate now, but will try to later), I recognize adoption of any standard for participation as a step in the right direction.

Thank you to all those involved in moving this forward and getting it published.

Note: If you haven’t been following this issue, read my previous posts on the subject here and here.

To the Anonymous Mozilla Member Making Threats on My Blog

Update (31 December 2016): This person was identified easily via their IP address, which matched that of one used regularly by a Mozilla staff member. After a protracted effort on my part, our head of HR assured me the person had been appropriately reprimanded. (As was I, incidentally, for not being able to “work things out” with this person.) I left Mozilla in August 2015. The staff member who threatened me, on the other hand, was rewarded with a promotion and now manages a team of seven people. 

I’m not going to publish any of your comments, so you might as well stop leaving them. Also, you’ve been reported to Mozilla leadership.

I will, however, share this bit with everyone here so they understand what kind of crap I and others receive simply for speaking out about the issues that are important to us.

mozilla@member.com writes (emphasis mine):

Or, to put it another way, we don’t want you two around, really. You’ve spent months creating drama and attacking anyone who disagrees with you in the most passive-aggressive “I’m a poor victim” fashion.

Feel free to find the door to more perfect folks who agree with your politics and allowed means of expression.

Still No Code of Conduct at Mozilla

It’s been nearly four months since events at Mozilla lead several of us to call for adoption of a code of conduct. And yet we do not have one.

I can’t tell if progress is stalled, or if we’re just not hearing of updates. The last post to mozilla.governance on the topic occurred in early May. What’s going on? Why does this appear to be a non-priority for our leadership?

Regardless of the reasons, four months is a long time to wait for something that was long overdue to begin with. It’s a long time to wait to have reassurance from my community that I, and others like me, are welcome, and that discriminatory behavior against us will not be tolerated.

Language Matters: Stop Using “Guys” to Address Mix-Gender Groups

Hi guys. Hey guys. You guys.

Several times a day, in the course of normal workplace communication, I receive messages addressed in the manner indicated above. And I’d like it to stop. I’m not a guy, and don’t want to be referred to as such. Furthermore, every time I read “you guys” I am reminded of my minority status in an industry that is predominantly male.

I would have the same reaction if I were addressed in group email or conversation as boys, or dudes or men. These descriptions aren’t any more accurate than using gals, women, ladies, or girls would be.

I realize that to many it’s perfectly acceptable to refer to a mixed-gender group of people as “guys.” I’m asserting that it’s a terrible habit and requesting that those of you who are accustomed to using it begin using alternative, truly gender-neutral words.

For example:

  • If you’re addressing something to one or two people, try just using their names!
  • If you’re addressing a group of people, use any of the following: team, y’all, folks, everyone.

(Please comment if you have other alternatives, and I’ll update my post accordingly.)

I understand how ingrained the “guys” habit might be for some of you. It was for me. After several months of concerted, conscious effort, I still slip and say it on occasion. But the best way to get rid of old habits, is to practice new ones. Start with email, where you have time to re-read and edit. Then move on to speech. If you say it out loud, correct yourself.

I’m not sure when I started paying attention to this particular construct. It was sometime over the last year, if not longer ago. And it was a result of my gaining more knowledge and experience with issues around gender minorities in tech. It might sound trivial to you, but language matters. We should focus on promoting language of inclusion, and eliminating that of exclusion.

Thoughts for Year 32

Celebrating the start of year 32
Celebrating the start of year 32

I have to say, life right now is pretty good. I’m spending my birthday weekend in one of the most beautiful areas of the country, with my lovely wife, and our awesome dog. Last night we celebrated by sharing a vegan chocolate mini cake we happened to find at the Whole Foods here. We both have steady incomes, and a home we own. Materially, we want for very little.

Around each of these last few birthdays — probably since I turned 30 — some part of me feels very amazed that I am still alive, that I’ve lived to be this old.

But here I am. And I’m thankful for that.

So what do I hope the next year to be like?

I want to get my asthma under control. I’m tired of coughing all of the time. I’m tired of not sleeping through the night. I miss biking and running and strenuous physical activity.

I want to find another house for us to live in. One that provides more room, where Sherri’s mom can come live with us and where we can control the environmental allergens better (allergies to dust mites and soil mold are the main cause of my asthma).

I want to continue working on the Stumptown Syndicate activities I love, including Open Source Bridge and BarCamp. We’ve made a lot of progress this year, and I think we can make even more progress during the next.

Lastly, I want to have more adventures this year. Admittedly, Sherri and I both work too much. Between our full time tech jobs and our community work, we hardly take any time off. I’d like to work on changing this and I’d like to do so by exploring more of the beautiful Pacific Northwest and by taking a more extended vacation. We’ve been brainstorming ideas, but haven’t settled on anything yet. A vegan cruise. An Alaskan cruise. Driving through the Southwest to the Grand Canyon. Returning to see more of Hawaii.

I think this next year is going to be a good one.

“Donation” vs “Contribution,” Payment Processors, the IRS and Your Organization

Nota bene: the information herein is US-specific as that is where my experience lies. Also, I’m not an attorney or an accountant and the information below does not constitute professional advice.

Occasionally I am asked when its okay to use the words ‘donation’ and ‘contribution’ when soliciting money from supports of a project or organization. The answer is a bit complicated, but useful information for both non-profits, for-profit entities, individuals and unincorporated associations, so I’m publishing it here.

For the most part “contribution” and “donation” can be used interchangeably. The IRS doesn’t actually care what word you use when soliciting money from supporters of your project, regardless of its legal structure.

However, a lot of people understand “donation” to mean “tax-deductible charitable contribution.” Because of this, payment processors like Google and PayPal have added their own restrictions about how you can use the word.

PayPal

PayPal doesn’t place restrictions on individuals or non-tax-exempt organizations using the word ‘donation,’ provided you are not doing so with a non-profit account. Non-profit PayPal accounts benefit from special rates. As such, to have a non-profit account, you have to have non-profit status with the IRS.

Unfortunately, PayPal doesn’t recognize state-level non-profit status. This creates a confusing grey area for organizations incorporated as non-profits at the state level. So, as long as you have an individual or business PayPal account, you are perfectly able to use the word ‘donation.’

Google Checkout (now Wallet)

Google, however, is much more restrictive. They specifically prohibit you from using the word ‘donation’ unless you are a 501(c)(3) or (c)(6) and have your determination letter from the IRS.

I can’t say for certain why they do this, but my guess it’s to save themselves the headache of having to deal with unhappy contributors who thought that their contributions would be tax-deductible.

Instead, they ask that you use the word ‘support.’ We have also successfully been using ‘contribute.’

Cash Contributions

If you’re taking cash from folks at an event, I generally think it’s fine to use either donation or contribution.

However, you should consider making clear two things: a) whether or not the contributions are tax-deductible, and b) what the funds will be used for. My recommendation for b) is to always say that they go into the org’s general fund, or to the org as a whole. That way you avoid entirely the impression of restricted contributions. Legal statues around restricted funds really only apples to non-profits, I believe, but it’s just a good practice to be clear and honest about where supports’ contributions are going.

Summary

If your donations to your organization are not tax-deductible, I recommend getting in the habit of using either ‘contribute’ or ‘support’ to avoid any confusion or trouble with payment processors.

Also, if people are interested, I can write about how to have your accounts unfrozen with PayPal and Google if you’ve happened to have messed up with them and used ‘donation’ in a way they didn’t like.

Event Planning for Geeks Workshop to Debut at OSCON 2012


This summer, Sherri, Audrey and I will debut our Event Planning for Geeks workshop at OSCON. We gave a very successful session on this topic at last year’s OSCON and decided to scale it up to be a three-hour interactive workshop.

I’ve included the description and abstract below, or you can read about it on the OSCON schedule. If you’re planning to attend OSCON, but haven’t yet purchased your ticket, use the code OS12FOS to receive 20% off your ticket price.

Description

A fun, comprehensive tutorial on how to host a successful code sprint, hackathon, (un)conference or workshop.

Abstract

Event Planning for Geeks is back with even more resources for event organizers from beginners on up! We’ve expanded our successful talk from last year’s OSCON into a full three-hour workshop.

If you’ve ever thought about hosting a code sprint, hackathon, (un)conference or workshop, this talk is for you. We’ll give you an overview of what you need to know to execute a successful event, including:

  • assembling and organizing your planning team
  • identifying and securing a venue for your event
  • how to get money and pay for things
  • volunteer recruitment and management
  • determining your event format and creating your event’s schedule
  • advertising your event
  • tickets and registration
  • insurance, liability and what to do when things go wrong
  • deciding on must haves and nice-to-haves (e.g. food, wifi, etc)
  • dealing with venue logistics (space, sound, power, etc.)
  • codes of conduct, after parties, considerations for serving alcohol
  • how to keep the momentum once your first event is over

Attendees will also receive copies of our event planning handbook and links to examples of how we run specific events like Open Source Bridge, Ignite Portland and BarCamp Portland.