"Maptime, Motherhood and Martyrdom: When Running an Open Source Community Becomes Too Much."
      By: Beth Schechter.
      >> Good morning, everyone.  Good morning.  Please welcome Beth Schechter.
      [Applause]
      >> Now is it on?  Okay.  Hi, my name is Beth Schechter, these days I work as a curriculum developer for a company call skill crush and we make CSS lessons and JavaScript lessons and all kinds of stuff.  But once upon a time I used to do something different.  I worked for a company called statement design which some of you may have heard of doing business development and writing proposals and that kind of thing and one year I decided to go to my very first State of the Map, it was 2013, and I didn't know anybody in the mapping community, but I found myself in a talk -- which is the same talk I met Allan, who is here somewhere, but Alyssa was talking about the decimal number of women in the mapping community, and I was, like, this is stupid, I don't like this, I'm going to change this.  I sent out what I thought was a casual e-mail to some friends being, like, hey, let's work together for map tutorials let's meet at stamen, and it will be fun and very quickly it became this bona fide thing and there was a waiting list and it was exciting and on the other hand it was like reading a pregnancy test and being, like, oh.  Oh, I didn't know that those kinds of activities would lead to this.
      [Laughter]
      Now I am pregnant with a child.  This is very interesting.  And, you know, my children quickly just, like, propagated all over the country aside like a pox but very delightful pox and people were really, really excited about.  You know, and people say, oh, you're never really ready to be a parent, so I was, like, oh, I guess that's true for organizations too.  But at the same time I was, like, oh, my god I have this, like, baby, and I'm totally not prepared to have this baby.  This very large now international baby.  But luckily I wasn't alone, I had a lot of help, so I have these really wonderful cofounders, Allan, Lyzi and Camille who were, like, yeah, going to help you, Allan was great and all helped me organize all of them are better at Twitter than I am, which is great and we also had Eric who helped at stamen, I didn't realize what a gift that was until later and also snacks and paying for stickers, which are more expensive than you think.  And also the Maptime community all of you in the Maptime helped out and what we thought were big questions when the, you know, organization started.  In 2015, the first year after I've been to State of the Map and seen Alyssa gave that talk we decided to do birds of the feather in DC and asked her all of these questions, like, what is Maptime?  What is okay to map tile?  What is not okay to Maptime?  And we worked with the community for these questions and at the time we thought they were big questions but then we got to the really big questions, like, okay.  What are we really doing here?  Is this a free and open source project or a for profit company?  Do you do a 501(c)(3) or benefit core?  Who owns Maptime?  This thing that I sort of gave birth to and then it became its own entity, should we do membership?  My god what a pain in the ass that sounds like.  And also what about sponsorship?  Is it possible to have sponsorship from companies like Mapbox or anybody without having an inherit bias towards that company and what does that mean as a educational institution -- not even institution.  Institution is a strong word.  But what does that mean toward group that wants to teach all open source map making.  So at this point I just felt like a very overwhelmed mother, my child was crying, I don't even know what to do.  So I tried to just tell myself it's all just one big learning experience; right?  Like, map is about learning, I just going to keep learning.  And I did, I learned really wonderful lessons through Maptime.  One of the first example lessons is don't make an admin -- don't maybe everyone an admin to your GitHub account, which we learned was bad when the GitHub account got deleted by accident when somebody was, like, oh, I want to delete repo?  I don't know what that is.  Okay.  Sure.  So don't do that.  Luckily I don't know who it was at GitHub who saved us.  Someone at GitHub saved us and brought it back, which was great.  Example two, if you ask for money, which I did at another Maptime talk, far more cheerful Maptime talk, which is normally how these things go, know how much you need before asking.  Someone was, like, how much do you need?  And I was, like, I don't know.  Talk to me later.  It would have been also helpful if I had a bank account.  So clearly, you know, the proverbial shift was not together.
      And then, you know, there's a another big lesson that I learned which is if you have to start a business in California and move to Oregon and you don't have a bank account set up and do a lot of really crappy paperwork and end up with a bank account as well and apply for a 501(c)(3) status and meet up with Slack and meet up all the time.  And all things that chapter ask for, like, oh, my god it's really expensive.  And I'm, like, I know.  I'm sorry.  I don't know what I'm doing.  I know that I've been pretending like I have for a long time, but I don't.  So this has led me to this very simple equation, which is, you know, still figuring out logistics and move to a new state and start new and more demanding than a job, you buy a house and move with your partner for the first time and have a dark and rainy winter which Portland is known for and also go out and find personal stuff that your mom's not breathing for a couple of minutes and then try an open source community, you will end up with complete and total burn out.  This is what the recipe looks like.  So, in addition to burn out, I started having these feelings of just, like, total and complete failure.  This is an image from the crossroads if you haven't read it, you must, you should read it.  And I was, like, I am a total failure.  Like, for real.  I just thought -- this was basically me.  This is a portrait of me in winter of 2016 earlier this year.  I was really just, like, down in the dumps and was, like, I don't know how to do all of this.
      So I -- but I did what any good completely stressed out person would do, and I went to the Internet, which had some really bad advice actually.  But then also some good advice.  And if you end up Googling something like open source community and burn out, actually you'll find on the first page is a talk by Kathleen Danielson, which is someone in the geo community a couple of years ago talking about burnout.  It's, like, oh, my gosh this person had already predicted everything that was going to happen to me.  And she has this great talk that's, like, how to prevent burnout.  Maybe I should listen to that part.  And also, like, how do you respond when you really are burnt out?  So step back and identify the cause, completely overwhelmed.  Talk to people when you're ready.  Which I did.  I'm really grateful to Kate Chapman and Seth Simmons and actually of the Maptime community who are here because I was holding onto this feeling just like it was my dirty little secret.  I was, like, I don't want anyone to know that I'm dying inside.  But, you know, it turns out that people can see that all over your face and I'm not very good at hiding things anyway.  And the amazing thing that happened when I talked to all of these people in addition to Seth being, like, oh, you should just write the -- you should submit a talk to the State of the Map and today and here I am.  And they said you are not alone.  This thing happens to a lot of people when they run open source communities.  It's, like, burn out is a thing.  It's really hard to do this work on top of your full-time job.  Again, which is why I realized that what stamen had really given me, which was time to work on Maptime and time to work on Maptime is this really wonderful beautiful thing.  So, you know, I referred to this video, which I hope everyone has seen, and she has this great quote is that if you share a story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can't survive.  And for that that was really true.  I found that being really honest about what I was going through actually responded with -- I was greeted with, like, messages of, like, this is something that happens, and I hear you and actually, you know, a lot of the other founders, my cofounders were, like, we feel better that you say that.  I feel like the light is lifted.  So we started to make a plan for next steps and since I can't do GIFs with PDF, here's a piece of the animation.  Yay hugs.  And that's great because maybe everybody else is bullshit, which is what I thought about six months ago when I was, like, oh, my god my career is over, I have to become a house wive and slave to this gigantic house in the suburbs of Portland.  And in addition I have -- we have some really wonderful people who are stepping up to take over Maptime HQ and Rachel Stevens and Emily Ashley are in the audience.  Will you stand up?  Will everyone give a big round of applause?
      [Applause]
      Serious Maptime heroes.  I love them.  And also, they are looking for -- we're going to be looking for a few other volunteers to volunteer for helping out with Maptime.  It's actually not too much work if you don't do it for too long.  Which leads to some lessons that I have for Maptime as well, some unsolicited advice.  You know, put on your life vest before assisting others.  This is just kind of basic.  And speak your truth.  You'll be really amazed at what happens.  Keeping these feelings a secret and, like, trying to, like, shame yourself into it is not going to help you out.  And if you need help, say so.  People are there and really want to help.  And I found this to be true in ways big and small with Maptime.  You know?  It went from, like, oh, I need help with the website.  Oh, I need help with Twitter and then and Liz were there.  It's also okay to move pop nothing lasts forever.  This is true with relationships, true with jobs, true with life, and it's true with organizations and your participation at an organization.  I had somebody while remain unnamed sent me an e-mail and was, like, oh, my gosh I really just don't know what to do, and I'm so burn out.  And he's, like, what if I leave?  And I was, like, that's okay.  And then I realized I should tell myself that.  Like, that's actually really good advice.  And also know what has to go alone.  That's what our community is for.  That's why we have this wonderful support structure.  And then of course unsolicited advice for my future leaders.  Consider one term -- one year term limits for leadership so that you don't -- by the time you feel you're ready to pass it on, you can, State of the Map has been our grounding place, ever since day one it's where we come together every year, so it's a wonderful time to have the Maptime summit pass off and also finding fiscal sponsor since we don't really have that much money and that's kind of okay.
      But most of these are actually really lessons for everyone all the time as well as the fact that, like, there's really no community like the geo community.  For the past year, you know, forging new paths, and I haven't spent as much time mapping as I would like, and I would love to come back to it.  But I've said before, and I'll say again that this community is one that seeks truth, and they seek beauty, and you seek to do good work in the world and to display it.  And that is something that I think is in our work, and it's something that rings true for a lot of us as humans as well.  So much love.
      So what's next for me?  In addition to working a whole lot less, which is a good thing.  I've gotten involved with those wonderful thing in Oregon called Portland underground grad school so we do lessons in classes on all kinds of things like how to be an ally and white privilege and reading and tenants rights.  So I'm using a lot of the things that I've learned through Maptime through helping this organization, which I will soon be doing a little bit more work with.  And then whatever other interest come my way, I spent the last week in the woods learning how to pitch a tent with a tarp and some sticks, and it was kind of the best, and I don't just I realized how much I needed that in my life.
      So my major take aways are for anybody everywhere and for me is to keep going and to never stop learning.  And thank you.
      [Applause]
      And I'll take questions.  I will still take all of your money if you have it.  I have a bank account for myself.
      >> Thank you for all of your hard work.  It has been well appreciated in Los Angeles where we have a community.  What's a good example of fiscal partner?  Fiscal sponsor?  Can you give some examples?
      >> Sure.  I think I wonder if, like, the OpenStreetMap foundation might be a good fiscal sponsor.  We have written in our bylaws that any money, if Maptime were to shut down and we had money, the money we had would go to the OpenStreetMap foundation.  So it seems like that might be good.  But anything, any organization that's involved in community education and has -- that's what fits under that umbrella I think would be a good fit.  Part of the challenge that we've had is just, you know, all of these different companies have all of these different tools and so it's important -- it seemed important for the community to come out in discussions that having no bias towards those things is important.  So that would be something a lack of bias and real focus on education.  And maps maybe.
      >> Another question?
      >> I can shout.
      >> But that's not for the recording.
      >> That's true.
      >> When it comes to Maptime and building community, you know, there -- it all kind of happens from the ground up, can you talk about some sort of more specific pitfalls of, like, being an organizer and how to avoid -- either avoiding burn out or just generally, like, putting good systems in place so that the community can continue even if you personally need to take a break?
      >> Yeah.  Sure.  That's a great question, Lindsey.  I think some of the best things that you can do.  And I've actually heard -- well, what I was going to say.  I think one of the best things you can do is have helpers in your community with you.  It's, like, so don't be the only person who's running your Maptime.  Have somebody else who even if their main job is to show up and set up shares can help you if you get sick or just can't make it one month.
      The other thing that I would recommend is if there's a way to sort of divide and conquer when it comes to organizing and teaching, that that's a really great idea because then you are not on the hook for both getting the space and getting snacks and getting any kind of, like, local sponsorship that you might want.  But you can also then sort of, like, give the teaching piece to somebody else.  Another thing to mention, and I mentioned at the last Maptime summit, and I'll mention again.  There's nothing wrong with collecting money at your local meet up.  If you need to have money to cover space or food, that's encouraged.  And in some ways it's sustainable than having one gigantic bank account that you have to feed everything into and disburse out because I don't think any of us like to bring home money.
      >> Any other questions?  Please -- you have a question back there?
      >> So I raised my hand without having a question.
      >> That's great.
      >> I wanted to ask you something.
      >> But then.
      >> But then I'm taking a moment.
      >> That's okay.
      >> So there are I think, you know, what you've -- what you're talking about is -- happens to a lot of people.  Do you -- what would you like to see as far as mutual support among people trying to build community?  Or maybe not mutual support but what do you think could be helpful for communities, for people who have this kind of vision but also sometimes being a leader can be a bit lonely.
      >> That's a good question.  I think one thing that I think would be helpful just in general is, again, sort of setting time limits on your, you know, the time that you're spending volunteering, especially if it's a volunteer effort.  But I think that you're onto something that I don't know quite the answer to, which is that there's a lot of these organizations, you know, doing really similar work.  Like, I love what Andrew was just talking about doing these fun map walks in DC, and that's great.  And it's not exactly the same thing as Maptime, but we've certainly overlapped and if you've spent a lot of time in this community, and a lot of you have, oh, the same people are hanging out at all of these different events.  So it's a good question.  I wonder if there's one idea that comes to mind.  I wonder if there was, like, a general set of guidelines that could be followed for all of these organizational members or maybe there would be maybe a slack channel where everyone could communicate and help each other out?  Because then we're all learning a lot of the same lessons and, you know, sometimes -- one of my big learnings was that I thought that I was, like, doing this in a silo and totally being just a failure.  And, oh, no, in fact, a lot of people go through this and have similar feelings.  But I think that a big part of it is also just being honest.  Just be honest about what you need and not being scared ask for help.  Like, as a leader, there's sort of this -- and I think especially in our culture, it was, like, this thing where it's, like, I can never show weakness to the world, you know?  I can never show I'm having a hard time but there's also a strength with that.  So being real with people and showing support and I wish I could have a another answer because it's a really good question.
      >> I'm just super happy that you're talking about this.  I had burnout of my own several years ago where I was doing meet-ups where I was, like, oh, my god I have to take a break.  And I'm very happy people took up my slack.
      >> Yeah.  That's great.  The realization that the child has grown up.  It doesn't need to be a teat all the time there are other teats.  It can walk and talk on its own.  So that's great.  Did you want to talk about maps at this talk?  I'm sorry.  We were going to talk about feelings.
      >> Question from another person who's involved in nonprofits and Charity and all of that good organizing stuff.  One of the things I struggle with myself, and I love your perspective on this is what to do when the me is infinite and your personal finances are --
      >> I think what you have to do is something that actually I'm really -- one of the greatest things I've learned from Eric -- because there's always infinite things that need to be done was to, like, take a sharpie and cross off everything except for, like, the top three -- or better yet I guess more efficient way would just to be highlight the top three and leave the rest.  And really just focus on those three things.  One thing that we did as a -- as HQ for part of this was that each person decided to just do one thing a month.  One thing a month as a volunteer.  So it wasn't, like, I have to make this video, which we need we never got to do, and run this meeting and write the talk.  And it's, like, no, okay.  One person is going to make this phone call one another person set up this thing, and another person do this thing.  We don't have to do all things all at once, even though it may feel that way.
      >> Any other questions or comments?  Okay.  Please give Beth a warm thank you.
      [Applause]
      >> Thank you.