[Soc-2016-dev] The Bonding period

[Ton Roosendaal]

Hi students and mentors,

In case you didn't get it, below is a mail from the GSoC office. Read it carefully.
The coming 3 weeks I expect visibility from each student on this list.

As a starters, by mailing today a short status update. Include topics like:

- The project proposal is now in wiki (link to url)
- You have met with the mentor
- You and mentor are also looking for artists/stakeholders to get involved.
- Tell what the activity is you are available for the coming weeks.
  (setup build sys, bug fix, review, docs, ...)
- If you are already active here (Thomas, Lukas, Julian): select one or two students to help.

Note that Google may remove inactive students from the program. They will not receive any payments.

Thanks,

-Ton-


> On 29 Apr 2016, at 02:30, Google Summer of Code <summerofcode-noreply at google.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Ton Roosendaal,
> 
> By now, you should have already welcomed your student(s) to GSoC 2016.
> 
> If you have not been in contact with your student, reach out to them as soon as possible to welcome them into your community.
> 
> Community Bonding Period
> As part of the student’s acceptance into GSoC they are expected to actively participate in the Community Bonding period (April 22 - May 22). The Community Bonding period is intended to get students ready to start contributing to your organization full time in May.
> 
> Unfortunately, some students think their acceptance into GSoC guarantees them the initial $500 payment. That is not the case. A student does not receive $500 just for writing a good proposal. They must be active in the Community Bonding period to earn that $500.
> 
> Community Bonding activities may involve:
> 
> 	• Becoming familiar with the community practices and processes. (This often involves a mix of observation and participation.)
> 	• Participating on Mailing Lists / IRC / etc. (Not just lurking.)
> 	• Setting up their development environment.
> 	• Small (or large) patches/bug fixes. (These do not need to be directly related to their GSoC project.)
> 	• Participating in code reviews for others. (Even someone who isn't familiar with the project can contribute by pointing out potential inefficiencies, bad error handling, etc.) 
> 	• Working with their mentor and other org members on refining their project plan. This might include finalizing deadlines and milestones, adding more detail, figuring out potential issues, etc.
> 	• If the student is already familiar with the organization, they could be helping others get involved in the community.
> 	• Reading (and updating!) documentation they will need to understand to complete their project.
> 	• Reporting or replicating bugs.
> Active means active. Students have committed to the program schedule, and we would like you to hold them to it. There is no simple standard, as every org is different, every student has different time constraints, and there are many different ways to interact. Some students may require coaxing and encouragement in order to get them to actively participate.
> 
> If you do not see regular public interaction from the student, you should strongly encourage it. Public is important -- it is a key principle of open source -- work happens where everyone can see it. Similarly, all work done by the students should be shared in a publicly available repository.
> 
> By May 16th if the student has not been active in Community Bonding please notify Google at gsoc-support at google.com to let us know. After a brief investigation, we may remove the student from the program. They will not receive any payments.
> 
> Do not feel bad about "failing" a student.
> The past eleven years of GSoC have demonstrated that students who don't interact early and often are more likely to fail later. Often they just disappear. We don't want you to waste your time on students who don't care about the project/organization and can’t even attempt to show interest these first few weeks of the program. Small contributions early on are often a very positive signal.
> 
> Organizations will not be penalized for failing students who are not fulfilling their responsibilities during the Community Bonding period. We expect there to be students who fail this Community Bonding period, just like we expect there to be some students who fail the midterm and others that fail the final. This is completely normal.
> 
> If you have questions as to whether a student has met the guidelines, don't hesitate to ask. Email gsoc-support at google.com with a summary of the student's activities during the Community Bonding period, and we will review it.
> 
> Best,
> Stephanie, Cat, Mary, Robert, Helen and Josh



-Ton-

--------------------------------------------------------
Ton Roosendaal  -  ton at blender.org   -   www.blender.org
Chairman Blender Foundation, Producer Blender Institute/Studio
Entrepotdok 57A  -  1018AD Amsterdam  -  The Netherlands