#7114 Community Advocacy Strategy: Small, Recurring Co-Working Gathering to Improve Engagement/Sustainability Issue created by Honyii From my research, Union AI/Flyte has built strong visibility through conferences and large events, which is great for awareness. However, there may be a noticeable gap in post-event engagement and long-term conversion. This issue proposes a shift (or addition) to the events/ advocacy strategy by building smaller, recurring, community-led co-working gathering that prioritize connection, contribution, and retention within the Flyte open source ecosystem. Problem While events bring people in: • Engagement often drops after the event • Attendees don’t always build a lasting connection to Flyte • Conversion to contributors or long-term users is relatively low • Flyte may not remain top-of-mind after initial exposure In short: We are reaching people, but may not consistently retaining or activating them within the community/ open source in general. Proposal: Community Co-Working Gathering (Working Name) Introduce small, recurring, community-led gatherings with focus on; Collaboration over presentation, Participation over passive attendance, Building real familiarity with Flyte. These are intentionally not “meetups” in the traditional sense (deliberately not using the word meetup/event 😄) because one of the goal is not having a swag-driven attendance but towards consistent, human-centered engagement with the project. What Makes This Different • Minimal or no formal talks • Hands-on, collaborative sessions • Focused on contributing, learning, and building together • Lower pressure, more welcoming for first-time contributors/users Think: A co-working space where people actively engage with Flyte together! Structure • Organized locally by Community Representatives (Reps) • Held across multiple global locations • Occurs 4–6 (up to 8) times yearly per location • Creates a consistent monthly/bi-monthly rhythm of engagement across the community Role of Community Representatives Community reps would: • Organize and host sessions locally. • Support onboarding for new contributors/users • Guide participants through using and contributing to Flyte • Act as a bridge between the Flyte team and the broader community This also creates: Ownership opportunities, Recognition pathways for active contributors (after creating a clear contributor pathway), A more sustainable and distributed community model. Suggested Session Activities (Pls add suggestions) These should be low-barrier and engaging (not high-pressure like hackathons): • Build small projects with Flyte and demo / build with Flyte • Work on open issues in the Flyte GitHub repo • Pair up to make first contributions • “How to contribute to Flyte” walkthroughs • Open discussions, troubleshooting, and co-learning Vibe: Collaborative, relaxed, and welcoming—not intimidating or overly structured. How Union / Flyte Can Support To make this sustainable, Flyte/Union can support in lightweight but impactful ways: 1. Financial Support (Capped) • Up to $1000/year (note, for the "up to 8 on-site sessions) per community gathering. Covering: • Co-working space bookings • Light refreshments/snacks Long-term goal: • Encourage reps to identify free or community-supported spaces to reduce dependency on funding. • Merchandising (Optional, Not Core). • Provide limited, one-off merchandise • Not swag-heavy—just enough to: • Create identity • Recognize participation • Amplification • Promote sessions and outcomes on: • Flyte/Union social media • Community channels Next Steps / Open Questions Naming: What should we call these gathering? (“Co-working gathering” is a placeholder) • How do we identify and onboard Community Representatives? • What lightweight structure or toolkit do reps need to get started? • How do we track success? (contributors, PRs, retention, etc.) Closing Thoughts? - This isn’t about replacing conferences, it’s about strengthening what happens after. When people discover Flyte, this gives them a place to land, engage, and grow within the open source community. flyteorg/flyte