Slack

Hey $2+ Backers,

I'm getting ready to send out a big batch of invites to our Slack team, so keep an eye on your inbox. When you get the message, all you have to do is create your login, your username, and then you're in. The purpose of this post is to lay out some first principles.

What is Slack?

Slack is a super trendy group chat service that you've probably heard about on podcasts, or been forced to use at work. Beyond that, it's an easy way to stay in touch with people that's more real-time than Facebook or email. It's also easy to share images, files, whatever.

Our decision to adopt Slack as a Patreon reward comes from two places:

1. We value the community that has sprung up around the shows we create. Anything we can do to help foster that community is thing worth doing.

2. "Access" is one of the best kinds of rewards to give. It's fun to talk with you guys, and this is a way to give our most loyal supporters closer access to the hosts on the network.

Ground Rules

Access to our Slack team is a perk that's being offered to our backers, and it's behind several walls (including a paywall). That should keep most problems at bay. By and large, I trust all of you. We have an amazing community. As we open up this new forum, I want to reiterate that this is intended to be a safe place.

So, don't be an asshole. Don't post anything hateful or pick fights. We reserve the right to revoke access from anyone who is making others feel uncomfortable. I want this expectation to be as clear and up-front as possible.

If at any point you feel harassed, threatened, or uncomfortable, speak up. Either let the person know what they said/did is uncool, or if you don't feel safe doing so, reach out to me (Kole) and tell me what's up. We'll get the situation under control.

Let me reiterate: This is a safe place for cool people, and we'll do what we have to in order to keep it that way.

Rollout

I'm looking for good way to add people to the Slack Team. I have a whole list of backers queued up to join, and a batch of bulk invites should be going out shortly. After this first mass invite, other invites will trickle out a little more slowly. I will keep an eye on new pledges, and people who modify their pledges to a new tier that includes Slack access. Please allow a grace period as I establish a good workflow for this. If you want in in a hurry, email me at kole@duckfeed.tv and I'll do what I can.

I'm not going to be hyper-vigilant about dropping people from the team if they fall out of good standing on the Patreon. Sometimes payments are missed, or you need to bump down your contribution. Whatever. There may come a time when people who don't back us anymore are purged from the system. We're reserving this right in order to keep the channel special for people who have paid for the privilege. So, don't sweat it. If you miss a month, you're not kicked. This is a provision for down the road.

Apps

The Slack apps for desktop, iOS, and Android are great. They give you a lot of control over how notifications are delivered, and I recommend using them. The web interface is good, as well, but notifications are a bit hairy.

In Conclusion

This is an exciting experiment for us. I look forward to having a digital room to hang out in. Let's all work together to keep things cool, and please extend some grace as I try and get the implementation figured out. There are bound to be hiccups.

Thanks!

Kole