The Positivity in Community

· 5 min read

This blog was originally posted on Medium.

Reigniting the Ministry of Testing Bloggers Club has been on my to-do list for a while. I wanted to make sure I had the time to dedicate to it myself so that I could participate (selfish of me but I wanted an excuse to get back to blogging).

The newest Bloggers Club Sprint is all about “The Positivity in Community”, something that many of us, now more than ever, need.

What Community?

I’m going to try, as much as possible, to keep this post specific to the testing community. I have seen some fantastic community initiatives both locally and online and I don’t want to detract from the positivity they bring but I’d be writing a book if I wrote about them all!

Positivity Isn’t New

There has always been positivity out there in the community. You might not have been looking for it before now but it is there. From joining my local (at the time) testing community to attending my first TestBash, I remember feeling nervous but encouraged by the people I met when I first entered the world of testing.

As CommunityBoss, I want to make sure that as much as possible, new people entering the community feel the same encouragement and positivity that I experienced.

I am not alone in my experience and the more I speak to people and read, the more positivity I find.

Check out the story about a group of people who formed a friendship through the testing community and are now launching their own podcast!

Over the years, I’ve seen so many members of the community donate to the scholarship fund and anonymously donate tickets for TestBashes to help others in the community. It’s brilliant to see the support that is out there to help others succeed.

When I’m struggling with how to start a conversation with someone, my default is to talk about pets. I know not everyone loves pets but that’s my default setting.

A great way to share some pictures of the animals in your life and have a chat with others out there about their pets is #FluffyButtFriday. Every Friday, members of the community share pictures of their pets using the hashtag, this has been happening for so long, I can’t remember exactly when it started but I love it!

There Are New Initiatives

While the above have all been happening long before the situation we’re in now, there are some wonderful new positivity initiatives that have popped up since most of us entered lockdown.

If you haven’t yet, I really recommend the daily Hangout organised by Lee Marshall. It’s a fantastic way to facilitate that human connection that many of us are missing when we’re working from home.

Not all of us can get hands-on when it comes to helping during the pandemic. (Which is totally fine, by staying at home you’re doing a great job!) I’ve been following Jason Huggins’ work helping those on the front line. It started with a single tweet but reading the number of face shields they have shipped to date is amazing.

An unfortunate result of the pandemic is that many people have been let go from their jobs either temporarily or permanently. My heart burst with pride when I saw a thread on The Club where members of the community offered support to help people in those situations be able to attend our first virtual conference. It’s a brilliant initiative to help people build connections, rebuild old connections and find their next job.

So far, over 30 tickets have been given away with more joining the initiative. If my heart was bursting with pride when this started, it’s close to exploding at this point!

Conclusion

We’re all facing challenges right now, there’s no denying that. When the negativity surrounds us, it can be hard to see the positivity that’s out there. I‘ve been focusing on at least one positive thing every day to help get me through. I think this tweet from Mags sums it up perfectly.

So, get out there (virtually!), adjust your scale and you never know what positivity you might find in the community.