Volunteer Translation Communities

From Aspirationtech.org Wiki

Volunteer translation: how to keep it going and happy

• Mozilla example:
  • Different communities
  • People work in projects by different reasons

• The discussion follows on:
  • experiences on setting communities
  • experiences on keeping the community working

• Some motivators that were identified:
  • recognition
  • feeling of “being par of a group”
  • the project is sexy + recognition
  • a sensation of collecting “important” results regarding localizations
  • the idea of “gifts”
  • private reasons
  • “give” in order to “receive”
  • have a clear, standard and modular flow, keeping things easier for the new comers
  • knowledge the volunteer can get by participating (on tools, content, manage skills, etc)
  • making something available in their own language
  • participating in a “global” community
  • possibility of finding business partners
  • recognize that volunteers are not “free labor”
  • feeling that you are interacting with others
  • getting practice / improving your own skills
  • feeling of contributing for something bigger – related to the “non-profit” mission of the organization
  • you build reputation
  • feeling of “co-ownership” of the project
  • micro-payment (???)…donations in the contributor name (???)…payment of costs (???)…gifts cards (???)…(no global system to do it…so, the cost and stress are disruptive)

• How to start a community
  • need some kind of “proactive” element
  • look for contributors
  • find something that united them… “a common element”
  • allow “portable” reputation
  • trying to treat each individual as individuals, giving some individual attention, recognizing that there are different kinds of contributors
  • attend meetings of like-minded individuals, to find collaborators
  • is it useful to ‘elevate members’ (i.e. to editors, administrators) (doesn’t seem to be the preferred system)