Global BIPOC Board Meeting #21 Minutes February 23, 2024 8:59 AM   Subscribe

Mefi Global BIPOC Advisory Board Meeting 21 Minutes on Oct 24, 2023, 7AM PST - 8:30 AM (PST) 90 mins.




Roll call: travelingthyme, loup, majick, hurdy gurdy girl, aielen, cendawanita, yueliang 
  1. Introduction and greetings
    1. HGG gives land acknowledgement.
  1. Agenda and Minutes
    1. Agenda Approval
      1. Action/Discussion Item Prioritization
        1. Board decides to prioritize the following agenda items:
          1. Land acknowledgements
          2. Discussion items before action item followup (purposefully deprioritizing being “clipboard holder” board again)
          3. “Prioritizing future board work, answering the question “what is the needle” as a followup to Meeting 20.
          4. Diversity for the transition board
    2. Previous Minutes
      1. Mtg 19 Approval
        1. All board members approve Meeting 19 minutes. Some redactions need to be separately clarified and approved by a user. 
          1. Action: Thyme to obtain final clarification from the user about redactions and publish minutes accordingly.
      2. Mtg 20 Approval
        1. All current board members approve Meeting 20’s minutes. Brainwane, having stepped down after Meeting 20 last month, is not present and has not yet approved Meeting 20’s minutes. 
          1. Action: Thyme to check with Brainwane about approving Meeting 20’s minutes.
  2. Land acknowledgements
    1. HGG talks about land acknowledgements in Canada
    2. Majick speaks about the treatment of indigenous people in the US
    3. Cendawanita asks: For those not in North America that have their own respective histories but not necessarily a practice of land acknowledgements, is there any way that we can join in or contribute? Board discusses the nuanced ways countries and communities with a history of colonization and intra-native hierarchies can think of land acknowledgements, drawing from personal experiences. Board also acknowledges the possible duality of being both a colonizer of a land as well as a historical victim of colonization along other axes.
  1. Transition board diversity
    1. Loup would like to talk about transition board diversity. 
    2. Aielen asks for more clarification about the progress/communication that has already taken place in reaching out to BIPOC/non-US MeFites to join the transition board. Jessamyn received some lists/recommendations privately. The list Loup seems to be referring to just seems to be a list collated by NotLost within the context of the Metatalk post and its comments.
      1. Action: Loup to send Jessamyn an email (looping in the board) asking for clarification on the current list of transition board members (confirmed, unconfirmed, invited, volunteered, etc) - by Oct 24
    3. Majick suggests discussing (if not this meeting, then the next meeting - Meeting 22):
      1. How do we heal from the things that caused a loss of goodwill?
      2. How do we prevent them during the coming transitions?
    4. Board will resume discussion on transition board diversity next meeting (Meeting 22)

    1. Prioritizing future board work, answering the question “what is the needle?”
      1. In our previous meeting (Meeting 20), the board decided on 3 next steps (the banner/user survey, Matomo data review, and sampling posts for BIPOC content). Board now discusses follow-up for each step:
  • Step 1: Start putting together the banner/user survey using board’s agreed verbiage “Do you identify as part of a marginalized racial/ethnic community?”
          1. Board already has the survey question (this is a one-question yes/no survey) decided in previous meeting (Meeting 20); would like staff/Frimble to implement. 
          2. Board agrees on the following:
            1. Introduction blurb: “Hello, we are conducting a survey to see how many BIPOC folks interact with the site. This is an initiative from the BIPOC board to set a baseline for our data gathering and work around site diversity. For a 1-question survey, please click here!”
            2. The 1-question (yes/no): Do you identify as part of a marginalized racial/ethnic community?
          3. This survey is laid out in a document to be conveyed to Frimble:
            1. Action: Thyme/Loup to send Frimble the Survey Request document, receive a response from Frimble within 1 week of sending the request, and update the board on Frimble’s response next meeting (Meeting 22). (Response should include an estimated timeframe, feasibility, and how survey answers can be collected/viewed/accessed by the board.)
  • Step 2: Review geographic data numbers from Matomo (files sent by Majick; currently in Board’s shared Google folder) and discuss numbers this meeting.
          1. Board examines the Matomo files, noting:
            1. The top 5 countries that visit the site are the US, Canada, UK, Australia and India.
              1. Visitors from India are a newer phenomenon compared to 20 years ago. 
              2. We really are not seeing any kind of representation anywhere that responds to this engagement from India, whether that’s in site administration or content. This seems to be a very underserved area, and a massive gap in the way we think about MetaFilter as a whole.
            2. Site statistics on engagement (“maximum actions in one visit”, “total time spent by visitors”) also support the suggestion that visitors from India are underserved. Visitors from India don’t seem to engage or stay around the site (as much as Anglophone country visitors) when they do find the site.

            3. Cendawanita notes this observation about India is not surprising. India (similar to other Commonwealth countries on MetaFilter) has many fluent English speakers. Cendawanita references her own experiences on MetaFilter and its subsites (previously shared in Meeting #20), positing that the Blue is probably where India visitors pay most attention since she feels other subsites like Ask do not cater to BIPOC / international members as well.

            4. Following up on Cendawanita’s observation and anecdotes, Aielen asks whether Majick could request data on the subsites. We could view geographic data specific to subsites. 
              1. Action: Majick to request subsite-specific geographic data for board to review next meeting (Meeting 22).
  • Step 3: Sample the last ~500 posts to major subsites to check for BIPOC content
        1. How do we sample the last 500 posts to the major subsites? Would we be able to do this automatically - for example by using an automated tool? Or would a manual approach be more feasible? 
          1. All this information is in the database, but the database is not something Majick (previously in the Code Working Group) has access to. While the Infodump has some meta data, it does not have post content (i.e. the body of posts). 
          2. Outcome: Since an automated/scraping approach would require putting in a request to Frimble, a manual approach is more expedient for the board. Cendawanita volunteers to take on this task, requesting the board determine ~5 criteria for Cendawanita to code/tag when sampling the posts.
            1. The board discusses and confirms the reference list for Cendawanita to use.
            2. Action: Cendawanita will work on sampling the most recent ~500 posts to major subsites based on the confirmed reference list of criteria, and will present/update the board on this next meeting (Meeting 22) on November 28.
        2. This report will be shared with the community (likely in summary form). 

        3. Big thank you to Cendawanita for taking this on!

  1. Action items from past meetings
    1. Action: Loup will make honorarium payments and email Cendawanita when this has been done (before next meeting - October 24). (followup from Meeting 20)
      1. Pending as of this meeting. Loup has not made honoraria payments yet as of this meeting, but intends to make these payments by today (October 24). Loup has reached out to the new members and confirmed their payment details. Moving forward honoraria payments will be made monthly.
        1. Post-meeting note: Loup sent an email on October 26 notifying the board that they had made all outstanding honoraria payments.
          1. Action: Board members to confirm with Loup whether they have received honoraria payments and if they have any questions.
    2. Action: Board to confirm link with Loup/Thyme and review tool (for board to be able to see and comment on moderating notes), next meeting. (followup from Meeting 20)
      1. Loup confirmed the link: https://www.metafilter.com/tools/notes.mefi
      2. Tool was not reviewed this meeting due to time constraints.
        1. Action: Board will discuss and review the tool together with Loup during Meeting 22.
    3. Action: Loup to urgently resolve the Slack organization payment issue (i.e. “organization has not paid/upgraded” problem blocking invitee from accepting invitation) and send cendawanita a valid Slack invitation before October 1 (followup from Meetings #18, #19, #20)
      1. Done. Loup resolved the payment issue and sent cendawanita the valid Slack invitation on September 4. 
    4. Action: Loup to confirm receipt of payment information with cendawanita and yueliang before October 1 (followup from Meetings #18, #19, #20)
      1. Loup confirmed this with cendawanita and yueliang on October 20.
    5. Action: Thyme to add the new members (cendawanita, porpoise, MiraK, yueliang) to the shared Google Drive (followup from Meetings #18, #19, #20)
      1. Done. Thyme added all new members by October 11.
    6. Action: Thyme will make a list of all documents that cannot be moved to the board’s shared Google Drive (e.g. mod onboarding document, policy documents) to be shared with members, and will add members to the access list for all those documents by Saturday, September 2. (followup from Meetings #18, #19, #20)
      1. Thyme has compiled the list of these documents and it is up-to-date as of this meeting.
    7. Action: Loup to email the board an update before October 1 addressing “Loup to synthesize and implement these suggested changes between August 15 and August 22, and email the new version of the 3 documents to the board mailing list before the next meeting (August 22). Board will vote/approve this new version at the next meeting.” (followup from Meetings #18, #19, #20)
      1. Pending. Loup has not yet made or implemented suggested changes, and would like to review each document’s notes collectively with the board (in realtime) prior to making any changes.
        1. Action: Loup to review the board’s suggested changes together with the board next meeting (Meeting 22). 
    8. Action: Thyme will add policy review agenda items to the board’s calendar for 23 July 2024 and 27 August 2024 by today (August 22). (followup from Meetings #18, #19, #20) 
      1. Pending. Thyme reportedly added these items to a meeting agenda, however they do not seem to be appearing for board members’ calendars.
    9. Action: Loup to email the board an update before October 1 about the status of updating the BIPOC board subpage with a note making the MeTa about the board’s work (https://metatalk.metafilter.com/26210/What-The-MeFi-BIPOC-Board-Does) more prominent on our BIPOC board subpage (followup from Meeting #19 and Meeting #20) 
      1. Loup updated the board on this item in an email sent on October 20. Frimble can make changes after the board finalizes and confirms desired changes
        1. Action: Board to comment, finalize and confirm desired changes reflected in the BIPOC Board landing page document by Meeting 22 (November 28).
    10. Action: Loup to email the board an update before October 1 addressing “Loup to attempt to follow up with the former member regarding payment for the meeting they attended, and confirm that payment has been received, updating on this next meeting. (followup from Meetings #17, #18, #19, #20)” 
      1. Pending. Loup has reached out to the former member again and has not yet heard back from them.
    11. Action: Loup to email the board an update by October 1 addressing “Loup to share moderator onboarding document with the board by Thursday, July 27th through email.” (followup from Meetings #11, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20)”
      1. Loup updated the board on this item in an email sent on October 20. In that email, Loup shared the moderation onboarding document: 
    12. Action: Loup to email the board an update before October 1 addressing “Loup to discuss the BIPOC board subsite spec with Frimble and give an update on the BIPOC board subsite next meeting. (followup from Meetings #17, #18, #19, #20)

  • Loup emailed the board on October 20. While the email did not confirm that Frimble received the subsite spec, the email from Loup relayed it would be ideal to invite Frimble to a board meeting so the board could speak directly with Frimble. The email noted that this meeting could only happen after the new tech assistant role had been filled, when the new tech assistant would be fully up and running.
  1. Action: Loup to email the board an update before October 1 addressing “Loup to check with Frimble about the next phase of UX changes and the code tour, get more details and update the board next meeting. (followup from Meetings #17, #18, #19, #20)
    1. Loup updated the board on this item in an email sent on October 20.
    2. In that email, Loup said “I still don't have a timeline for the Flagging UX/UI changes to be deployed to the site. The reason for this is because frimble only works part-time and their availability was decreased during the summer months so they are currently catching up while still maintaining the site.”
  2. Action: Loup to email the board an update before October 1 about the status of updating the BIPOC board subpage with the following note: something that explicitly invites people to get in contact with us if they have anything they would like to chat/raise. (followup from Meeting #19, #20)
    1. Loup updated the board on this item in an email sent on October 20. Frimble can make changes after the board finalizes and confirms desired changes in the draft. (Action item for this now combined with Action item 6)i)i)1).)
  3. Action: Thyme to look into this specific case/thread - (https://ask.metafilter.com/374247/Tech-support-India-Maybe-more-important-to-us-than-them-Culture#5319846) - (e.g. what happened on the side of the mod team, timeline, reasons for deletion reason/note change, etc) and update the board next meeting (September 26). (followup from Meeting #19 and Meeting #20)
    1. Pending.
  1. Action items requested asynchronously outside past meetings
    1. Action: Loup to remove Brainwane and Porpoise from the BIPOC Board’s Slack, Google Docs/Sheets/Drive folders (requested/prompted by Brainwane on Sep 10)
      1. Done.
    2. Action: Thyme to remove Brainwane and Porpoise from BIPOC Board’s Meeting calendar invitation (requested/prompted by Brainwane on Sep 10)
      1. Thyme did this Oct 23rd.
    3. Action: Majick to remove Brainwane and Porpoise from the mailing list (requested/prompted by Brainwane on Sep 10)
      1. Pending. 
    4. Action: Majick to look for somewhere else to put board contact email. (added by Majick on Oct 24)
      1. Pending
    5. Action: Thyme to communicate/coordinate with HGG and Brainwane to move some minutes documents (HGG: Mtg 18 Public, Mtg 19 Public; Brainwane: Mtg 15 Private, Mtg 16 Private, Mtg 17 Private) hosted on their personal drives over to the board’s shared drive. (requested by aielen on Oct 24)
      1. Pending
    6. Action: Thyme to move a minutes document (Mtg 16 Public) hosted on their personal drive over to the board’s shared drive (requested by aielen on Oct 24)
      1. Pending.
End of Meeting. Items below will be discussed/revisited at our next meeting. 
  1. Board’s group email (bipoc@nachomountain.com) - status, options
  2. Transition board diversity
  3. Publicizing the board, solving the larger issue of discoverability that is tied to outreach
  4. Proposed policy for mods to cc BIPOC board on race-related issues communicated to mods by users
  5. How the board approaches / should approach ombuds role
  6. Improving mod team followup and internal alignment wrt user communication
  7. Frimble’s progress on a tool for viewing mod notes in threads (now merged with action item 6)b))
  8. Communication channels between the staff/mods and the board
  9. Proposal to review minute-taking methodology
  10. Moderation resource allocation
posted by travelingthyme (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 8:59 AM 1 user marked this as a favorite

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