First bimonthly report from 2016 Steering Committee

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

On May 8th and 9th the Steering Committee had an in-person meeting at Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory to conclude the discussions during the first two months and make plans for the next ten months of activities. In the following weeks we will write more about the results of the in-person meeting on the blog but for now we want to give you an overview.

Partnerships

Our Executive Director is doing an amazing job increasing the number of Software Carpentry partners. Last year, we were asked to provide a join partnership agreement with Data Carpentry and after months of work this agreement is now available.

Instructor Training

Last year we tried several models for Instructor Training that now are more stable and are available here thanks to the work of our Instructor Trainers.

We will continue improving our Instructor Training programme and increasing our capacity to high demand.

Subcommittees and Task Forces

Last year we accomplished many things only because of our amazing community. This year we can help you, including financially, to shape Software Carpentry and for that we opened a call for subcommittees and task forces.

Communication

Communication is our greatest weakness and we are going to work really hard to improve it. (This post is part of this goal.) Something that we decided during the in-person meeting was provide an official space on Facebook because on some countries and some audiences this is the first place that they will look for us.

We will also create an Instagram account to display and share photographs from Software Carpentry workshops and activities.

Diversity

We will continue to support a diverse community and healthy spaces for communication. We have a Code of Conduct to help with that.

Future Directions

We will continue to work close with other communities that are aligned with our vision and mission.