berlinjs/berlinjs.org — pull request #139 by KathleenLD (2014-09-27 09:20:59+00:00)
Title: Talk proposal: Avoiding Burnout and Other Essentials of Open Source Self Care

I'm proposing a talk that I recently gave at FOSS4G for the next meetup. It's about 20-25 minutes long.

### Abstract:

As technical community managers we are faced with a unique set of challenges. Like most FOSS community members, we're often volunteers, but the work we do in moderating mailing lists, planning events, fielding project feedback and contributions, and being the public face of our communities can take an additional emotional toll. We do it because we love our communities, but we also are often guilty of neglecting our own very real needs in order to serve those communities. We end up feeling guilty, run down, inadequate, and ultimately burnt out.

Does this sound like you? Even if you don't do community management work, you might have run into some of the same frustrations. In this talk I'll share with you my own experiences in building and managing different communities.

Through my own lessons learned, I'll strive to help you think about ways to:

- Recognize and handle burnout
- Understand the causes of burnout and how they apply to your FOSS work
- Build a vocabulary to talk and think about the challenges you face
- Identify coping strategies that make sense for your unique situation
- Avoid burnout next time around

[Video of my FOSS4G talk](http://vimeo.com/106232256)
[Slides from my FOSS4G talk](http://kathleen.getcourse.com/course/74708aa8-d180-4482-bdff-da740e27eec9/take)