Hello Not Boring People!
The clock has struck 5 and we’re officially kicking off Not Boring!
We mentioned this in your welcome e-mails, and this certainly won’t be the last time you hear it: we are beyond thrilled with the group of people we’re bringing together. You’ll see why once we get into the group chat, and especially when we meet in person.
This e-mail has three main sections:
Group Chat Instructions and Overview
Small Group Dinner Scheduling
Not Boring at a Glance
We used Substack because we had some deliverability issues with Gmail, but don’t worry, this won’t be a daily or weekly newsletter. We’ll decide as a group if we want to send out highlights of the Not Boring things you all are doing or if we just don’t need another newsletter in our lives.
Group Chat Instructions and Overview
We’re going to be using Slack as our group chat tool to start out. But since Slack is not the best tool for growing, cross-organizational communities like ours, we'll be moving over to Geneva in the coming weeks once it's live. Sam likes Geneva so much that he decided to work for them, and Packy has gotten to play with a beta version and can’t wait until we move Not Boring to its forever home there.
You will be receiving a separate e-mail from Slack right after this one with instructions on joining the notboringclub workspace.
Once you’re in, introduce yourself in the #intros channel: tell us about where you're from, what you're into, a fun fact, why you joined Not Boring, and any places we can follow you online. We'll also populate your profile in the Member Directory with the information you provide.
We’ve organized the workspace into group-wide channels, like #general, #intros, #random, #asks-offers-wins, and #club-outings, and interest-specific channels, like #book-club, #arts-and-crafts, #learning-journeys, #workouts, and #writing. We’ll add channels as more clubs form around shared interests.
Remember to check out and confirm the Code of Conduct if you haven’t already.
Not Boring Dinner Party Scheduling
Based on your application responses, a lot of you are into good food and great conversation. Well, you’re in luck.
We’re going to be hosting a series of ~10-person Jeffersonian Dinners so that you can get to know a few of you fellow members really well, really quickly.
Please fill out this form ASAP so that we can start figuring out the groups and all dates that work for you, and we’ll put together the groups, pick the conversation topics, and coordinate reservations. The password is notboring2020welcome
The IRL component is central to Not Boring, so we're asking everyone to attend one of these dinners. If you’re traveling or something else is stopping you from attending, just let us know and we’ll figure something out!
Not Boring at a Glance
We loved reading all of your applications and wanted to turn all of the thoughtful answers you gave us into some quick ways to look at the group’s interests.
Member Directory: Updated to include all 100 of you, the intrepid first of what we hope to be many Not Boring cohorts. (pw: notboring2020welcome)
Not Boring Bookshelf: Every applicant sent us their favorite book(s), we put them all in one place. Your top three favorite books are Shoe Dog, Not Boring, and Educated, and there are 179 other books on there if you want something more niche.
What's the first thing you would do if you knew you had a group of 20 people committed to doing it with you?
These are the results from just the accepted members. We’re using this information to plan our first events (this is why we’re doing small group dinners first!) and to organize the channels in the group chat.
What have you been wanting to get into but haven't yet?
These are the results from just the accepted members. We used this information to organize the channels in the group chat, and have started reaching out to potential partners who can help you get into the things you’ve been meaning to, like cooking, language learning, writing, and comedy.
Our Ask
We’re making the group chat free for this cohort because 1) we want to make sure we get the best group together that we possibly can, and 2) we want to learn from this first cohort to determine where we take Not Boring. What we ask in return is that you participate, that you support each other, that you share your learnings, and that every once in a while, you take a survey or help us figure out the shape Not Boring takes as a business.
And if you’re as excited to join as we are, feel free to share your excitement on twitter (@notboringclub), instagram (@notboringclub), or wherever you social.
That’s it from us! See you in the chat.
Cheers,
Packy & Sam