Tom Leaman Profile picture
Husband, father, VP Site Reliability Engineering @ Warner Bros. Discovery, wannabe woodworker, baker, 3D printer, cyclist. Opinions 100% my own

Oct 1, 2020, 14 tweets

Next on the schedule today is a workshop: Breathing Life into ERGs: the Impact of a Pandemic and a Racial Justice Movement.

Hoping I can stay concentrated on this session - I've been losing the WFH distraction battle today.

#vGHC #GHC20

Had issues joining via web so I'm going mobile. In to the panel just in time for intros whew! Moira Bohannon, Mercedes Hall and Patreece Spence are all speakers with Beth Dickerson hosting. All from Elsevier.

Definitely appreciate the intros including pronouns
#vGHC #GHC20

Workshops at #vGHC #GHC20 are the more 'interactive' version of virtual events this year. We're getting started with some audience polls to better understand demographics.

Lots of folks coming from SWE and a broad distro of folks across their career stage.

Distribution of folks at the ERG workshop, #ghc2020 #vGHC

Mercedes and Patreece are both members of the African Ancestry ERG at Elsevier. They helped start up the leadership group of the ERG.

#vGHC #ghc2020

Patreece : an ERG like AAN helps bring together a disparate group that all share the same employer.

Mercedes : AAN has also served as a great way to amplify our culture.

#vGHC #GHC2020

Good question: how have your ERGs had an impact on culture at work?

- Broadened connections beyond local office
- Provide educational opportunities

#vGHC #ghc2020

How has COVID impacted ERGs?

- Don't over-index on Zoom (prevent fatigue!)
- Get creative with events - think coffee breaks and smaller scale activities

#vghc #ghc2020

Lots of great ideas for different ERGs that may not be covered by all companies. Pretty strong signal on mental health - important regardless of time but heavily underscored in today’s world of COVID

#vGHC #ghc2020

The audience feedback in this session is great for getting ideas for DEI initiatives! #vGHC #ghc2020

Q&A time: how do you prevent burnout among ERG members?

Keep in touch and be transparent - if you need time off - take it!

#ghc2020 #vGHC

How about keeping momentum going?

Our goal is to create a movement *not* a mandate. Keep a backlog of ideas and activities to pull from. It’s a marathon not a sprint.
#vGHC #ghc2020

What metrics are good for measuring ERG success?

- Event attendance
- Usage of “ERG Time”
- Budget usage

#vGHC #ghc2020

Tough question: do you have any suggestions in how to call out when something hurtful is said?

Many times folks may not be intentionally mean to be hurtful so keep this in mind. Just be objective in your response and call out that what has been said is hurtful.

#vGHC #GHC20

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