Okay, so it’s not literally in a box. Sorry to disappoint.
If you’re new to OHT, we’ve made a set of docs and checklists to help you go from “ooh, what is OHT, this sounds fun” to “ohhh ok, I get it, this makes sense, I’ve got this.”
And just to be extra clear, you are not on your own. We are always here to help. Use this as your starting point, then ask all the questions you need. We firmly believe there aren’t silly questions, only people who make others feel silly, and we are not doing that here.
You’ve probably landed here because you’ve come across OHT through our website, an event, LinkedIn, Slack, or a friendly human who wouldn’t shut up about community building. If you’re joining the Fellowship (or you’re Fellowship-curious) and want to get started, you’re in the right place.
And if you’ve wandered in and you’re not sure what kind of participation is right for you yet, that’s also very normal. We’ll point you to our “How to get involved” guide, which lays out the different paths, from lurking enthusiastically to volunteering to leading a community as a Fellow.
You don’t need a perfect plan. You do need a clear purpose, a couple of humans to share the load, and one first moment that makes people think, “Ok yes, I want to come back.”
Below is a simple path from idea to launch. Treat it like a menu, not a test. If you get stuck, ask. We love questions.
✅ 1) We’ll set up the tools
The Community Manager will give you a public and private Slack channel, an email address and a logo. You can check out this guide for how to use the Slack channels and this guide for the email address.
We’ll also set up your Notion home. Notion (which is where you are now) is our home for documentation. You can set up your collaboration space how you wish, we just start with a template we give everyone for ease.
✅ 2) Do a tiny bit of listening
Before you plan a big calendar, have a think and chat to some people in your potential community. You are looking for: