Wishlist for the R Community

Strategic Plan for Strengthening the Global R Community

This wishlist is not a complaint, nor a criticism, nor a nostalgic look backward. It is a recognition that the R community has reached a turning point — one that demands clarity, courage, and a willingness to evolve. Over the past decade, our infrastructure was shaped by tools and habits that once served us well: Twitter for visibility, Meetup.com for coordination, Slack for conversation. But the world has changed, and so have we. Some of our systems have become too expensive, too fragmented, or simply too outdated to support the global, diverse, and ambitious community we have become.

Summary of Key Actions

1. Reduce reliance on Meetup.com and transition to modern, cost‑effective community tools.
2. Establish a coordinated, high‑quality webinar pipeline using LinkedIn Live + Restream.
3. Build a centralized YouTube strategy modelled on the Julia community.
4. Create a predictable rhythm of virtual and in‑person mini‑conferences.
5. Strengthen LinkedIn presence to support institutional partnerships.
6. Expand the use of unconferences to foster collaboration and trust.
7. Build long‑term partnerships with NGOs, UN agencies, and philanthropies.
8. Establish a legally incorporated entity to manage conferences and assets.
9. Centralize financial management through a transparent community fund.

1. Off‑Ramping from Meetup.com

Meetup.com once made sense for the R community, but the economics no longer add up. The platform costs hundreds of thousands per year, yet many groups are inactive — some haven’t held an event in years, some not this decade, and some never held an event at all. This is not sustainable.

Why We Must Transition Now

• Cost savings: Funds currently wasted on dormant Meetup groups could instead support conferences, scholarships, and community infrastructure.
• Data ownership: Platforms like Luma, Heylo, or Tito give us direct control over our member lists.
• Modern workflows: These tools integrate with email, CRM systems, and streaming platforms — Meetup does not.

The goal is not to “kill Meetup,” but to stop depending on it. We should maintain a minimal presence for discoverability while shifting all real activity to platforms we control.

2. A Coordinated Webinar Strategy

During COVID, webinars exploded — but without coordination. Groups overlapped, competed for attention, and diluted each other’s reach. We can fix this by building a single, predictable webinar programme.

The LinkedIn + Restream Model

• Host events on LinkedIn Live to reach professionals and institutions.
• Use Restream to broadcast simultaneously to LinkedIn, YouTube, and X.
• Maintain a regular cadence (e.g., weekly or biweekly) so the community knows when to tune in.
• Encourage local groups to “plug in” their talks to the global stream.

This reduces activation energy for organizers and creates a steady drumbeat of activity.

3. A Centralized YouTube Strategy

The Julia community demonstrated how powerful a unified YouTube presence can be. During COVID, their central channel became a global hub for learning, discovery, and momentum.

The R community needs the same.

Key Principles

• One central channel for all major R community recordings.
• Consistent branding and playlists for conferences, webinars, and tutorials.
• Searchable archives that serve as a permanent knowledge base.

This is how we build long‑term visibility and attract new users.

4. A Regular Pattern of Mini‑Conferences

Instead of sporadic, isolated events, we should build a predictable annual rhythm of satRdays and mini‑conferences — both virtual and in‑person.

Why This Matters

• Predictability reduces organizer burnout.
• Regularity keeps the community engaged year‑round.
• Sponsors prefer recurring, structured opportunities.
• New organizers can “slot in” without reinventing the wheel.

This is how Python scaled PyCon and EuroPython into major revenue engines.

5. A Stronger LinkedIn Strategy

LinkedIn is where NGOs, UN agencies, philanthropies, and corporate partners operate. If we want institutional partnerships, we must meet them in their native environment.

What We Need

• A well‑maintained R Community Organization Page.
• Premium features to expand reach and analytics.
• A consistent posting schedule tied to webinars, conferences, and community news.
• Clear messaging that positions the R community as a professional, global, technical network.

This is not about chasing vanity metrics — it’s about building the infrastructure that institutions expect.

6. Hosting More Unconferences

Unconferences create trust, collaboration, and genuine community ownership. They remove the hierarchy of “speakers vs. audience” and replace it with peer‑led exploration.

Benefits

Lower organizational overhead.

• More inclusive participation.
• Stronger interpersonal connections.
• Faster knowledge exchange.

We should integrate unconference tracks into satRdays, webinars, and regional meetups.

7. Partnerships with NGOs, UN Agencies, and Philanthropies

The R community can be a technical bridge for global challenges — especially in areas like data for development, climate analytics, public health, and AI for Good.

Strategic Opportunities

• Collaborate with UN STI forums.
• Support NGOs with open‑source data tools.
• Provide technical expertise for global development initiatives.
• Build relationships with philanthropic organizations seeking transparent, community‑driven impact.

This positions the R community as a contributor to global problem‑solving, not just a technical hobby group.

8. A Legally Incorporated Entity for Conferences

Python has the EuroPython Society.
Julia has Julia Computing + NumFOCUS.
R needs a similar structure.

Why Incorporation Matters

• It enables long‑term sponsorship agreements.
• It provides legal and financial continuity.
• It allows conferences to generate revenue that supports the wider community.
• It builds trust with institutions and funders.

This entity should own branding, manage assets, and support local organizers.

9. Centralized Financial Management (“The Piggy Bank”)

We need a transparent, shared financial system — ideally through Open Collective.

How It Works

• Each event contributes surplus funds to the central pool.
• New organizers can apply for seed funding.
• All transactions are public, which philanthropies love.
• It creates a circular economy where success fuels future success.

This is how we build long‑term sustainability.

Summary

This is a roadmap for renewal — a set of practical, achievable steps that would allow the R community to modernize its infrastructure, strengthen its global presence, and build the kind of partnerships that create real, lasting impact. These ideas are not about centralizing power or imposing uniformity. They are about reducing friction, lowering costs, increasing visibility, and creating structures that help people do their best work.

This wishlist imagines a community that is more coordinated in its outreach, more intentional in its events, more strategic in its partnerships, and more transparent in its finances. It imagines a community that learns from the successes of others — from Julia’s unified YouTube presence, to Python’s conference ecosystem, to the collaborative spirit of unconferences. It imagines a community that can speak confidently to NGOs, UN agencies, and philanthropies because it has the organizational maturity to match its technical expertise.

The ideas outlined here are not radical. They are simply overdue. And if we choose to act on them, they can help us build an R ecosystem that is more resilient, more connected, and more capable of shaping the future — not just reacting to it.