31:T597,### Collaboration: the people demand it **Collaborative tools are needed.**
When Sutton asked Meckfessel about what it means to be a community-first leader, Meckfessel emphasized the demand for collaborative tools being made not only in our community, but by people across industries. "People working with data want and are seeking more ways to work with each other. They know deeply the urgency to find those AHAs in their data. It turns out there are a lot of data practitioners - developers (60M+), data scientists, data analysts, spreadsheet users (800M). They have diverse in backgrounds and roles." **Creative collaboration.**
Meckfessel also talked about how the people who make up the Observable community build upon each other's creativity. "The Observable community is one of the largest communities of Data Practitioners on the web. The community is the heart of Observable: it’s how people learn and get inspired; it’s how people find examples, templates, and components to accelerate their work. They build upon each other’s creativity, approaches, and skills. Community has given Observable the largest library of reusable visualizations anywhere. There is magic in importing and re-using what other creators share." **Data work = team work.**
"Data work is team work. People want to work together. Working with data is inherently creative and iterative. Collaboration is the way!" 32:T4e9, ### How the Observable community guides product development **Listening.**
When asked how the Observable community helps to inform product development, Meckfessel said, "We listen to our community. We listen to the words - the feedback. We listen to feature requests. We listen to, and answer, questions from community. We also 'listen' to our community member's actions. What features are they using. Where are they getting stuck. Out of this listening, many Observable features evolved: forking, snippets, data table cell. We listen, in both a qualitative and quantitative way." **Incorporating what is heard.**
"We heard things big and small that community members wanted. They wanted more more collaboration, more shared projects. Less restrictions on work together. [We just released Free Teams](https://observablehq.com/@observablehq/introducing-free-teams?collection=%40observablehq%2Fobservable-blog) for that exact reason. You can collaborate with people who have different skill sets: be it subject matter expertise, web development, data science background, or a deep familiarity with a particular dataset. Together you can find a deeper understanding of data, and do so much faster than anyone is able to accomplish alone." ---33:T40e, ### How People at Observable Use Data to Listen and Act upon What We Hear from Community Sutton asked Meckfessel how she uses data from the community to gather information, and then how she and the team act upon that data. Her reply:
"First, find ways to listen and learn from community data. It will help you support the community - build features, build programs. Before you add a new feature, pay attention to what the community uses and wants; their feature requests. Pay attention to the topics they are interested in. Engage them directly for qualitative feedback. Get input early. Give demos at community meetups, then ask questions and get curious about their ideas. Some of the best feedback on the platform comes from those meetups." "You will make better decisions based on community insights. Create cycles of continuous learning and action based on community usage and feedback. Community is the heart of Observable. We will keep learning and be in service of the creative community of data practitioners." ---34:[{"id":"10f3e4fca3205ae777302b6eca1026c7018429549c2529c195539fe26893f10d2409a797694ff22cc59b5a1709b263759b537d1f7959b387360dcc54a8643f9a","href":"https://static.observableusercontent.com/files/10f3e4fca3205ae777302b6eca1026c7018429549c2529c195539fe26893f10d2409a797694ff22cc59b5a1709b263759b537d1f7959b387360dcc54a8643f9a","name":"CA43AC79-6B29-47BC-89C5-22120802AEE4.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","lastModified":1665004820154.646,"size":179791},{"id":"c217e081f37fc6b9014bd3b56e3b7bc4f34bd0ad6482366cdcf9a97e7fea8d12d108ac09e48c78f0e9ac6415b19a7665cc1b712a0294432ae8d24c37c00044d9","href":"https://static.observableusercontent.com/files/c217e081f37fc6b9014bd3b56e3b7bc4f34bd0ad6482366cdcf9a97e7fea8d12d108ac09e48c78f0e9ac6415b19a7665cc1b712a0294432ae8d24c37c00044d9","name":"email_header_v2.png","type":"image/png","lastModified":1665004820154.646,"size":60707},{"id":"26cc14c21cd6a56f874c01d3ace6354ca4cee01645386ce7c8cb25649b1ca11e7a56e658a43616ee80ece8f51eee22b731055082ee7b5093f5064ac5877665f1","href":"https://static.observableusercontent.com/files/26cc14c21cd6a56f874c01d3ace6354ca4cee01645386ce7c8cb25649b1ca11e7a56e658a43616ee80ece8f51eee22b731055082ee7b5093f5064ac5877665f1","name":"Free_Teams_demo.m4v","type":"video/x-m4v","lastModified":1665004820154.646,"size":21003848},{"id":"e5b3830a1e6c304894d87386ed6ea09582b858314cdeaad3ae86fcde3936e5aab26936ff8f4a94449adce7191b74ca286f8e87bb2926474bf76d89cb6a9c3f5d","href":"https://static.observableusercontent.com/files/e5b3830a1e6c304894d87386ed6ea09582b858314cdeaad3ae86fcde3936e5aab26936ff8f4a94449adce7191b74ca286f8e87bb2926474bf76d89cb6a9c3f5d","name":"insight-dates.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","lastModified":1665004820154.646,"size":48244},{"id":"8422c6f2cb4ae5ceb748654af2da2518545c37a3b5ef2ea36257102e58bc7a564a9527a7bc97e4b7e44ebe2105ee63422da743d542af4fc416c994b030db5e1b","href":"https://static.observableusercontent.com/files/8422c6f2cb4ae5ceb748654af2da2518545c37a3b5ef2ea36257102e58bc7a564a9527a7bc97e4b7e44ebe2105ee63422da743d542af4fc416c994b030db5e1b","name":"MeckfesselCMX2022.JPG","type":"image/jpeg","lastModified":1665004820154.646,"size":293845}] 2f:{"title":"How our community builds Observable","cells":[{"id":223,"value":"# How our community builds Observable\n_And, how we build community_","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md"},{"id":1115,"value":"

","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"html"},{"id":1276,"value":"toc()","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs"},{"id":325,"value":"## CMX Summit 2022: building community\n\nOn September 14, 2022, Observable attended the [2022 CMX Summit](https://events.cmxhub.com/events/details/cmx-cmx-hq-presents-cmx-summit-2022-thrive/), an annual gathering of leaders sharing tactics for growing supportive communities. \n\nMelody Meckfessel, Observable CEO and Co-founder, took the stage at the Fox Theater in Redwood City, CA, and chatted with Observable Community Lead Wayne Sutton on **how our community (you) helps to build Observable, and how we support our community. **","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md"},{"id":1260,"value":"\n\n

Leveraging Data and Insights to Build Sustainable Communities | Melody Meckfessel, Wayne Sutton.

","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md"},{"id":1016,"value":"## Observable _Insight_ : our 2022 community conference\n\nBefore we **share more on the take-aways of the summit**, we're delighted to invite you, a member of our community (if you're reading this, yes - you're part of the Observable community) to our own, first-ever community conference: Observable _Insight_.","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md"},{"id":1035,"value":"

","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"html"},{"id":1045,"value":"Observable [_Insight_,](https://hopin.com/events/observable-insight/registration)is happening online, October 26-27. The conference brings together creative data practitioners from all industries, geographic locations, and experience levels.\n\nAt Observable _Insight_, developers, data scientists, analysts, and others who use - or want to use - Observable will:\n\n- Explore data visualization trends\n- Experience data collaboration \n- Learn what’s next for Observable\n- Leave inspired and informed! \n\nCome see what your data can show. \n### [Register for free](https://hopin.com/events/observable-insight?utm_source=communityblogpost&utm_campaign=conference22)\n\n---","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md"},{"id":1271,"value":"## CMX 2022 Recap","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md"},{"id":1068,"value":"

\n\n \n

Meckfessel and Sutton onstage at CMX 2022.

","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"html"},{"id":1025,"value":"At the CMX Summit, Meckfessel shared her take on:\n- **Collaboration.** The power of collaboration in regard to the future of data work.\n- **Building together.** How the Observable community guides (in effect, helps to build) the platform.\n- **Listening with Data.** How the people at Observable use data from you, our community, to listen and act upon what we hear.","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md"},{"id":1049,"value":"$31","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md"},{"id":1172,"value":"\nFor example, the [Bar Chart Race ](https://observablehq.com/@johnburnmurdoch/bar-chart-race-the-most-populous-cities-in-the-world)notebook below by [John Murdock](https://observablehq.com/@johnburnmurdoch) is an example of:\n- A user-created notebook... \n- That is one of the [\"all-time most liked\"](https://observablehq.com/top), and\n- Has been forked 125 times (by other Observable users).","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md"},{"id":1162,"value":"chart","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs"},{"id":1051,"value":"$32","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md"},{"id":1180,"value":"

\n FileAttachment(\"Free_Teams_demo.m4v\").url())}\n \n

Free Teams on Observable was developed and released by listening to community feedback.

\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"html"},{"id":1053,"value":"$33","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md"},{"id":1211,"value":"

\n\n \n

CMX 2022 in-person attendees say yes to a selfie with Meckfessel and Sutton.

","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"html"},{"id":450,"value":"________________________\n\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md"},{"id":509,"value":"banner(\n \"Interested in learning more about collaborating with data?\",\n \"Sign up for free\",\n \"https://observablehq.com/product\"\n)","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs"},{"id":506,"value":"import {banner} from \"@observablehq/brand-assets\"","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs"},{"id":1158,"value":"import {chart} from \"@johnburnmurdoch/bar-chart-race-the-most-populous-cities-in-the-world\"","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs"},{"id":1279,"value":"import {toc} from \"@nebrius/indented-toc\"","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs"}],"files":"$W34","stdlib":"1","titling":"auto"}