Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
ADD THE DATA SCIENCE HANGOUT TO YOUR CALENDAR HERE: https://pos.it/dsh - All are welcome! We'd love to see you!
This week's guests were Rachael Dempsey, Customer Marketing Lead at Posit, and Libby Heeren, Data Community Manager at Posit!
Some topics covered in this week's Hangout were community building strategies, return on investment for community events, career transitions into data science and community management, and advice for starting internal communities.
One community member asked: "What are challenges that you face being a community builder, and what are tips you would give to folks trying to build community as well?"
Libby answered: The biggest challenge is that people don't willingly volunteer to do things when you ask a group for volunteers. The most important tip is to individually ask people to contribute rather than making broad requests. You need someone who is consistently inviting, welcoming, and scheduling. Find a balance between structure (consistent schedule, same time and place) and flexibility (don't over-prescribe the meeting content). Make it convenient for yourself as the organizer since you'll be the one who always shows up.
Resources mentioned in the video and chat:
🔗 Posit Conference Registration → posit.co/conference
🔗 Data Science Lab → https://pos.it/dslab
🔗 mirai R Package → github.com/shikokuchuo/mirai
🔗 Pinterest Customer Story → posit.co/about/customer-stories/pinterest
🔗 Rachael's conf talk about learning about community from growing up in her mom's bar → youtube.com/watch?v=s0ZU4FDstfY
🔗 Rachael's 2022 Community Conf Talk as a Blog → https://rachaeldempsey.quarto.pub/community-corner-blog/posts/post-with-code/
🔗 Meetup Burnout Article by Ted Laderas → laderast.github.io/meetup_burnout
🔗 "The New Gold Standard" Book (Leadership) → amazon.com/New-Gold-Standard-Leadership-Ritz-Carlton/dp/1480595829
🔗 "Unreasonable Hospitality" Book → unreasonablehospitality.com
🔗 Hangout Episode with JD Long about Empathy When Integrating with Other Tools → youtube.com/watch?v=nrukV58ZXBg
► Subscribe to Our Channel Here: bit.ly/2TzgcOu
Follow Us Here:
Website: posit.co
Hangout: https://pos.it/dsh
The Lab: https://pos.it/dslab
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/posit-software
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/posit.co
Thanks for hanging out with us! 💛
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
06:20 "How do you describe to Posit leadership the value of Data Science Hangout and the return on investment?"
11:24 "What's your career arc through data science and into teaching and community building?"
16:08 "What does a day in the life look like for you?"
20:13 "What are challenges that you face being a community builder, and what tips would you give to folks trying to build community?"
24:42 "What are the first steps for starting a data science hangout in Vietnam, and does Posit support regional organizers?"
32:56 "What skills or backgrounds or qualities do you look for in people?"
37:21 "How did you manage to put together such a positive and authentic community? Did you ever have issues with toxic community members?"
43:08 "What features do you wish you had on Zoom that would make hosting easier, and do you get nervous before hosting?"
47:30 "What goes into the behind-the-scenes of organizing the Hangout?"
51:23 "What's your favorite piece of career advice?"
ADD THE DATA SCIENCE HANGOUT TO YOUR CALENDAR HERE: https://pos.it/dsh - All are welcome! We'd love to see you!
This week's guests were Rachael Dempsey, Customer Marketing Lead at Posit, and Libby Heeren, Data Community Manager at Posit!
Some topics covered in this week's Hangout were community building strategies, return on investment for community events, career transitions into data science and community management, and advice for starting internal communities.
One community member asked: "What are challenges that you face being a community builder, and what are tips you would give to folks trying to build community as well?"
Libby answered: The biggest challenge is that people don't willingly volunteer to do things when you ask a group for volunteers. The most important tip is to individually ask people to contribute rather than making broad requests. You need someone who is consistently inviting, welcoming, and scheduling. Find a balance between structure (consistent schedule, same time and place) and flexibility (don't over-prescribe the meeting content). Make it convenient for yourself as the organizer since you'll be the one who always shows up.
Resources mentioned in the video and chat:
🔗 Posit Conference Registration → posit.co/conference
🔗 Data Science Lab → https://pos.it/dslab
🔗 mirai R Package → github.com/shikokuchuo/mirai
🔗 Pinterest Customer Story → posit.co/about/customer-stories/pinterest
🔗 Rachael's conf talk about learning about community from growing up in her mom's bar → youtube.com/watch?v=s0ZU4FDstfY
🔗 Rachael's 2022 Community Conf Talk as a Blog → https://rachaeldempsey.quarto.pub/community-corner-blog/posts/post-with-code/
🔗 Meetup Burnout Article by Ted Laderas → laderast.github.io/meetup_burnout
🔗 "The New Gold Standard" Book (Leadership) → amazon.com/New-Gold-Standard-Leadership-Ritz-Carlton/dp/1480595829
🔗 "Unreasonable Hospitality" Book → unreasonablehospitality.com
🔗 Hangout Episode with JD Long about Empathy When Integrating with Other Tools → youtube.com/watch?v=nrukV58ZXBg
► Subscribe to Our Channel Here: bit.ly/2TzgcOu
Follow Us Here:
Website: posit.co
Hangout: https://pos.it/dsh
The Lab: https://pos.it/dslab
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/posit-software
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/posit.co
Thanks for hanging out with us! 💛
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
06:20 "How do you describe to Posit leadership the value of Data Science Hangout and the return on investment?"
11:24 "What's your career arc through data science and into teaching and community building?"
16:08 "What does a day in the life look like for you?"
20:13 "What are challenges that you face being a community builder, and what tips would you give to folks trying to build community?"
24:42 "What are the first steps for starting a data science hangout in Vietnam, and does Posit support regional organizers?"
32:56 "What skills or backgrounds or qualities do you look for in people?"
37:21 "How did you manage to put together such a positive and authentic community? Did you ever have issues with toxic community members?"
43:08 "What features do you wish you had on Zoom that would make hosting easier, and do you get nervous before hosting?"
47:30 "What goes into the behind-the-scenes of organizing the Hangout?"
51:23 "What's your favorite piece of career advice?"
