Chat Channels

This page provides some information about the various chat channels we use every day.

Some of these channels are mandatory for all VSHNeers!

Questions	Answers
Which channels to be in?	There are a few channels which are mandatory for every VSHNeer (see list below). The other channels are semi mandatory (every VSHNeer has to be a member of his own Teamchannel and their role, if shared with others) and some which are on a voluntary basis.
How and when to create a channel? Mandatory things for a channel to exists (for example: good description, topic, etc.)	Fill in a precise Room topic: What’s this channel used for, who should be part of it’s discussion allowed or not.
How to have discussions in channels? (use threads)	Threads Will exist on the same channel. They add the parent message property to the messages, so they can be displayed on the sidebar. They’re used to just answer a short question or input. For longer conversations it might be better to use the discussion button. Discussions Are basically new sub channels that inherit permission from the parent channel and have its creation announced on the parent channel. Usually, a discussion is being created to discuss something with a goal. Once this goal has been achieved, the discussion is going to be deserted. Semantically, it’s "done."
How to approach people in chat?	Typing is much slower than talking, so don’t just say hi and wait to state your question, instead write the full question upfront. → It doesn’t mean that you don’t have to follow basic courtesy rules, but jumping into the question directly and give your chatpartner the possibility to answer your question even when you aren’t there anymore. This asynchronus conversations saves you a lot of time. Complicated issues, for which you have to write a longer text, have no place in chat. Especially if there are several attachments. The messages in the chat can’t be sorted away like an e-mail and it’s pointless to find the files again later. Better write a mail with a proper subject.
Customers in our chat, how they get access, why not to invite them into VSHN channels, etc	Please check this page in the wiki.

Questions

Answers

Which channels to be in?

There are a few channels which are mandatory for every VSHNeer (see list below). The other channels are semi mandatory (every VSHNeer has to be a member of his own Teamchannel and their role, if shared with others) and some which are on a voluntary basis.

How and when to create a channel? Mandatory things for a channel to exists (for example: good description, topic, etc.)

Fill in a precise Room topic: What’s this channel used for, who should be part of it’s discussion allowed or not.

How to have discussions in channels? (use threads)

Threads
Will exist on the same channel. They add the parent message property to the messages, so they can be displayed on the sidebar. They’re used to just answer a short question or input. For longer conversations it might be better to use the discussion button.

Discussions
Are basically new sub channels that inherit permission from the parent channel and have its creation announced on the parent channel. Usually, a discussion is being created to discuss something with a goal. Once this goal has been achieved, the discussion is going to be deserted. Semantically, it’s "done."

How to approach people in chat?

Typing is much slower than talking, so don’t just say hi and wait to state your question, instead write the full question upfront.

→ It doesn’t mean that you don’t have to follow basic courtesy rules, but jumping into the question directly and give your chatpartner the possibility to answer your question even when you aren’t there anymore. This asynchronus conversations saves you a lot of time.

Complicated issues, for which you have to write a longer text, have no place in chat. Especially if there are several attachments. The messages in the chat can’t be sorted away like an e-mail and it’s pointless to find the files again later. Better write a mail with a proper subject.

Customers in our chat, how they get access, why not to invite them into VSHN channels, etc

Please check this page in the wiki.

Specification

Channel	Mandatory for VSHNeers	Long story short
VSHN Chat (being online)	yes, during logged attendance time Means: be online or offline but check every few hours
#announcements	yes, during logged attendance time	VSHN wide read only announcements. Mandatory for every VSHNeer
#general	yes, during logged attendance time	transitory announcements like visitors, doodles, recruiting interviews, etc
#virtual-presence	yes, say hello and goodbye	Daily announcements about attendences
#off-topic	no	Topics / Links with no direct relation to work but interesting for VSHNeers
#technical	yes, for tech people
#isms	no	Topics regarding Information Security
#link-dump	no	Link things you want to share with other vshneers
#goodnews	no	Announcements of good news, articles, blogposts from inside and outside the Vshn universe
#meetups	no	Information about all kind of meetups
#OfficeMgmt	For responsible role	Topics around our physical office
#recruiting	For responsible role	Requests, updates and decisions regarding job openings and hiring
Teamchannels	yes, for team members	Channel for team specific topics
Customerchannels	yes, for team members	Channel for topics attached to Customer X

Channel

Mandatory for VSHNeers

Long story short

VSHN Chat (being online)

yes, during logged attendance time

Means:

be online
or offline but check every few hours

#announcements

yes, during logged attendance time

VSHN wide read only announcements. Mandatory for every VSHNeer

#general

yes, during logged attendance time

transitory announcements like visitors, doodles, recruiting interviews, etc

#virtual-presence

yes, say hello and goodbye

Daily announcements about attendences

#off-topic

Topics / Links with no direct relation to work but interesting for VSHNeers

#technical

yes, for tech people

#isms

Topics regarding Information Security

#link-dump

Link things you want to share with other vshneers

#goodnews

Announcements of good news, articles, blogposts from inside and outside the Vshn universe

#meetups

Information about all kind of meetups

#OfficeMgmt

For responsible role

Topics around our physical office

#recruiting

For responsible role

Requests, updates and decisions regarding job openings and hiring

Teamchannels

yes, for team members

Channel for team specific topics

Customerchannels

yes, for team members

Channel for topics attached to Customer X