
"Let me know how I can help" – a proposal to HN - topcat31
http://tomcritchlow.com/post/82380207991/let-me-know-how-i-can-help
======
basicallydan
Just to clarify:

a) You're suggesting that we start an HMO meme on Hacker News which clearly
means "I'm looking for help, this is what I'm looking for help with"

b) This post is the first one and it's your list of things?

If so: Cool :) I can't help with any, but I thought that this clarification
may help others.

I was also wondering to myself: would this be a good idea for a monthly thread
a la Jobs/Freelancers/Open Source? I decided that it probably _wouldn 't_ be,
because you'd end up with a difficult-to-read list of things that people may
or may not need help with.

Articles like Tom's which include specific requests are probably the best
format for such things. We don't want any information overload, right?

~~~
gk1
> Articles like Tom's which include specific requests are probably the best
> format for such things. We don't want any information overload, right?

But most people's articles will never make the homepage. By having one posts
(like the jobs threads), you keep all the information in one place and it gets
better visibility. It's the opposite of overload; it's consolidation.

Also, those posts request a specific format (eg, starting with "LOOKING FOR
WORK / Location") which helps others easily scan through the list and find
what's relevant to them. The same can be done with HMO lists.

~~~
topcat31
I agree - I'm very lucky to be on the homepage but a monthly HMO post would be
a great idea.

~~~
basicallydan
Well, I thought it'd be more appropriate for you to do it, but someone got
there first:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7573172](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7573172)

~~~
topcat31
Sorry dan, I stepped away from my computer for a few mins (crucial mistake!)
glad there's another thread going on. I'll up-bump!

------
petercooper
I'd actually like to see a monthly post along these lines, in the same was as
the "Who's hiring" or "Freelancers required/available" posts. I don't think it
works as well on a post by post basis but as a collection it'd make for good
scanning.

~~~
ThomPete
[http://www.weekendhacker.net](http://www.weekendhacker.net) is solving
exactly that problem (by trading skills)

We have a little under 10K subscribers and although we haven't been as active
recently we are ramping up with some new features too.

Disclaimer: I am the creator.

------
dzink
We have build [http://DoerHub.com](http://DoerHub.com) to tackle this head on.
You post whatever projects you are working on (hackers, researchers,
scientists, are are 50%+ of the community, but there are also marketers,
subject matter experts, designers, etc). Examples:

[http://www.doerhub.com/for/doerhub](http://www.doerhub.com/for/doerhub)
(dogfooding)

[http://www.doerhub.com/for/robopaint](http://www.doerhub.com/for/robopaint)

[http://www.doerhub.com/for/surgery-boards-
app](http://www.doerhub.com/for/surgery-boards-app)

[http://www.doerhub.com/for/coincashcard](http://www.doerhub.com/for/coincashcard)

[http://www.doerhub.com/for/synaptor](http://www.doerhub.com/for/synaptor)

[http://www.doerhub.com/for/securityfirst](http://www.doerhub.com/for/securityfirst)

Whoever sees your project can help in little or big ways, from joining the
team to becoming an advisor or a beta user. Teams are soon getting
public/private collaboration tools inside projects as well.

At the same time your profile shows what areas you are great at or looking for
help in/learning in, example:
[http://doerhubassets.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/badge-67f14a8ee...](http://doerhubassets.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/badge-67f14a8ee1fbf57976ffd7472fdc857a.png)

So you can really easily see people you have a lot in common with and share
complementary skills with. An app with real-time chat and serendipity matching
is in the works as well. It is entirely free, we haven't made a cent with it
but some amazing projects are now in beta because of our work and people who
would have never ever met otherwise (a hacker and a surgeon for example) are
now doing projects together. There are growing past 600+ doers already and 80+
projects as of yesterday. You are welcome to join.

We don't spread it randomly. Instead we mention it only to communities of
doers we respect and would want to work with and I hope you will do the same
if you join in.

~~~
Nacraile
Totally random, unsolicited, off-topic feedback: this project seems cool and I
suspect I might well be interested in using it, and I just bounced because I
couldn't figure out how to explore it a bit without signing up. Basically
exactly the same thing as
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7489870](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7489870)

This is probably a weird irrational hangup, but I tend to assign a fair amount
of weight to account creation, and am in general extremely unlikely to
register for anything before I am certain that I actually want it. I lurked HN
and reddit for, like, a year each before I finally was compelled to create
accounts due to people being wrong on the internet. I am unlikely to join your
community if I can't lurk anonymously for a while first.

I have no idea whether this makes me strange, of if there is a substantial
chunk of the population who acts similarly.

~~~
unoti
I also was interested to see what's going on; it sounded intriguing to me. "I
want to see what some of the projects are. Maybe I can find a side project to
work on!"

Then when I saw that I wasn't going to get squat without giving first via
signing up, closed it. I only wanted to take a minute or two here in between
tasks, and signing up is a commitment to me.

Sounds irrational, arguably, but here's my rationale: My email box is
currently flooded by dozens of emails from countless little things I've signed
up for at some time in the past under similar situations. Periodically, I go
clear them all out and try to unsubscribe, but it's like pulling weeds-- a
project that never ends.

Mentally I was prepared to give the site a minute or two, but the requirement
to sign up before I can even see what's up is a deal breaker to me-- I wasn't
planning to spend that kind of time.

Then I make a liar out of myself by coming here and typing for several
minutes. In any case, I love the idea, and I bet a lot of other people are,
like myself, looking to connect with other people that want to give and take
on various kinds of projects.

~~~
lemming
This is going to be even more true for me in the future, and I was already
pretty intolerant in this respect. I just used LastPass to get a list of all
the passwords I should change after Heartbleed, and the list is _terrifying_
\- I can't believe how many things I've had to sign up for. My bar for getting
any sort of credentials from me has just gone way up.

~~~
dzink
Does the GitHub connect help? We're thinking of adding Linkedin and Facebook
as an option. Would those help?

~~~
mkl
I think that's trying to solve the wrong problem. The problem is that the
closed, unbrowsable site makes it impossible for us visitors to tell whether
it has any relevance to us at all, so we bounce right away. The front page has
only very vague, general information and an unreadably small screenshot,
instead of the actual projects and people which would solve the problem
completely.

I think what the front page needs instead of what it has (or as well but right
up the top) is a list of active, interesting projects like you posted here,
and a link to browse all public projects.

~~~
dzink
You guys have sold me. Will put that up asap and update everyone.

------
pbhjpbhj
When you say "local" I assume you mean local to Brooklyn, NY. Might have been
wise to mention that.

Framing does seem to be a dark art in the creative world. Framing local to
where I am in the UK is expensive and there isn't anything [anymore] between
the expensive, custom, wait-a-few-days, framing and IKEA.

Perhaps I should try and make a robot-controlled cross-cutting mitre saw and
start a new business.

~~~
topcat31
Ha, yes indeed I wasn't quite expecting an international audience from HN to
swing by when I wrote it! Local is indeed Brooklyn, NY.

Actually, a 3D fabricating shop that did custom framing is not at all a bad
idea. It costs a lot of money to frame things well and if you can do custom
dimensions using robots you might be on to a winner!

------
gk1
I'm still regularly amazed at the diversity of people who read and post on HN.
There are artists, doctors, triathletes, cartoonists, real estate agents,
veterans, vagabonds, marketers, ... And you may never know they're reading
unless there's some catalyst to make the connection.

A monthly HMO post can be that catalyst.

And this can be the first. Just don't use this opportunity to purely pitch
your product.

~~~
rubiquity
> _There are artists, doctors, triathletes, cartoonists, real estate agents,
> veterans, vagabonds, marketers..._

There's even computer programmers on here too.

~~~
gk1
Yes, most of us share a common area of interest (hacking, programming, and
often startups). I meant to say there are _programmers_ here who are _also_
artists, doctors, ...

~~~
my_username_is_
There are also people who browse HN who are not programmers, like myself (a
mechanical engineer). I may not read all of the same posts as programmers, but
the "intellectually stimulating" guideline for news posts & the overall level
of discussion here seem to make it worth my while

------
lhnz
I've actually been working on an app to help create these serendipitous
situations for a month. Exactly the same concept, but perhaps developed
further.

And for the record:

I can help with JavaScript things and with honing your ideas. And I need help
with JavaScripty things and honing my ideas.

London-based if anybody wants to get in touch and discuss changing the world
or just creating something awesome!

~~~
basicallydan
Still in-the-works, or do you want to share it with HN?

Perhaps we can help you hone this idea!

~~~
lhnz
Still in the works! Hope to have a prototype in a week or two, though.

I'm working at the moment, but I'm putting in 5 hours on most nights trying to
get it done. Would love to meet people in a weeks time when the first
prototype is done and I can get feedback though. :)

------
Justen
I've been working on a website for almost 2 years (on&off). I'm right there at
the final push to get it live, but I think I'm just a little burnt out from
it. One of the things I'm struggling with is the pricing model I want to use.
I'm trying to find that balance of a simple pricing scheme that scales well.

My site was made to run leagues & tourneys, and I'm a single founder. If
anyone would like to talk with me on my business model ideas, my email is in
my profile.

------
carrollgt91
I've been working on some web programming with a coworking space in Nashville,
TN that has a focus on artists and creatives. I think they would be interested
in your service.

I can't provide feedback on their behalf, really, but I'd be happy to
introduce you to them.

Also, I really love the idea of the HMO meme. The rate problems can be solved
when pushed to a distributed, diverse audience such as HN is amazing.

------
vincvinc
Here's hoping "who's hiring"-type of recurring threads get popular, they bring
a new sense of community and value to HN IMO.

They could all be organised on the same day, saving lots of time for those who
don't want to be on HN too often!

~~~
ionforce
Trying (and failing) to think of a snappy pun, like "Who's Hiring Whosdays",
but there are no H-sounding days... Job Jobsdays!

------
ams6110
Wow thiat turned out to to be something different from what I was expecting. I
cringe every time I hear (or read) the words "Let me know how I can help"
because that was the SIGNATURE phrase of one of the most useless, incompetent
people I've ever worked with in my life. Nearly every email and converstation
with this guy ended with that phrase. I now view it as a throwaway line of
someone who doesn't have anything really helpful to offer.

------
vijayr
Like the who is hiring threads, may be we could post 'Help HN' thread once a
month, at the beginning of the month

------
adidash
What a nice idea! Inspired me to quickly create a very simple and basic tool.
If there is sufficient interest, I will add additional features like
categories, leaderboards, profiles, social login, ratings etc. If anyone wants
to help me out, email me. :)

[http://www.helphero.co/](http://www.helphero.co/)

------
harvestmoon
Cool idea!

As for me, I've been working on a career finding tool to help people find good
career fits. It's almost done, and I'm excited about launching it. But I'm not
sure how to get the word out about it.

If you have any ideas, or would like to try it!, my email is dgurevich5 [at]
gmail.com

------
Ryel
Sorry I can't really provide an intro but I'm sure these guys could answer
some of your questions. (they seem like good people)
[http://www.artsicle.com/](http://www.artsicle.com/)

~~~
topcat31
Thanks dude! I'll reach out to them. Not sure if they'd look at us as
competitors but I'll try and make an intro

------
ajiang
This is great. For a community that so often looks to speak with target
customers / audiences, we can really help each out either whether it's sharing
our own experience or connecting people.

Here's to HMO :)

------
peterwwillis
I always have people asking me if I can do X or Y, and I have to say no, and
that I also don't know anyone who can do those things. This could be a good
place to connect those dots.

------
archildress
Need:

\- Some experience working with customer service. I will

\- Any type of remote, non-technical (think business) work. I like finance and
Analytics.

Offering:

\- Analytics help (setup and mostly data interpretation, telling the story of
your traffic)

------
jasdeepsingh
You should talk to my friend who's doing Wallrent here in Toronto:
[http://wallrent.com](http://wallrent.com)

his email: richardsondx [at] gmail.com

------
nekopa
HMO HN: security for node based website.

How about this format?

~~~
olalonde
I think a monthly or weekly thread would make more sense (same as the "who's
hiring" posts).

------
JeremyMorgan
> bearded, plaid-shirt-wearing startup guy

You just described every coder in Portland. I can send you a few truckloads if
you need them.

------
joshdance
I really like it. People want to help. Give them a way to help!

------
Vekz
Need:

Help configuring IPV6 public address pool to Ubuntu hosted lXC containers

