Pattern idea: Great first impressions

[spier]

In InnerSource much like in open source, the very first interaction between a contributor and the maintainer of a project sets the tone for the rest of the interaction.

That first impression can

1. turn a first-time contributor into a raving fan of the project, leading to more future contributions
2. or scare of that user, maybe even prevent a first-time contribution that otherwise would have been possible

The importance of the first impression goes both ways though!

e.g. a user that starts the conversation with "we should really fix this stupid bug" may create some negative vibes in the conversation that are frustrating for the maintainer to deal with.

While overall project appearance and documentation also contribute to the first impression, in this pattern idea I want to focus on the elements of human interaction that make a great and not-so-great first impression. We could say "be nice" but does that really cut it?

As an experiment I will move the conversation about this into a discussion, so let's explore there together if this could be a pattern: https://github.com/InnerSourceCommons/InnerSourcePatterns/discussions/443