Slack for the Family
Working at a startup that builds on top of Slack’s platform, I have a ton of experience with Slack. There are integrations I love (Intercom) and ones I’m sad to see have left (Kifi, come back). My tiny team and I send thousands of Slack messages a week, staying in touch, keeping up with each others progress and /giphy-ing our conversations into oblivion. But Slack isn’t just for team communication, it’s for communities. There are Slack groups that I am a part of that I’ve made friends through. More that have helped me stay connected to old colleagues. There are Slack groups that I’ve learned new hobbies from and enhanced my skills for work.
The most surprising place that Slack has entered my life, however, is in my family.
When I told my parents that I had co-founded a startup that was building on top of Slack they (predictably) asked “What’s Slack?” I tried to explain, I showed them my teams Slack, they still didn’t really get it. “I guess you have to use it,” I thought- so I created one for my family. I invited my parents and my brothers (and a few of their partners). I figured we’d use it for a little, everyone would learn what Slack was so I wouldn’t have to keep explaining, then they’d fade away from it, just like they do with all the ‘it’ games and apps. I was wrong.
My family is and always has been extraordinarily close. My brothers are my best friends. My parents are my role models. I grew up in the same town I went to college in, my brothers all went to college at home as well. I went to family dinners every week. I was the first to move away from home post-college. I traveled, I worked all across the country and slowly figured out what I wanted to do with my life (for now, at least). Today I’ve settled, far from home, in Colorado, and to be totally honest, I miss my family. I miss the chaotic, loud dinners. I miss grilling in the snow with my dad. I miss late night video game sessions with my little brother.
Our family Slack has evolved into the best way for us to stay in touch. The first channel was #dinner. In there, my mom would post the time and place of family dinners. Simple. Effective.
Next was #politics. We all agree with each other, but somehow still find ways to argue in there. Then there was #travel. We use that one for flight updates, adding pictures from our trips and cheap flights we find. One of my brothers is a software engineer- we chat about what we’re developing in #slackoverflow. We stay on top of our fitness and diet goals in #health. You get the idea.
My family’s Slack group has kept us close. It’s kept us informed on each others lives and it’s allowed me to have a taste of home when I’m missing it most.
Slack has revolutionized the way teams communicate, but it’s so much more than a business communication service. Slack has also created an incredible tool for communities to grow and evolve. Both of these reasons make me proud to work on their platform every single day. But the way I’ve best engaged with Slack is with my family, and for that I’m most grateful.
I did use our software (SlackPass, which makes creating Slack groups, and invite pages that accept payment a breeze), to create a paid private channel for my family’s Slack group… I call it #fund-a-tucker and it’s $10/month. No bites yet.
