Contacting potential collaborators
The goal of collaboration
In the end, the goal of any reproducibility workshop collaboration is to make the workshop better. The specifics of the workshop will, of course, determine your collaboration needs. Some great reasons to reach out to collaborators include:
Need for additional expertise on a topic covered in a workshop
Need for access to venues
Better promotion of the workshop
Expanded network of potential contacts for speakers and sponsors
Tips for reaching out to potential collaborators:
Reach out to diverse types of collaborators You should find collaborators in other types of organizations. For example, if you work for a company, you should reach out to collaborators from a research focused organization or academia. If you’re from a for-profit, try to find non-profit collaborators as well.
Get an introduction through your network if possible While it can work to send an email to the “contact us” email address on an organization’s website or to cold email an individual (don’t be afraid to do this if you have to), you’re more likely to get a response if a mutual friend introduces you to someone at the organization you’re hoping to collaborate with
Don’t make it all about you When reaching out to potential collaborators, be sure to let them know why they’ll make a good fit and what you’re hoping they’ll get out of the collaboration. Some incentives for collaboration include:
Increased visibility
A platform to promote a mission or message (so long as that mission or message aligns well with the mission of the workshop)
A means to become a “thought leader” in reproducibility
Don’t overload potential sponsors with information in the first email As with all forms of communication, you’ll want to be as concise as possible when you first reach out to potential sponsors. The main points you should hit are:
Short description of the event (1 sentence)
Short explanation of why you’re contacting this particular organization (1 sentence)
A short list (max 3 items) of the things you hope they’ll get from the collaboration
Be Explicit about roles and needs in follow up emails After the potential collaborator shows interest in participating in the workshop, you should follow up with an explicit description of what you’re hoping to do at the event and what the collaborator’s role will be. This should be well thought out and shouldn’t be done on the fly. Clear expectations will likely save you a lot of time (and anxiety) later.
Don’t be afraid to take the conversation out of email Interactions between collaborators will likely be more complicated and require more coordination than interactions with sponsors so don’t be afraid to set up phone calls, conference calls, or video calls. With more than 2 collaborators, it is often a good idea to set up a recurring call with an agenda, notes, and explicit action items for each collaborator to work on after every meeting. A little organization and a few minutes on the phone can save you a ton of time.
Example introductory email
Dear XXXX,
I hope all is well at your organization and that you’ve had some time to relax over the summer holidays.
In September I’m working with some folks over at the code-sharing organization, Code Ocean, to organize a Boston-area workshop focused on practical ways to improve reproducibility in the Biological sciences. As you have worked to promote similar events in the past and have expertise in the impacts of protocol sharing, I thought I’d reach out to see if you’re interested in helping organize this event.
The event should attract many graduate students in the Boston area and will be a great place to promote protocol sharing.
Please let me know if your interested and I’ll send along additional details.
Sincerely,
Person Y
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