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?

Some questions:

• What are behaviors of InnerSource maintainers that made you (as a user) want to contribute to that project more?
• What are behaviors of an InnerSource project that have made you (as the maintainer) want to help them more?
• How do code reviews contribute to this? In some projects these might be the "first impressions", assuming that the user opes the conversation by proposing a code change through a PR

What are anti patterns for great first impressions? e.g.

• maintainer opening the conversation with "please create an issue first ..."
• user opening the conversation with "we should really fix this stupid bug"
• ... more examples like these (especially some that are less obvious :))