1. Our slack is set up with the standard open #general and #random channels for team-wide communication and restricted channels for subteams and specific topics. For example, we have a slack channel #programming that includes all the programmers on the team and another channel #programming-curriculum that only contains the senior programmers responsible for creating the preseason curriculum. We found channel compartmentalization to be very helpful.
2. We just make sure channels stay relatively on topic and that members use their real names and sane usernames (use common sense).
3. We have 33 people in our slack. This is everyone that is active on our team.
4. Slack has worked great for team chat. It has all the features we want (file uploading, searching old chats, etc.) and the way it manages channels is great for info compartmentalization. However, Slack is not a catch-all for team communication. Our team also uses a project management tool called
Basecamp. Slack is great for team chats, however we use Basecamp as a team message board, to-do list, and schedule planner. We try to use Slack and Basecamp for most of our communication that we need a public record of so that they do not turn into "yet another platform to check," but we do not have a perfect system.
5. Slack (and Basecamp) where very kind and gave us paid versions of their products for free when we asked to use their communications platforms. Do not be afraid to ask for these products; companies like Slack want to give us their products to promote themselves.