Slides short explanation: Slide1: Title I chose this title Building - - PDF document

Slides short explanation:

Slide1: Title I chose this title ‘’ Building communities as if people mattered’’, because it is catchy, I believe that some

• f the people will think that I am neglecting the human being, but at the end of the session they will

understand that this is a myth, and that building a community is all about people! Slide 2: Introduction In this slide, I will briefly present myself My name is Anya, originally from Algeria, and leaving and working in Moldova. Despite my Civil Engineering degree and a non-IT Background I am an active contributor and advocator for Drupal and Open Source in Moldova. Slide 3: I will explain briefly how our NGO started and which is our mission through the Golden Circle method. Slides 4-9: Are already well explained on the slide’s text Slide 10: Lack of Speakers/Trainers One of the challenges we have had, is the lack of speakers/ Trainers and contributors at our projects/ Events, some of the developers even having a great experience, they are still afraid and not enough confident when it comes to deliver sessions, this is not only in Moldova but everywhere. In order to overcome this issue:

• We try our best to motivate the speakers, support them and have simulations before the session

itself, we also tried to showcase the ones that are talking on stage and promote them as ACTIVE CONTRIBUTORS, this helps to show that everyone can make it, it is just a matter of perspective and courage.

• Try to co- deliver sessions, in this way if one of the speaker is too shy he can rely on his friend to

compensate that.

• We have collaborated with neighbour countries and we had International Speakers and Trainers

(Example at Drupal School we had a Dev from Ukraine who though Drupal 8 to Moldovan students) Slide 11: People are shy! We all know that some geeky people are SHY, and this is one of the reasons why they don’t want to talk

• n stage, and it is okey!! We are all different in our way but we need to learn how to overcome

challenges and barriers to go out of our comfort zone, one of the solutions we had is to organize a ‘’Local Train The Trainers conference’’ with the purpose to show the best practices and latest techniques

in training delivery and public speaking thought by experts, this gives confidence to the potential trainers and help them to learn tips and tricks. Slide 12: Difficulties on finding students This is simple, if you find teachers you don’t find interested students (and Vice-versa). Beside Marketing and Social Media strategies, we noticed that what worked the most was the direct approach or through collaborations with Universities/Colleges.

• We have been doing information sessions at Universities to explain more about ‘’what is Drupal

and how to build a strong career’’ and we showcased successful and active contributors in the community, and from that we encourage them to attend our events/projects.

• Explain and show off how strong and open the Drupal Community is! (Because it is true), we all

like being part of huge and a helpful community.

• Have some good testimonials from previous students who attended your events (Photos,

Videos..)

• Have some discounts for students to be affordable to everyone, or some scholarships.
• Have some internships inside your NGO and make them familiar with what the organization

strives for.

• Make sure your trainers are interesting and knows how to deal with students, ensure also a

good content. Slide 13: Not everyone understands the power of community One of the issue of not believing on a community is the lack of understanding the concept of a community and its benefit, therefore don’t exclude immediately people who are not active, let them get familiar with that by attending your events, projects, and by involving them to contribute, make them feel special and feel the ownership and they will by themselves change their mind regarding that. Slide 14: Lack of experience at Code Sprints Not knowing is not an excuse! We did not really know how to organize a successful Code Sprint and we were afraid of doing it in the wrong way. At Moldcamp 2017, we had invited Rachel Lawson as a speaker at our camp, and since we all know she is a GURU at Code Sprints, we have asked her to explain us and to guide us at the code sprint that happened at the camp, the participants had a lot of fun and they really felt that they were learning and that they were part of one family and since then they have been asking us by themselves to organize

• ther editions.

So if i have one advice regarding that is to always ask for help, if you don’t know something someone else knows and i am sure they will be glad to share their experience :) Slide 15: Advices

1) Don’t have HIGH expectations in the beginning and be patient: growing an independent and a strong community takes time, Rome was not built in one day. 2) Be explicit and explain to everyone the purpose of your NGO or initiatives and how a community is beneficial for them. 3) Collaborate with Companies and NGOs with the same mission. 4) Give to your community sense of ownership, everyone is welcome to contribute and get involved. 5) Remember that you are dealing with human beings who need to be in constant communication to function properly. If your community loses the human touch, people will stop contributing to it. 6) Finally, keep in mind that every community is different, and no single solution will ever apply to all of them. Be persistent and never stop learning from your community, and then adapt. Slide 16: Conclusion Conclusion: As organization we are striving to make people understand that Drupal and Open Source is not just a software, but a way that helps people grow and try things bigger than them, I will explain the awkward title of the session ‘’ Building Communities as if people mattered!’’ which of course through the session we will prove that it is wrong to think in this way and that ‘’Everything begins and ends with the PEOPLE’’