I’m thrilled to announce, that I’ll be back at Midcamp this year for the 4th year in a row. This year, I’ll be giving a presentation on “Drupal as a Political Act.” The previous week, on March 25th, I’m giving a similarly titled presentation on “Open Source as a Political Act” at Minnebar in Bloomington, MN.
An observant person might notice a theme between the two presentations.
Here is the description of the session for Midcamp:
As an open source project, there is something inherently political about participation in the Drupal Community. Those of us who contribute to Drupal through code, testing, writing documentation, or planning Drupal events are making a conscious decision to contribute towards the creation of a public good that is used by individuals, non-profits, educational institutions, and multi-national corporations alike. Many of the most active members of the Drupal community got their start in Drupal by building a website for a school, arts organization, political campaign, or a non-profit organization. We were drawn to Drupal, not only because the code was free, but because of the welcoming community that answered our questions online or took time to work with us one on one at a Meet-Up or Drupal camp.
- Let’s talk about the political implications of using and developing Drupal?
- How does Drupal fit into the larger landscape of open source software, the free software movement, and growing concerns over privacy and government data?
- How do we continue to ensure that Drupal is not only affordable but accessible to small nonprofits and organizations of change?
- How do we ensure that the Drupal community continues to thrive, attract new members, and serve as a force for “good” in the world?
In this session we’ll provide some background and context, but we want to hear your thoughts and experiences on this topic.