1) The document is a presentation about creating a culture of giving back to open source projects within organizations. It discusses the importance and benefits of contributing to open source software and provides examples of how individuals, agencies, and enterprises can contribute. 2) The presentation provides use cases of contributions from an individual developer, the agency Mediacurrent, and the enterprise Pfizer. It discusses how Mediacurrent promotes a "contrib-first" culture and contributes extensively to Drupal. 3) The presentation urges all roles within an organization, including non-technical and technical staff as well as leadership, to find ways to contribute back to open source projects through activities like documentation, code contributions, funding, and community involvement.

1. Creating a culture of
giving in your
organization
By:
Dave Terry July 14, 2020

2. Why Sustaining
Open Source
Projects is Critical
How Organizations
Can Give Back
Review Actual
Use Cases
Goals of the Session
| 2
Goal 1 Goal 2 Goal 3
Next Steps +
Q&A
Goal 4

3. Dave Terry
Partner, Client Services
/in/daveterry
● Partner and Co-founder of Mediacurrent in
2007
● Attended DrupalCon North America 13
consecutive years
● Entrepreneur for 20+ years; organically grown
and sold two professional service companies
● Primary organizer for Drupalcamp Atlanta
(2009-2013), Drupal Business Summit, and
Atlanta Drupal User Group.
● Passionate about sales, marketing,
open-source, and culture

4. Mediacurrent helps organizations build highly impactful, elegantly
designed Drupal websites that achieve the strategic results they need.
● Full-service digital agency focused in Drupal since 2007
● Headquartered and founded in metro-Atlanta, GA
● Team of approximately 90 experts in development, design
and digital strategy
● Clients include mid-size businesses to high-profile global brands
About Mediacurrent

5. Why Sustaining
Open Source
Projects Is Critical

6. | 6

7. | 7
You get to be part of a large,
supportive community that has an
impact on the lives of millions and
millions of people. Something you do
in an afternoon can have an effect on
people all over the world.
Matt Mullenweg
WordPress creator

8. | 8
● Drupal is a powerful tool in
fighting COVID-19 for these
organizations.
● The Drupal Association
supports all end-users of
Drupal with updates and
security releases, including
many that are leading the fight
against COVID-19.
Why Should
You Care?

9. | 9
Free Training For Employees
Code reviews, version control, testing,
teamwork, etc.
Higher Quality Software
Awareness leads to greater stability.
Brand Equity / Marketing
For Your IT & Marketing Team.
Recruiting
Top OSS & Drupal talent want to
work in a contrib-centric culture.
Stop Stressing Over IP &
Licensing
Establish standards and guidelines..
Innovation
The ability to prototype and do faster
release cycles.
Benefits of Contributing to OSS

10. | 10
● Unclear vision, not solving a
problem
● Scant documentation
● Poor community infrastructure
● Lack of funding
● Lack operating system ubiquity
Sustainability
Challenges

11. | 11
How Organizations
Can Give Back

12. | 12
Leadership Buy-In

13. | 13
Mission Alignment

14. Dedicated Time

15. Recognition

16. Culture

17. Damien McKenna
Individual
Mediacurrent
Agency
Pfizer
Enterprise
Use Cases: Individual,
Agency, and Enterprise

18. Damien McKenna
Community Lead
/u/damienmckenna
● (Semi-) traditional path to where he is:
○ HTML static pages
○ Server side includes
○ PHP includes
○ Data in database
○ Full custom CMS
○ Open source
● Built proprietary content systems until
introduced to Drupal in 2007.
● Top ten contributor to Drupal community for
several years.
● Leads internal initiatives promoting and
encouraging a contrib-first mantra.
@DamienMcKenna

19. “Someone who promotes a contrib first
mantra/process internally, mentors staff
through one-on-one and group training,
leads internal initiatives to further the
organization's contributions, interacts with
the communities the organization's
software stack uses (e.g. the Drupal
community), promotes the company's
achievements.”
● Top-10 contribution sponsor for
several years, currently averaging
over 100 issue credits per month.
● Actively maintains and supports
distributions:
○ Rain - award-winning starter kit
○ Guardr - security-focused
○ Collective Directory
What is a
Community Lead?
Mediacurrent’s
Contributions

20. | 20
1. Train staff how to use the tools
- drupal.org, github, etc.
2. Promote a contrib-first mantra;
avoid duplicate work.
3. Communicate Don't wait until
after the work is done to
discuss it with relevant groups.
4. Encourage applaud and
reward contributions.
Contrib-First

21. Motivation

22. To bring together the most talented team in the
world in order to provide amazing open-source
software based solutions for the web.
Our Mission

23. 2007
Mediacurrent
starts designing
and building
Drupal.
2008
Sponsoring
Atlanta Drupal
User’s Group.
Attended
Drupalcon Boston.
Sponsored an
attendee.
2009
Organized first
Drupalcamp
Atlanta.
First Drupal
commit - Google
Search Appliance
Simple Search
module.
2010
Contributing
Content Regularly.
2011
Contributed first
client-sponsored
module back to
drupal for
manh.com.
2014
Weather.com
launches highest
trafficked Drupal site.
Several modules
contributed back.
2015
Mediacurrent
acquired by Code
and Theory.
2020
Mediacurrent
remains a Top 10
Drupal Contributor
Timeline

25. $1M to invest in R&D
$500K towards Open Source
$500K in the proprietary IP
$1M to invest in R&D
$50K towards Open Source
$950K in the proprietary IP
500K
OPEN SOURCE
500K
IP
950K
IP
50K
OS
Mainly used for
self-promotion
Maker Taker

26. ● Committed to migrate to Drupal in 2012; faster,
less costly, and more capabilities. 1000’s of
sites running on Drupal. Inspired by “come for
the software, stay for the community.”
● Got involved and motivated by the issue credit
system; showed the Pfizer team behaviors that
the company valued (collaboration, giving
back, high coding standards).
● Hired talent and partners that were involved
with the Drupal community.
● Could focus on strategic initiatives that were
directly impactful to Pfizer (Composer).
Pfizer’s Path To
Contrib-First

28. Final Thoughts

29. Non-Technical
Marketing, Strategy, Graphic
Design, Project Manager
Leadership
Agency or Company
Technical
Developer
1. Improve the knowledge
base (documentation).
2. Volunteer your time
or expertise to a
Drupal event.
3. Recruit and evangelize.
1. Maintain a module
(or two).
2. Submit a patch.
3. Innovate (sandbox a
new module).
4. Test modules.
1. Allocate time for
your team.
2. Budget accordingly -
help sustain OSS through
funding/donations.
3. Hire partners and
talent from the Drupal
community (they can help
you navigate the waters).
How Can You Help?

30. | 30| 30
Your Feedback is
Valuable!

31. Dave Terry
Co-founder and Partner
/in/daveterry
dave.terry@mediacurrent.com
mediacurrent.com
Thank You!
Let’s continue the conversation