Talking Drupal #317 - Govcon Keynote Non-Code Contribution: Using your passion and skills to power open source.

# Talking Drupal #317 - Govcon Keynote Non-Code Contribution: Using your passion and skills to power open source. Today we are talking about Non-Code Contribution [TalkingDrupal.com/317](https://TalkingDrupal.com/317) ## Topics * What is Talking Drupal * Podcast with audio and video * We recorded our 300th episode in June, over 175 guests, 700K audio downloads * Weekly episodes covering a variety of topics * Most recent 315 with Tara King, Director of Developer Relations at automatic, Comparing Drupal and Wordpress Communities * Visit www.talkingdrupal.com * This may be a different keynote than you are accustomed to. Talking Drupal is a discussion, and that's what we are having today. * Today we are talking about Non-Code Contribution: Using your passion and skills to power open source. * What is contribution in an open-source project? * Providing your time, skills or resources to benefit the project * Today we’re talking about non code contributions * Early on contribution was considered writing code * Over time we have learned to value non-code contributions just as much as code contrib * Rather than defining non-code contribution by what it is not, we need a term to define it by what it is * Community is built in meetups, camps, and cons * Majority of contribution has nothing to do with coding at a camp * Attending * Speaking * Training * Organizing * Organizing a camp (NEDCamp.org / Nov 19th) * Volunteering at a camp * Stephen - Sponsorship, lead for many years * Nic - Website & Signage * John - Current Lead, Day of Logistics, Venue coordination * Some other examples of contribution * Mentorship * Documentation * Training * Summits * Being on a committee/Board * Answering questions in issue queue * Answering questions in slack * Who is a contributor? * Is it a self designation or a community designation? * Why would you contribute? * Contribution is a relationship * Give and receive * Makes you feel good * Benefit Skills * Technical * Communication * Project Management * Benefit Career * Skills * Visibility * Building Personal Network * Networking at Events * Financial Compensation * Contribute does not always mean nights and weekends * Usually starts that way * Contribute as part of your job * Employers are open supporting open source, there are benefits got both company and employee * Contribute to external project or contribute internal project to open source * Will your company support your time to make NCC * 315 we learned about Wordpress' contribution goals * Launched in 2014, Five for the Future encourages organizations to contribute five percent of their resources to WordPress development. * Government * 2016 Federal Source Code Policy * Support for open source usage, encourage sharing across agencies * 20 percent created code should be open source * Start the Dialog with your company * Why do we contribute - Contribution can be personal like donating to your favorite charity or playing your favorite game. * Nic * I was asked * I enjoy giving back * Helps my career * Stephen * Sharing and Learning * John * To help people and solve technical challenges for people * Education and knowledge sharing * To support something larger than myself / make the world a better place * How did TD Start * Long before Joe Rogans podcast deal with Spotify of 100 million * 2008 - With Liberty and Justice for All - 5th grader * Obama McCain * 7 episodes * Mechanics of podcasting,work involved with pre and post record production * Virtual book club with Jason Pamental - pick a web design book, assign weekly chapters, Google Hangout * Like to learn - similar Drupal journeys - makings of an interesting podcast… great reason to talk every week * When did we start considering it a contribution? When did we start giving contribution credits on Drupal.org * How did Talking Drupal come to be a non-code contribution? * It always was a non-code contribution, we didn’t consider it at first because the Drupal community was code focused. * Drupal.org Credit for TD started 20 November 2020 * Community Projects * When did the drupal community start supporting NCC * Why is this important * How has the show & other non-code contribution impacted our lives / careers * Stephen * Friendships * Have helped others * Nic * Friendships * Clients * John * Connections - Hey you are that guy * Given me a sense of value * Gives me a sense of supporting the community * Why are non-code contributions important * As valuable to the health of a project as code contributions. * There are non-code requirements for all projects * Not everyone is a developer/coder * Get’s more people with a variety of skills involved in the community * Moves open source forward * Challenges of Contributing * Contribution Imposter Syndrome * My Contribution isn’t valuable * Dealing with concerns that it’s not helpful * Focus on your skills and passions * Work, life, contribution balance * Work it into your work * Build a career based on contribution * Contrib doesn’t have to be Nights and Weekends * Add 30 min to the start or end of your day * If you do tackle one thing a night * Provide contrib during your workday * Sustainability * Projects are easy to do short time, * Energy is high * Newness interesting * Most podcast don’t make it past 8 episodes * Long term is a challenge * Pre-show guest scheduling, content planning, shownotes * Post Production audio and video * Release and marketing * 1 hour show = 6 - 8 hours * Priorities and interests change over time * NCC easier to transition in and out * Had to make transition out of my primary roles and I did that, projects have thrived in those transitions * Be honest with yourself * How to get involved / How to contribute * Just get started * Look at your skill set * Look at your interests * Ask in the issue queue or drupal slack for a starting point * You can also reach out to most camp organizers for recommendations * Takeaways * John * Anyone can and everyone should contribute * Stephen * Your contribution is valuable * Nic * Code and non code are equal to the long term health of the project ## Resources * www.talkingdrupal.com * www.talkingdrupal.com/315 * www.nedcamp.org ## Hosts Nic Laflin - [www.nLighteneddevelopment.com](https://www.nLighteneddevelopment.com) [@nicxvan](https://twitter.com/nicxvan?lang=en) John Picozzi - [www.epam.com](https://www.epam.com) [@johnpicozzi](https://twitter.com/johnpicozzi?lang=en) Stephen Cross - [@stephencross](https://twitter.com/stephencross?lang=en)