dboswell
November 14, 2000: Netscape 6 is released and is the first Netscape product based on open source code
Share in the comments any memories you have of this event, photos of any t-shirts from this period or any other interesting pieces from this time in Mozilla’s history. The information shared here will help us visually create the history of Mozilla as a community.
dboswell
“Γεια σας, ενδιαφέρομαι να πάρω ενεργά μέρος σε open source projects.” — from message posted on the Greek Get Involved page
Are you interested in helping people get involved with Mozilla, like this person who reached out to the Mozilla Greece community? Then join us to discuss community building at Mozilla.
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dboswell
March 17, 1999 – America Online Inc. Completes Acquisition of Netscape Communications Corporation
Share in the comments any memories you have of this event, photos of any t-shirts from this period or any other interesting pieces from this time in Mozilla’s history. The information shared here will help us visually create the history of Mozilla as a community.
mdouglass
We’ll always have Paris (Casablanca)
I’ve been at an offsite with the amazing Mozilla People Team all week. Always a win when I can spend actual time with my tribe (looking into their eyeballs 
). Like so many Mozillians, I primarily interact with the people I work with via IRC (#peoplepeople), email or over some other video software. So, this was good stuff.
What hasn’t been going so well for me is Paris. Turns out, as I’ve said in prior posts, Paris is a very popular city – especially in October -particularly, the weekend of October 4-6th, 2013. Experience is very important for the Summit and right now, because we can’t seem to find the right space for Mozilla (hotels and for the event), we’ve looking elsewhere. The goal for each Summit location is for Mozillians to feel connected; for all of us to have great space to hack, socialize, share, exchange, showcase, eat, drink, enjoy one another. And, if that can’t happen in Paris, just as we’d like, what else is possible?
And, for what it’s worth, we are loving the Santa Clara Marriott for the Bay Area, CA Summit venue (there’s an amusement park across the street!).
Will keep everyone posted over the next week, as we get clearer on this. The Summit Planning Assembly will still happen in Paris.
#summit2013 for questions (IRC). Mardi
mdouglass
Hello, my name is Ramona and I am a Mozillian! Currently I am enrolled in an HR management program at UCSC and part of the people team at Mozilla. I am passionate about people, how they connect, communicate and how that influences their success in the workplace.
Before I begin my presentation, I want to share a quote I found the other day, while browsing the great web: “volunteers don’t get paid, not because they are worthless but because they are priceless.”
As a volunteer for Mozilla I spent the last couple of weeks researching tools and processes that we could use during the 2013 Mozilla summit to address the issue of geo-dispersion. These finding could possibly help both Mozilla employees and volunteers across the globe, feel more connected to each other. Read more and watch Ramona’s video documentary [1] [2] of her research.
Dia Bondi
None of us are alone. I know, I know, Duh. We work in a open culture of participation. Chalk full of tribes, crowd sourcing, sharing, and cheering each other on. And then, sometimes we feel alone.
Last week we hosted our second video sprint for the Capture Mozilla project. At the end of the morning, when everyone had a nice little story board done the question was: What’s next?
Since we only had limited time, our group decided to use the time together to workshop their stories and save shooting for completing over the next few weeks.
Story boarding was great. Full of energy, ideas and enthusiasm for sharing the knowledge of the individuals in the group. But when it came to the end, a quiet malaise hovered over the land. Basically, the vibe died.
Why you ask?
Answer: many assumed they had to go off and complete their videos ALONE! Bummer!
No no! Get help. Find someone who can say, “Sure! I”ll hold you’re camera.” or “Imovie? Easy! I can help you with that!”
Too often we get support and rally the crowd to support our cause, or our vision, but not ourselves. Capture Mozilla is a great opportunity for us to ask for help, personally.
So go out and ask for help sharing with the community what YOU know, and don’t do it alone.
________________________________________
A quick note about making and publishing video for Capture Mozilla: Having knowledge to share and having the ability to capture it, often are very separate talents. But, don’t worry, you don’t have to be a Hollywood or Bollywood director to make a Capture Mozilla Video. Just capture something using the tools you have. You can find some help here at the bottom of the wiki.
We’re using the Air.Mozilla platform now, and working on ways to make it easy to publish and track video so you can do more without finding help. For now. just make a video and email it to captureit@mozilla.com. Just keep it short, sweet and all about empowering the watcher.
dboswell
October 28, 1998 – New development roadmap is posted that announces major rewrite of old Communicator code
Share in the comments any memories you have of this event, photos of any t-shirts from this period or any other interesting pieces from this time in Mozilla’s history. The information shared here will help us visually create the history of Mozilla as a community.
mdouglass
This is a reflective post about the Mozilla Summit.
Today was a hard day for me. And, the fact that I live to tell you all about it means I’ve likely learned something as a result. Here’s what I think it was/is …figuring out how to drive (own) a project at Mozilla is not unlike learning to drive a car:
You need help. Real help, like from other humans who know how to drive a car, folks who’ve been driving for years. You are still the one learning to drive the car yes, but you need someone to sit beside you in the vacant parking lot where you can jerk and lurch and roll and sputter and stall. You need someone to show you how to turn the darn wipers off.
But that maybe all you need. Or maybe you don’t know how much more help you’ll need later. The point is, being brave enough to ask for help in a specific, direct way (and, even more brave, being clear when you don’t need help) is part of learning how to drive – it’s part of doing anything new.
What I learned this week, mostly today, was that Mozillians have the most lovely, caring, positive intent when offering to help. This community cares so deeply about itself that it can, at times, feel overwhelming. I am learning to drive at Mozilla and I need help sometime. And because I’m the one driving, I need to be clear where and when I need it (and it’s okay that I don’t always know).
Onward!
mdouglass
…a guest blog from Ramona Costandel, Volunteer Contributor for the Summit 2013
I had the opportunity to take a tour of the Mozilla offices in Mountain View and to talk to employees, to ask questions about the company, the culture and reason why a person would want to work there. I learned that everything is so different from what you’d expect from companies, here in Silicon Valley and the way it was presented to me made me so curious to know more. Around the same time I started my search for a volunteer work that would count as experience/practice for credits towards my Human Resource program at UCSC. I didn’t know if it would be possible to contribute in any way, but I decided to give it a try.
Few things I learned from volunteering with Mozilla:
The importance of promptness. Second time I was pleasantly surprised by Mozilla, was when I received an answer within a few days from contacting them! It was a great feeling to see that Mozilla is really about working with people for the people. Their mission statement is not just empty words. I think, for me, this was one of the clues that contributing to the Mozilla projects, will be an amazing experience.
Sometimes research is a slippery slope. I received the project I need to work on and I was so excited! I started doing research right away and I soon realized there is so much that can be done! So many interesting and creative ideas, most of them aligned with Mozilla’s values. I wanted to find out more and more and make sure that I consider as many as ideas as possible for my project. I also realized that, not only did I look for things related to my project but also everything I was reading was filtrated through the lenses of “how does this apply to my project?”. On one hand it’s great to be in that situation, to have a lot of information available, but on the other hand it can become a bit overwhelming and be time consuming as well. Which leads me to my next point:
When working on a project, set your own time limit (not the due date). I realized there is so much information on my project so I asked if I could have more time to work on it and the answer was yes. I was told it is a learning process and I can take as much as I need. It was great and I appreciated it, another clue that I am working with a great team. But soon enough this “gift” turned into a curse – this meant I can go down my “slippery slope research” as much as I wanted. Try to have someone check on your progress and remind you of how much time you have left or estimate a date to be done, before the actual due day.
Finally, I decided to stop my research for new ideas and focus on what I found so far. I am almost done working on it and getting ready to present it to members of my team. To be honest, it’s a bit nerve-racking when I think about the presentation but I am working on overcoming some public speaking “bumps” and this will be good practice. I will try to remember that I work with great people who, hopefully, are also understanding, and if I made mistakes, I’ll look at them as an opportunity to learn.
As a part of a team, I am effective and really enjoy group work, but with all my training and knowledge, I still find that there are so many variables to consider when working with people. So many other things to take in account, than just field of work, experience and/or pay. There are few stereotypes, and a lot of literature on how to handle them, but actually being faced with the situation, it’s a whole lot different. This is something I look forward to learn more about, from volunteering with Mozilla for the 2013 Summit.
I plan to graduate the HR Management program at UCSC this summer and soon, I will start my search for employment but if possible, I’d like to still contribute to Mozilla project in the future. I feel that my experience with Mozilla is definitely a boost for both my start in this field and my job related self confidence. I truly believe I am very lucky be able to share with you how amazing it is to be listened, heard and feel that what you think really matters.
Thank you Mozilla!
dboswell
“I’d love to be part of your mission. I’m not technical, but I am savvy with writing and marketing.” — from message posted on the Get Involved page
Are you interested in helping people get involved with Mozilla, like this person who is interested in writing and marketing opportunities? Then join us to discuss community building at Mozilla.
If you have a question you’d like to ask the group, please feel free to edit the agenda on the wiki.