Firefox 26 New Contributors

josh

7

With the release of Firefox 26, we are pleased to welcome the 43 developers who contributed their first code change to Firefox in this release, 27 of whom were brand new volunteers! Please join us in thanking each of these diligent and enthusiastic individuals, and take a look at their contributions:

Getting to know 1,000,000 Mozillians

mdouglass

2014, for the People Team, will be a year when many of us are acutely focused on designing and building the infrastructure needed to support 1,000,000 Mozilians (core/active contributors) by 2024. To achieve this very lofty goal we need systems and tools, clear entry points for contribution, and scalable ways for newcomers to learn about Mozilla and what it takes to be a vital member of our community.

In support of our build year, we are embarking upon a research project. Just like with the products we build, it is critically important that we understand the needs of the user (in this case volunteers) before we create or build for them.

Right now, if we look at the “Are We Growing Yet” dashboard, a visualization of volunteer inquiries received through our Get Involved site, we will see ~200 daily inquiries. It would be incredible easy to assume these are people eager to volunteer their time to the Mozilla Project and that all we need to do is give them something to do.

But that would be a huge assumption. Would Mozilla ever build a product or feature without user research? Probably not. The research working group will attempt to better understand:

  • How potential contributors find us,
  • What they believe their involvement with Mozilla might include and,
  • What Mozilla staff believe their role is in volunteer contributor interactions.

Having this data means we can respond more effectively to the needs of our “users” as we look to build infrastructure to support them. It will also help us avoid our own biases, because we are likely designing programs for people who aren’t like us.

This working group is in it’s infancy (currently Larissa Shapiro, Emily Goligoski, Gemma Petrie, and Mardi Douglass). We are current framing the work, building our boxes, and will have more to share out, including how to get involved, in a few weeks. Our wiki page, in the meantime, is here: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Contribute/Working_Groups#Research.

The monument to Mozillians is coming to San Francisco

William Reynolds

9

A month ago we shared information about the monument to Mozillians that we are building outside our San Francisco Space, and we want to give you an update on how it is coming along. The structure is being constructed now, concrete is being poured, and the monument is planned to be unveiled in mid-December. On the side panels the names of over 4,512 people who have contributed to Mozilla will be printed.

In the past few weeks, there has been a lot of preparation to get the monument ready. The framing for the tower structure has been finished, the Gordon Beirsch grain elevator has been removed, and the side panels have been machined and painted. Next we’re getting ready to screen print the names, airbrush the Firefox logo, and pour concrete.

Here are some photos of the recent work and what it will look like:

Frame for the monument structure

Frame for the monument structure

Gordon Beirsch grain elevator has been removed to make space for the monument

Gordon Beirsch grain elevator has been removed to make space for the monument

Frame for the Firefox logo that will sit at the top of the monument

Frame for the Firefox logo that will sit at the top of the monument

Mockup of the side panel

Mockup of the monument and side panel close up

Airbrushed Firefox logo

Airbrushed Firefox logo

We’re excited to see the monument become part of our Mozilla Space very soon, and we will be sharing photos and a behind the scenes video once it is completed next month. We will also have a cantina party at our San Francisco Space in January to celebrate the new monument. More details to be announced soon.

Designing for participation workshop on Friday

dboswell

This Friday, 29 November from 1 to 2 PM Pacific, Emma Irwin and Dave Eaves will be leading a conversation and sharing some best practices around how Mozilla staff and volunteer contributors can design their work to make it easier for anyone to help contribute.

Emma and Dave are both actively involved in the Mozilla community and have a lot of great tips and ideas to share, so I highly recommend joining this conversation if you’re interested in building a community around the work you’re doing.

If you are interested in going, please RSVP—if you are not in Vancouver but would like to attend, sign up and you’ll receive information about how to dial-in.

Capture of Summit 2013 Fairs

Sean Bolton

It is incredible how the Mozilla community is made of so many smaller communities all over the world, connected by a common mission. At the same time, it can be hard for one to wrap their mind around just how big Mozilla really is – it seems as though Mozilla is in every country.

The Fairs at Summit 2013 were designed as a way for all of us to share and learn about the cultures and projects that make up the Mozilla community. The World Fair was a way for Mozillians to showcase where they come from and what they do. The Innovation Fair was a way for Mozillians to showcase cool projects they are working on.

Mozsummitfairs13_brussels_romaniaMozsummitfairs13_runonffos Mozsummitfairs13_crashstats Mozsummitfairs13_indonesia

Such valuable information about the amazing people who make Mozilla what it is needed to be captured. Myself and a team of photographers set out to do that. We weren’t able to capture everything, so feel free to add your photo for booths without one.

Photos from the World Fair.

Photos from the Innovation Fair.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible!

A few quick community building tips

dboswell

At the last few Monday project calls, I’ve shared out a few quick community building tips. I wanted to share them here too to give you some ideas for how to bring more people into the projects you’re working on.

Starting: Your project doesn’t have volunteers yet and you’re interested in building a community around what you’re doing.

Learning: You have connected with some volunteers and you’re interested in learning about how to build on what’s working so more people can join.

Scaling: You have volunteers involved in your project and you’d like to turn up the dial on participation.

Grow Mozilla discussion this Thursday

dboswell

If you’re interested in helping new people get involved with Mozilla, join us Thursday for an open community building forum.

Post Summit blog

mdouglass
Would you believe it’s been almost a month since the Summit? Seems like forever ago in some ways and only yesterday in others. Either way, the memories are our to keep forever, the feelings of inspiration and pride about Mozilla and our place in the world persist, and the relationships that began and/or flourished during those three days are everlasting.

And so, in an attempt to help keep the spirit of the Summit alive, we’ve built a blog. We’ll use it to share post-Summit content and as a curated hub for Summit media (so you can find it.) From time to time, we’ll send an email digest to this group so you know when new content is posted.

Here’s a summary of what you will find on the blog now:

Partial Wrap : How do you say thank you to 2,000 Mozillians? This post is our attempt to do just that. There’s also a long list of post-Summit blog posts by Mozillians – all sharing their reflections on the event.

Feedback Survey Results:  The results are in. We’ve posted a visual summary here.

We miss you all,
The Summit Team.

Grow Mozilla discussion this Thursday

dboswell

If you’re interested in helping new people get involved with Mozilla, join us Thursday for an open community building forum.

Firefox 25 New Contributors

josh

3

With the release of Firefox 25, we are pleased to welcome the 51 developers who contributed their first code change to Firefox in this release, 39 of whom were brand new volunteers! Please join us in thanking each of these diligent and enthusiastic individuals, and take a look at their contributions: