On August 22, Mozilla took an afternoon to celebrate the launch of our brand new mobile OS. MozSpaces across the globe were festooned with orange and blue balloons. In Toronto, programmers traded their keyboards for photo booths, and in Portland, mice were replaced with pints of locally brewed beers. All of our contributors and employees, as well as our families, were welcome to celebrate a job well done after a successful launch!

Mozillians in Toronto let their hair down.

Mini-Mozillians know how to party!

It is always so exciting to see our MozSpaces buzzing with with contributors and hackers! Active areas that support our huge open source community world wide are a key part of Mozilla’s modus operandi. WPR works with event sponsors to make sure that we remain welcoming to the community, as well as for Mozillians all over the world.

Here are the re-sponsor-bilities of an event sponsor:
– Make an event request in ServiceNow. This ensures your event does not conflict with any other events in the space. It also helps WPR coordinate with caterers, janitorial, building staff, etc.
– Schedule your room on Zimbra.
– Stay with your event! You are the line of communication between WPR and our visitors. Please do not leave before the event is over.
– Return the space to a clean and welcoming state after your event.

MozSpaces are designed to be welcoming to the community.

Here is the link to our MozSpace guildlines for reference: https://wiki.mozilla.org/People:MozSpaces_Guidelines

Workplace Resources was so excited to share our goals with the Mozilla community at Summit! Talking to members of our community face-to-face really helped us connect with the needs of Mozillians world wide. We were inspired by the talks and break-out groups that we joined and we came away with a better understanding of Mozilla’s history, mission and goals. If you missed it you can see WPR’s presentation right here.

Mozilla + Stickers = True Love

If we didn’t get a chance to see you at Summit, or if you have new ideas you would like to share with us about our MozSpaces, email us at wpr@mozilla.com or you can always stop by at our desks to say hello!

On the weekend of September 14, 3,350 people toured the Paris MozSpace as part of the European Heritage Days, which encourage Parisians to take interest in local historical buildings. Our Paris MozSpace is located in the former Hotel de Mercy-Argenteau, which was owned by the Austrian ambassador to Queen Marie-Antoinette.

Thousands of visitors walked through the Paris Space.

Mozillians were on hand to demo our products and answer questions about Mozilla. 1,250 people showed up on Saturday, and more than 2,100 on Sunday. Another splendid example of Mozilla partnering with members of the community to create a hugely successful event that enriches everyone involved.

Mozilla products were demonstrated.

WPR often gets questions about how to set up events in our spaces. Perhaps you belong to an open-source meetup that needs event space? Or maybe you are planning a hack day?

Planning events is easy with WPR’s help! Just follow these simple steps:

1. Make An Event Request in Service Now

We need to know a little bit about the event first. Date, time, number of attendees, etc. This information will help us plan the event logistics (conflicting event scheduling, catering, special event needs) and will allow us to add the events to our site calendars.

2. Zimbra Calendar (Save the Date)

It is important that you reserve your desired room through Zimbra to avoid scheduling conflicts. We are asking all event sponsor/requestors to reserve rooms using Zimbra

Need help reserving rooms in Zimbra? Find out more here.

3. Event Details:   Ask Us! Keep WPR in on your event details. We’re here to help, and have years of experience planning events in our spaces. We’ll make sure catering and drinks are ordered if Mozilla is sponsoring.  We can help set up the room for you, and we will think of the things that you haven’t because that is our job.

4. IT Support or Air Mozilla? Are you presenting something?  Do you want a video archive to show others later?  Do you need IT Support (Service Desk) or other Air Mozilla support, simply click on the links at the top of your Service Now event page to get our IT experts involved.

Any questions? Please ask. We’re here to help!   Email Us.

There is a special kind of Mozillian that lives in the Great White North. They’re known as Torontonians.

And they’re growing.

The new Toronto office opened in August of 2011. Boasting high ceilings, large windows, a state-of-the-art kitchen and a central location; it is a huge improvement on the cramped quarters of the former space. In this issue of the WPR newsletter we caught up with Office Services Coordinator Hilary Hall to ask about the new Mozilla Space in Toronto and what makes it unique.

What do you think sets the Toronto space apart from the other Mozilla offices?

It’s full of Canadians, EH! We have one of the biggest Moz Spaces in all of Mozilla, and our coffee and scotch infrastructure is absolutely impeccable.

What is your favorite part about the new office space?

Overall, just having more space! The space itself is so beautiful that I don’t think I could possibly choose one favourite part, but I guess it would have to be the Mozilla Space. Being able to host large events is a huge draw and a big win for us.

What is the biggest event you’ve hosted in the new office?

Our Fireside Chat with Mitchell Baker in December 2011 drew approximately one hundred people. A close second was the Mobile Platform Workweek in October where we had approximately 65 Mozillians from all over the world.

Is it true Toronto is so cold that you had to have fireplaces installed?

It’s true that Toronto is cold, but being cheeky Canadians, we wanted to make sure Canadian stereotypes were properly represented; one of which is having a campy feeling in the office. Being tree huggers, we insisted that our little luxury doesn’t impact the environment. So we have eco-friendly LED fireplaces!

We heard you have a kegerator. True or False?

True! We’re currently serving Mill Street Organic, a Toronto local brewery located a few minutes drive from the office. (Thanks Jim Cook!)

Tell us about your espresso machine. Just how awesome is it?

It’s fire engine red, and it’s spectacular! We recently had a local espresso bar owner come in and give us the rundown on pulling the perfect shot of espresso. (hint: it’s all in the blonding)

What has been the biggest challenge in the new office?

Tracking all the deficiencies – meaning all the items that still need to be fixed post-build-out has probably been the biggest challenge, and thinking of all the things the office needs (we went from a shoebox to a hockey rink! … no really, our office is approximately 17,000 sq feet, which is equivalent to an NHL regulation sized hockey rink!)

Is there anything you miss about the old space?

Our green bin, our office portal and- our Shaver.

What would you recommend that a visitor to Toronto does or sees?

Visit our office! In all seriousness, CN tower, The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), The Royal Ontario Museum, The Distillery District, Centre Island (in the summer, of course!), and Wychwood Barns (if you’re around on a Saturday – stay for the farmers market and art show!)