Keynote – You can’t have a thriving codebase without a thriving community.


What does code have to do with community?
Free and Open Source Software depends upon the community who builds, creates, maintains, supports, translates, and markets it. That means any Open Source project depends upon a volunteer-based workforce.

We all recognize that our livlihoods are somewhat attributed to the ability to use Free and Open Source Software — like WordPress — so we volunteer, contribute, to give back.

What about burnout?

It’s real.

We’ve addressed it before in many ways. So let’s talk about how what a thriving community looks like.

What is a thriving community?
A thriving community realizes they can ebb and flow in and out of a project. They can contribute for months or years, take a break, maybe even mentor others, and come back — or not.

A thriving community recruits volunteers based upon inclusion, not guilt.

A thriving community isn’t burnt out or bitter.

A thriving community is healthy — physically, emotionally, and financially.

A Word About Perfection
I spent 14 years in construction accounting and my job demanded perfection. I spent hours looking for a penny if my bank reconcilation was off. Job costing had to be accurate. Contracts had to be perfect. I get it.

The problem with perfectionism is when we take a marketable skill from our career and apply it to our personal lives.

Progress is better than perfection. Done is better than perfect. Something is better than nothing.

Let’s Talk about Whole Health
Health comes in many forms: physical, emotional, and financial. And there are quite a few overlaps in these three distint areas, too.

It’s fine to talk about the abstract. In the conceptual, we all agree we should be physically, emotionally, and financially healthy. But are we?

And do we stop from iterating in our personal lives because we haven’t created the perfect meal or exercise plan, because we haven’t felt emotionally ready or because we have financial goals that haven’t been met? Maybe. But let’s take some actionalble steps toward progress.

The -er approach
Better. Faster. Thinner. Healthier. Happier. They all end in -er. This suffix communicates progress — not completion.

I’m going to talk about some of the things I’ve done in my life to be -er.