Adam Bergstein

What does building community mean to you?

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” - Helen Keller

Building community is about building connections through our larger purpose. Drupal has had a tremendous impact on the world. This is a direct result of its community. But, Drupal must evolve to stay vibrant and in a position to address new challenges as they arise. We need to continue momentum in building an inclusive community that honors its diversity and stays true to our commitment to core values, like accessibility. I believe our community is the strength that can help us continue to do big things.

Personally, my top priority would be strengthening the relationship between the DA and the community. We need to listen to the community members and help the DA prioritize new opportunities to serve. We need to help raise funds for the DA to fulfill its mission and ensure it can support these new opportunities. This relationship is symbiotic. As a central entity with distributed regional associations, the DA is in a good position to lead if empowered by the Drupal community. My candidacy recognizes this relationship and I’m committed to driving benefit for all.

As an active member of the community, I recognize the importance of building community. The larger community has helped me personally and professionally and I appreciate all of the friends I’ve made along the way.

What does advocating for Drupal mean to you?

To me, Drupal is an open source project capable of having impact in a variety of ways. We’ve solved a lot of hard problems on the web and beyond. It’s extremely powerful and built for an endless number of use cases that deliver value. We need to help tell its story to ensure Drupal can reach its potential. Drupal is powerful and we have opportunities to continue to teach and inform others. Efforts like Umami showcase some of Drupal’s powerful capabilities. We can do more to showcase Drupal in other popular scenarios like web services, integration capabilities, and more.

We need to start telling our story in new communities. We need to communicate Drupal’s value to new audiences, like front-end communities looking for a headless CMS or communities enhancing IoT capable of using Drupal’s robust framework and ecosystem of modules to integrate systems. I’d like to help lead members of our community to write guest blogs in other communities, give talks at new events, and help position Drupal beyond its current reach.

Advocacy is not just about discussing the positives, it’s helping drive opportunities for improvement. I’ve done this first hand through the Governance Task Force, my efforts on simplytest.me, giving both technical and non-technical talks, and actively working on modules I help to maintain. We need to rally around both technical and non-technical improvements like better documentation, improved usability, and attention to polishing what we have. Finally, I believe in helping build up the regional communities and associations. Localizing communities help build face-to-face connections in our community that I believe are invaluable to lowering the barriers of entry.

What is your favorite Drupal moment or memory?

I have so many I could choose from. I have used Drupal for a long time and seen Drupal’s impact from a number of different perspectives. I’ve made both personal and professional connections I cherish. I’ve been fortunate to be able to attend events across the globe. I love the hallway track and learning from our diverse and capable community. Each experience has made me see just how fun, capable, and interesting people in the Drupal community are. It’s the people that stand out in these moments. And, the people in the community have helped create the Drupal we see today. This spans those who use Drupal, those who implement Drupal, and those who contribute to Drupal. Rather than picking one Drupal moment or memory, I feel my nomination pays tribute to all the wonderful Drupal moments and memories that have brought me to where I am today.

Board Skills & Strengths (indicate those that apply to your experience)

Product Development, Organizational Management, Open Source Industry Knowledge, Community Building/Understanding of Community Needs, Governance

What best describes your personal style? (select all that describe you)

Reformer, Director, Motivator

Do you have experience as a board member? If yes, what organization(s)?

Juniata College, IT Board

Region Represented

Americas