What does building community mean to you?

Building community means building strength! If you have a good (which also includes diversity) community, you have a strong support system behind you. Its the community that defines ones existence and so building the right one is very important.
It is rightly said for Drupal, "Come for the software, stay for the community" and this is true, I can say that from my own experiences. Being a non-code contributor myself, I never found it difficult to be a part of the Drupal Community as it welcomes all aspects of Contributions be it code or non-code and this is one of the important factors. This is what is to be preserved.
Personally, I have always worked with a little nudge. This push is not required if you already realise about your potential but is definitely required if you don't. Since I am one of the latter ones, I feel with such nudges we can build a more diverse community :)

What does advocating for Drupal mean to you?

Drupal's importance should be known by everyone. As answered for the previous question, its the community that makes Drupal what it is. If I, being the one who doesn't use Drupal as such to build anything, can understand that Drupal has it's own importance just by the essence of getting involved with the community then why cannot the person who actually understands coding can get that too. And here what comes into the picture is the raw talent i.e. the local communities. They could bring in a fresh perspective to the Community which will undoubtedly help us build a better version of its own.

What is your favorite Drupal moment or memory?

Aah, this is a very difficult question to answer! There are a lot of Drupal memories that are my favourite, and so it becomes too hard to choose and portray any one of those.
But to name one, I would like to quote the experience of Drupal Europe 2018. This event was happening in place of "DrupalCon Europe" that year and was completely community-driven. I got the chance to work with the core organising team, and it was wonderful. The best memory here comes from the DriesNote, when Dries invited all the Organisers on stage and the team received a standing ovation. I cannot explain this in words how I felt. That particular moment, I felt motivated, inspired, emotional, happy, positive, important and what not!

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

Marketing/Public Relations, Strategic Planning, Organizational Management, Community Building/Understanding of Community Needs, Volunteer Training/Development, Talent Development, Human Resources

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

Coordinator, Observer, Inspirer, Helper, Supporter

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

No

Region Represented

Asia

Comments

gargsuchi’s picture

gargsuchi commented

You go Surabhi!

surabhi-gokte’s picture

surabhi-gokte commented

Thank you, Suchi :)

e0ipso’s picture

e0ipso
Primary language Catalan
Location Can Picafort
commented

Excuse me if I make no sense in my questions. I am no lawyer either, and the U.S. is not my home country. My questions are framed around legal figures, however I only intend to get a sense of what your values are as a potential director are.

The Drupal Association (DrupalCon Inc.) currently declares itself as a 501(c)(3) (as per 2018's tax filing). According to the IRS website:

A section 501(c)(3) organization must not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests, such as the creator or the creator's family, shareholders of the organization, other designated individuals, or persons controlled directly or indirectly by such private interests. No part of the net earnings of a section 501(c)(3) organization may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. A private shareholder or individual is a person having a personal and private interest in the activities of the organization.

(emphasis of my own)

I sense a lot of effort in promoting business using Drupal in what the Drupal association does (my perception might be wrong). From my limited understanding, this is typical from 501(c)(6) organizations (Business leagues, Chambers of commerce, Boards of trade, ...). For context, the Linux Foundation declares itself as 501(c)(6) (as per 2018's tax filing).

My questions are:

  1. Do you feel the current Drupal Association is living to the 501(c)(3) spirit? (I am not asking about the legality, but the spirit).
  2. Should a voting arise: do you lean towards promoting the project itself and stay as a 501(c)(3)? or do you think that promoting business with Drupal is the best course of action and, therefore, the Drupal Association should become a 501(c)(6)?

My questions are geared towards: how will you position yourself in the balance between promoting the common good vs. fostering healthy business using Drupal? But I would love to get specific answers to the two questions above.

surabhi-gokte’s picture

surabhi-gokte commented

Thank you for the questions!

Let's take it one by one. 

According to my understanding about the sections:

  1. Yes, the DA is living the "501(c)(3) spirit". There are so many examples where we can see that DA has shown synergy. The recent one being DrupalCon Global. Though DA was in financial crisis with the Covid hit and cancellation of DrupalCon Minneapolis it still opened up for so many scholarships for the event. This is definitely with the help of all those companies who donated towards the DA's well being, but DA showed the gratitude in a correct way, by calling people from different associations/groups to the platform connecting 'em with existing ones. 
     
  2. I lean towards promoting the project itself and stay as a 501(c)(3). I mean, Business is important for sure, and it is happening too. Then why do we need to change it to 501(c)(6)? Instead, let's focus a bit more on the 501(c)(3) and connect more with the Community. As I also talked about local communities coming in, I would like to keep the spirit going by connecting with these smaller groups and bringing them under the Drupal umbrella. After all, it's people who make a Community what it is.

I hope I understood the questions correctly :)

jannakha’s picture

jannakha commented

Yeah, DA doesn't really do any business - it supports drupal.org and community via organisation of various events (which can make a bit of a profit), but any profits are re-invested into drupal.org, community and promotion of Drupal.

Drupal Business is up to private companies and organisations.

I appreciate DA and community of drupal.org very much as it creates a great starting point for learning Drupal development.

q0rban’s picture

q0rban commented

Surabhi's candidate interview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibD3fQ8eYbc

Abdul Vahab M’s picture

Abdul Vahab M commented

All the best Surabhi...!

IndrajithKB’s picture

IndrajithKB commented

Best Wishes Surabhi....!!!