Mike Herchel

What does building community mean to you?

I’ve been involved with organizing Florida DrupalCamp since 2012 and have been a primary lead since 2014. Through this (and other events), I’ve seen the power that in person events have on onboarding new members to the community.

I strongly believe in reaching out to under-represented communities to help build a stronger, more successful, and diverse community. My goal is to leave a warm, welcoming, and positive impression to all people.

I think that the community (and DA) should do more to actively engage the wider web development community to promote Drupal. This can be done by participating in wider discussions, speaking at non-Drupal specific events, and reaching out to non-Drupal developers to speak and participate at our camps and cons.

What does advocating for Drupal mean to you?

Drupal is not just for enterprises. I believe that advocating for Drupal includes advocating for smaller websites to consider Drupal, as well as Drupal to take into account use-cases of smaller websites (with less technical developers). This can be done through better usability on Drupal.org and the platform as a whole.

Drupal has an unpopular reputation in much of the web development community. I believe that pitching the power and use-cases of Drupal to the wider web development ecosystem is essential.

I also believe that we all should be continuously working to make Drupal (both the software and community) better. This is not just writing software, but includes engaging and helping people, improving documentation, and being welcoming and friendly to new people.

What is your favorite Drupal moment or memory?

I traveled to Bogotá in 2015 for DrupalCon Latin America. The enthusiasm of the community was infectious. The DrupalCon was smaller than most (about the size of a large camp), and because of that it was more intimate than a standard ‘Con. This, coupled with the different activities including tejo, and climbing Monserrate made this event one of the most memorable.

What skills and strengths do you think you bring to the board?

Marketing/Public Relations, Strategic Planning, Program Development, Open Source Industry Knowledge, Community Building/Understanding of Community Needs

What best describes your personal style?

Coordinator, Director, Inspirer, Helper

Do you have experience as a board member?

I am one of the lead organizers of Florida DrupalCamp.