Rebooting the Content Group

Categories: Community Created by Amy Hunt
The TYPO3 Content Group is reorganizing, rebooting, and growing! We’re looking for new members, come join our next meeting on Tuesday, 28 May 2019, 10:30 CET. It’s really easy to get involved: find out first-hand from our current contributors!

To RSVP, join the #t3a-content-group in TYPO3 Slack.

Read more about the Content Group.

What Does the Content Group Do?

We keep the TYPO3 community updated on all the exciting developments and events in the TYPO3 universe.

Here’s what we do:

  • Increase awareness of the TYPO3 Association’s activities

  • Coordinate communication activities within the TYPO3 community

  • Release regular publications including the TYPO3 Association Members’ Newsletter, community surveys, reports, This Month in TYPO3 etc.)

  • Improve content on typo3.org

Our global distributed team makes sure no event or development goes unreported. We also support anyone who wants to create content by helping them write and publish their pieces in English.

Roles Up for Grabs

Our current group is made up of both coders and non-coders. We are looking for anyone who has skills in the below areas and wants to give something back to our favorite CMS.

Writer: Almost anyone can be a writer. Want to report back from an event such as a sprint, a team meeting, or camp? Have something amazing you want to share? Complete the Content Request Form to get started. Don’t worry if your writing or English skills aren’t perfect. We have folks on the team who are here to help you get your message across.

Copywriter: Write text for press releases, sales, publicity or advertising.

Proofreader: Review content and apply the rules of spelling, grammar and style well enough to correct mistakes in texts.

Translator: Convert a text from one language to another without losing the meaning on the way.

Publisher-Editor: Knows enough about the CMS and typography to make an article look better on a website than it would otherwise have done.

Press contact: Has the verbal communication skills and the wits needed in order to speak to journalists about TYPO3. Don't worry, we can teach you how.

Task Coordinator: Coordinate the team’s activities, improving processes and communication channels

Note: You don’t need to be an expert in TYPO3 to join. I was actually pretty new to the CMS when I joined the group as a native English proofreader. I could help the group out while also learning about TYPO3, which was critical for my marketing day job.

Sound intriguing? Come to our first meeting and meet us! Our next meeting is Tuesday, 28 May 2019, 10:30 CET. To RSVP, join the #t3a-content-group in TYPO3 Slack.

Limited Time for Contribution? The Content Team is Perfect. Process and Commitment Level

Joining the TYPO3 Content Group is really flexible, you can commit as a regular team member or short-term contributor for a specific project or task. How many hours or even minutes you put in is also flexible month by month - we are all busy people!

Team members meet via Google Meet every two weeks to run through an agenda like this one. We also collaborate via Slack (#t3a-content-group) and manage tasks over JIRA.

With team members spanning 12+ countries, we’re in different time zones and we can’t all make the meetings. But we can still make a really valuable “offline” contribution to getting content prepared. So don’t let time zones stop you getting involved.

Why Should YOU Join Our Cross-functional Team?

  • It’s the perfect opportunity for the non-coders of the community to contribute!

  • You can become a key part of the TYPO3’s success without being based in Europe.

  • Contributing is really flexible and suits people who can’t make a regular commitment but want to give something back.

  • You get sneak peeks of developments in the TYPO3 universe before they are published.

  • You get to collaborate with awesome, supportive people from different backgrounds, roles, and companies.

Meet Some of Our Members

Here is what some of our existing team members love most about being a part of the Content Group:

Name: Amy
Location: Cambodia
Contribution: Proofreading, Copy Editing, Translation

Working in the TYPO3 Content Group as a proofreader is a win-win situation! The safety net of a native English edit makes it less daunting for community writers to submit content, and as a marketer, I stay plugged into the latest news while actively contributing at the same time. It's flexible, suits my skill set and has introduced me to a group of passionate and talented people all over the world!

Name: Tony
Location: USA
Contribution: Proofreading

For fourteen years my website clients and I have benefited from all tremendous work done by the TYPO3 community. I wanted to give back to that, but don't have the technical expertise to help with coding, security, etc. Finally, I have found my niche by proofreading in the TYPO3 Content Group. I get to work with a worldwide team keeping our community abreast of all that's happening in TYPO3.

Name: Carlos
Location: Spain
Contribution: Writer, Documentation

We’ve been working with TYPO3 for more than 13 years, benefitting from a superb product built by a vibrant community. Despite not being a developer I wanted to give back, and the content team seemed like a great opportunity to do that. It turns out that joining the group has connected me with talented and great people and helped me grow as a professional, so I still get more out of it that I am giving to them! That’s the power of this incredible community.

Name: Peter
Location: Germany
Contribution: Task coordination, Writer

For more than a decade I've been contributing to various parts of the TYPO3 project. A huge part of these contributions was writing blog posts about TYPO3 features and the TYPO3 community. So it seemed logical to join the content team. Since I'm also a member of the board of the TYPO3 Association, my main task within the Content Team is to coordinate the work of the team and the board. What I especially like about the Content Team is the ability to work with people from so many countries.

Rino

Name: Rino
Location: Italy
Contribution: Task Coordination, Publishing-Editing, Writer 

I’ve been contributing to the TYPO3 project for around 10 years, initially using events to grow the TYPO3 community in Italy and later becoming a member of the TYPO3 Association’s Expert Advisory Board (EAB). Since some other EAB and Board members and I created the TYPO3 Content Team back in 2017, people have joined us from all over the world, including India, Spain, Cambodia, USA, UK, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy and Ukraine. It has been really exciting working with people from different cultures and backgrounds who share one common goal: the growth of TYPO3. I am neither a developer, nor am I the most skilled in English, but have contributed by taking over the team and task coordination and also some specific tasks including the editing and publishing of newsletters and articles. I can say without a doubt that working with the Content Team has been an incredible opportunity for both personal and professional growth.

Name: Heather
Location: Northern Ireland
Contribution: Task Coordination, Copy-Editing, Writer

Coding and technical skills are vital for any open source project. Yet without communicating those developments, we wouldn’t have a project at all. What sets out TYPO3 is that we have a diverse community of users including editors and consultants who know TYPO3 in and out. Getting involved in the TYPO3 Content Group gives people with diverse skills a chance to give back to the community by contributing their expertise in communication and project management.

Get Involved

Got some questions or want to hear more? Join our relaunch meeting on 28 May 2019 at 10:30 CET to find out what’s coming up for the group and how you can contribute.

To RSVP, join the #t3a-content-group in TYPO3 Slack.

Read more about the Content Group.