Last week, I volunteered at Open Source Summit Japan, a professional conference hosted by the Linux Foundation.
This was my first ever presence at this event. Although I’m not new to attending or staffing at events, I learned quite a lot of things from both perspectives.
“From User to Contributor” Talk by Riona MacNamara
Riona’s talk “From User to Contributor: How Documentation Enables Vibrant Open Source Communities” was excellent. Since I’m in the middle of organizing upcoming events (WordCamp Tokyo & Asia) and still figuring out the best way to program Contributor Day, it was perfect timing to understand contributor personas and blockers.
Not only that, her talk was a good reminder of why we should help othrers to contribute. Her different talk from Write the Docs conference is available on YouTube. Some of the key ideas I resonated are also in this one – well worth your 15 minutes!
Women in Open Source Lunch
Another highlight of the conference for me was attending Women in Open Source Lunch. Thanks to Sato-san & Fukuyasu-san frin Linux Foundation Japan (who also invited me to volunteer), I found out about the opportunity to meet more people in the field.
At my table, Sarah Novotony, Patricia Ferreiro, Raona Roess, and I talked about a wide range of topics like career path, mentoring/leadership, and continuing education. I feel very lucky to have had a chance to spend some time with them!
Volunteering in a New Community
I also got to meet other open source community leaders/members in Japan through volunteering. Between our shifts, we exchanged ideas about event organization and community management.
Overall, I’m so glad I decided to go to this event! I even wish I had done it sooner. I look forward to going back again in the future.
Header photo credit: The Linux Foundation (CC BY-NC 2.0)