REMINDER: #drupal-consultants IRC channel

This is a periodic post to introduce people to the Drupal Consultants IRC Channel.

About #drupal-consultants IRC Channel

#drupal-consultants is an IRC channel where you can hire professional Drupal consultants, and where Drupal consultants meet and talk. Employers may bring any kind of potential work to the channel, from problem-solving to entire site builds. Our aim is to make the channel an effective vehicle for matching projects to an appropriate consultant.

HOW TO GET HELP IN #DRUPAL-CONSULTANTS

• State what you need. Be concise.

“I need someone to design and theme a small site, with approximately a $2,500 budget” is a much more useful intro than “Can anyone help me?” or “Are there any themers here?”

• Be Patient.

May of the Consultants who are in-channel are busy with projects or other clients, and cannot jump to attention-- though they might want to. Generally many consultants read the channel every few hours or days, and will respond if your request matches their skills and availability.

• Stay in Channel.

Because many consultants only check the channel every few hours, dropping out of the channel means someone who can help, might only read your request after you have left. Stay around.

• Or Leave Contact Info.

The other alternative is to leave contact information, typically an email or your ID on Drupal.org. While the channel is not publicly logged and we do our best to make sure their are no bots to grab your address and send you spam, you can create an extra email address (“box”) on GMail or elsewhere, if you don’t want to advertise your main email address.

• Please Accept Advice and Direction

Many of the people in-channel have been working with Drupal for years. Some have run IT firms for decades; a few, have real names that you see on the front of the Guidebooks to Drupal. Generally, they will try to guide you in the right direction “The Drupal Way,” and the channel moderators will scan for abuse.

• Respect Consultants’ Time.

The nature of the business is that most consultants have too much to do, and there’s a notable shortage of qualified Drupal consultants. While we’re here to help, keeping things quick, efficient and clear is the best path.

• Be Aware of Market Rates

Regular rates for Drupal consulting range from $75-150US today, with major firms advertising higher rates. Larger projects typically involve some discount. Beginning or inexperienced consultants may charge less. If you have a variety of tasks, it may make sense to plan to divide them among rate/skill levels.

• Small Jobs Can Be Inefficient and Painful

Small-size jobs are unattractive for many experienced consultants because they often involve high "spin-up" costs, such as transferring passwords and familiarizing oneself with the client environment, workflow and needs. Our recommendation is to seek a relationship with a consultant or consultant who can understand your situation and needs, and to bundle work together for efficiency as possible.

• Prepare Systems Information in Advance

It’s simply more efficient if you have an information sheet of appropriate logins (Drupal site admin, mysql access method, filesystem access) and are prepared to share it. This avoids time being spent sharing (or waiting on) this information “piecemeal” as the need arises. As well, we strongly recommend backups and working in version control. Google Docs are one simple way to share information of this nature.

• Identify Yourself and Be Transparent

There’s simply more trust when you’re talking to Heather Smith at ACME Corporation in Akron, California instead of someone using an anonymous IRC client that looks like it could be connecting from Pyonyang, North Korea. While anonymity may have its place in other IRC channels, #drupal-consultants has an expectation that people will provide real identities and stand behind them. Channel moderators should be able to vouch for the identity of any consultant.[1]

• And Know Who You’re Talking To

Equally, please be aware of the identity of the other party, which they should reveal on request. Many of our professional consultants live in places that are not the US (or Belgium), and the channel is open to all without prejudice. However, if you can’t identify who you’re dealing with (a drupal.org ID profile is one possible means), they may not be who they say or able to deliver what they promise. Never send funds to an unknown party by wire or any other means that you cannot recover if there is a problem.

• Keep General Discussions in Channel, Specifics and Pricing Negotiations in PM

#drupal-consultants operates on the same open, community model that Drupal is based on. Problems and needs are best address by broadcasting them publicly and gathering multiple perspectives and input.
If you state your situation and need concisely and clearly, fifty people can read it in-channel and offer their advice or services if appropriate. If you immediately start discussing your situation in PM (Private Message) with one person, keeping the details private, you’re limited to their perspective-- and have to repeat yourself if things don’t work out and you have to talk to four others.
On the other hand, specific details and matters like price discussions between two parties, are best handled one-to-one.

The Channel Moderators
Some current moderators in-channel include nicks HedgeMage, Michelle, Cilkay, and myself ( onekt / onekenthomas). As available, we will try to guide people to the help they need and counter any abuses we are aware of.
However, moderation is a role available to all-- as elsewhere in the Drupal Community, moderation is not a cabal but a “step up into the role,” “do-ocracy” position.

A NOTE TO PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANTS

If you haven’t explored the IRC channel, please feel free to drop by, introduce yourself and become part of the channel.

While things are often quiet, our current goal for the channel is to continue to make it a place where clients and projects, can be effectively and quickly matched to an appropriate consultant or group of consultants, as well as a place for professional growth and development.

This posting is part of an ongoing, community effort to improve the consultants channel, as well as to change / restore the leadership process of the channel. The above suggestions are a distillation of our experience from the past six years or so.