Red Herring: Robert Douglass interviewed about Google Summer of Code
Following Drupal's involvement in the Google Summer of Code program, Robert Douglass was interviewed by Liz Gannes of Red Herring magazine. The issue has just hit the news stands, and the article, "Google U", is a full page from the 48 page publication. In the section Winning Hearts, where Google's motivation for spending $2 million on open source is pondered, Drupal get's it's shining moment:
And that kind of money is a significant infusion for open source. It means an emerging project like Drupal, a content management platform run by Belgian students that mentored 10(sic) Summer of Code participants, can get the equivalent of “hiring a highly qualified developer for an entire year to work for us,” says Robert Douglass, an American developer in Germany who spearheaded Drupal’s involvement. “Fifty-thousand dollars earmarked for Drupal development—that’s really astounding.”
You can read the full article at RedHerring.com.
Thanks again to Robert (see his post) and the whole team of mentors (and students!) that were involved with the Google Summer of Code 2005 event.
emerging? Run by Belgian students?
Okay, at least they spelled Drupal's name right :-)
"It means an emerging project like Drupal, a content management platform run by Belgian students that [...]"
4 years ago I would have descibed Drupal as emerging, now I would describe as a Full Grown Up. And I think that the time that Drupal is run from the dorm of Dries (Steven?) has past as well. Drupal's development is trully global, dozens of local sites and hunders of developers from around the globe proof that. Still, nice to see Drupal in mainstream media.
Robert getting credit for organizing the Drupal part of Google's SoC, I can only second that!
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groets
bertb
actually...on that point..
It might be an idea to add a presskit section to Drupal.org which contains pedantic info. about the project, print resolution screen shots, press cuttings, links to other articles/reviews and "available for comment" contacts.
It will specifically help journalists/bloggers and hacks who are planning to do a review.
If you're looking for guidance on how to structure something like that properly, let me know.
Dub
Like this one?
http://drupal.org/node/22962
-sp
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Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain
nope
I was thinking more of a professional presskit..that would be of use to journalists, reviewers..etc.
there's a subtle difference Sepeck, but it has a seismic effect and is not just about pasting text into a page.
It includes defining a concise communication plan for the Drupal project and providing standard presskit items taht makes life easier for professional journalists.
I think it's worth doing soon, I notice that there seems to be varying degrees of interpretation, i.e. 1 reviewer will perceive Drupal to be XYZ and another will interpret it as an ABC...a well thought out presskit would remove that problem and introduce a clearer communication on what the project really is.
I hope that makes sense..it would enable the core team to be able to issue proper press releases as well. Which will help spread the word.
Dub
We have a marketing docs repository
You could put your work in there and then link to that from a handbook page.
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if you dont like the choices being made for you, you should start making your own.
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[Bèr Kessels | Drupal services www.webschuur.com]
link?
Thanks Bèr..
will drop Dries an email to see if he wants to do a proper presskit. It's not something anyone can do and just plop into a repository.
by the way..do you have a link to that marketing docs respository?
thanks
Dub
we have a marketing team too
http://drupal.org/node/23743
Rather then add one more thing to Dries plate, I would suggest coordinating with them
-sp
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Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain
thanks..
good idea and thanks for the link..I'll drop the press team co-ordinators an email...
Dub