Simran Sethi joined the council back in December after being the successful candidate in the first round of elections and we’ve just concluded the second round which saw Adrian Schimpf being voted by the community to join the council, winning with a vote count of 11 compared with 6 votes for the other candidate, Chandeep Khosa. 

Firstly, a big thank you to all candidates for putting themselves forward for election and being willing to serve Mautic in this capacity, and to all members who took the time to vote for their preferred candidate.

Both candidates will take up a three-year term on the Mautic council, and soon we’ll be introducing them with a full biography.

Meet Simran Sethi

Simran Sethi joined the Community Council in December, bringing a wealth of knowledge and a fresh perspective to our team. With a background in digital marketing and community engagement, Simran has been an active contributor to Mautic for several years. Her passion for open source projects and her commitment to fostering inclusive environments make her an invaluable asset to our Council.

Simran is eager to collaborate with fellow Council members to enhance Mautic’s strategic initiatives and ensure that our community continues to thrive. Her focus will be on driving user engagement and expanding our global reach.

Meet Adrian Schimpf

Adrian Schimpf emerged as the successful candidate from our latest election process. With extensive experience in software development and project management, Adrian has been a dedicated member of the Mautic community, contributing to numerous projects and initiatives

Adrian’s vision for Mautic includes enhancing our technical capabilities and streamlining processes to improve user experience, making Mautic the best of breed in our industry. His technical expertise and collaborative spirit will be instrumental in advancing Mautic’s strategic goals and supporting our community’s growth.

The Mautic Council is a representative group forming the hub of decision-making for the Mautic community. Comprised of elected members, it is tasked with guiding the strategic direction of the Mautic project, making policy decisions, and overseeing the various aspects of the project’s operational and fiscal functions. The Council’s purpose is to provide a structured environment for effective collaboration, ensuring the ongoing growth and success of Mautic as a leading open source project.

Why Nominate?

Serving on the Council is a unique opportunity to:

• Influence the strategic direction of the Mautic project.
• Collaborate with other passionate members to enhance our community.
• Drive initiatives that impact the global Mautic ecosystem.

Eligibility

To nominate yourself, you must be a member of Mautic with no outstanding code of conduct issues. We encourage a diverse range of candidates to ensure the Council reflects the community it serves.

There is a limit of two Council members with the same affiliations – read more in the governance model. If elected, you’ll serve a three year term.

How to Submit Your Nomination

Prepare a proposal highlighting your skills, experience, and vision for Mautic. Be sure to disclose any affiliations as required. Submit your nomination by visiting the Community Portal.

Don’t miss this opportunity to make a difference. We look forward to seeing your nominations!

This means that we have two members of the Council who were on a 1-year term, who will be stepping back from their roles this year.

Thank you to our outgoing Council members

We’d like to thank both Andy Towne and Favour Chibueze for all their work in helping us to get the Council off the ground and tackling some tough issues this last year. We really appreciate your willingness to step up and serve on the Council and hope that you’ll both continue to support Mautic in the many other ways you are already contributing!

2024 Council Elections

This year we put out a call for nominations and we’re pleased to say that Simran Sethi will be joining the Mautic Council on a three-year term.

The second Council seat remains open, therefore we have left the election process open should another community member feel inspired to submit themselves for consideration.

To recap the responsibilities of a Council member, it’s a three-year term during which you’ll be a part of the team who:

• Determine and regularly report on the budget of the project (including the budgets of any team, committee or Working Group which will be determined on an annual basis in collaboration with leaders of those entities)
• Manage all fiscal operations and relationships including the approval of expenditures
• Manage any employees and contractors working for the Mautic project
• Monitor and regularly report on the health of the project as a whole
• Lead on strategic fundraising planning to support the long term strategy and growth of Mautic (in collaboration with the fundraising working group)
• Communicate and drive progress on the project’s long term strategy
• Manage, safeguard and enforce the trademarks and brand assets of the Mautic project (in collaboration with the Legal and Finance Team)
• Review and sign any contractual agreements relating to the Mautic project
• Review, document, communicate and adopt any such policies and procedures as may be determined necessary by any team, committee or Working Group
• Execute any recommendations in relation to breaches of the Code of Conduct

We’re delighted to welcome Simran to the Council and we look forward to her joining us in Q1 2025.

Listening to the community

We deeply value the feedback from our community, and we’ve heard your concerns loud and clear. Here are some of the struggles that have been highlighted:

Communication

There have been instances where the communication from the UX/UI Tiger Team was perceived as too direct, missing the nuance required for effective dialogue.

Decision process

Some community members felt that their voices were not heard, and decisions appeared to be pushed forward without a clear explanation of the rationale behind them.

Collaboration

The perception that the main decision-makers were from a single company led to concerns about a lack of diverse input, even though this was not the intention.

Addressing the challenges

In response to this feedback, we want to highlight that the changes in regards to the UX/UI Tiger Team governance are part of a bigger framework, and this framework will also be applied to all other Tiger Teams within the Mautic community.  What we are learning as we’re implementing our first Tiger Team is informing how we’ll develop and grow them in the future. Our goal is to foster a more inclusive, transparent, and collaborative environment across the whole project.

Improved communication

We will ensure that all communications are more nuanced and considerate of diverse perspectives within the community. Regular updates will be shared to keep everyone informed about ongoing projects and decisions, e.g. via blog posts of the tiger team.

Inclusive decision process

For bigger topics that require community input (referred to as ‘significant decisions’ in the governance model), we will initiate debates within the Tiger Team Assembly. This approach will ensure that all voices are heard, and a consensus is reached before any major changes are implemented. You can participate in these discussions and provide your input at our UX/UI Tiger Team Assembly.

To ensure the needed input and feedback can be gathered in, it’s the responsibility of the Tiger Team to share the debate in other channels like the #tt-ux_ui Slack channel or more publicly in co-ordination with the Marketing Team. 

Any decisions which are deemed to be non-trivial decisions (according to the governance model) are being shared as individual posts on Slack for discussion and collaboration. 

Trivial decisions are made within the individual pull request with explanations which inform the reviewer as to the decision being made and the rationale. 

Enhanced collaboration

We recognize the importance of diverse perspectives. While it’s true that this project has been funded by Dropsolid, and that two main members from the same company have been actively involved, we are committed to ensuring that decisions reflect the broader community’s input. 

Already, extra members from the community joined the discussions on Slack and on Github, and we will actively seek participation from a wider range of contributors to avoid any perception of bias.

How you can help

We believe that the strength of the Mautic community lies in its diversity and collective expertise. Here’s how you can contribute to the UX/UI Tiger Team:

• Join the team: Anyone is welcome to join the UX/UI Tiger Team. Whether you have expertise in UX/UI design or simply have ideas to improve the user experience, your contributions are valuable.
• Provide feedback: Share your thoughts and feedback on current projects. Your insights help us make informed decisions that benefit the entire community.
• Test proposed changes: Help to move things forward by testing and reviewing proposed changes. This can all be done in the browser and all you need to know is how to log into Mautic, check the documentation for more detail.
• Share ideas: If you have innovative ideas to enhance the Mautic user experience, we want to hear them. Your creativity can drive significant improvements.
• Participate in discussions: Engage in debates and discussions on our UX/UI Tiger Team Assembly or join the conversation on the #tt-ux_ui Slack channel.

Your involvement can make a real difference. Together, we can build a better Mautic.

Moving Forward

We are dedicated to taking the learnings from the process in shaping the UX/UI Tiger Team within the community for future teams to be formed. Your feedback is crucial to this process, and we are committed to continuous improvement. By establishing a clear governance structure, we aim to create a more transparent and inclusive environment where every member of the community feels valued and heard.

This gathering marked a significant milestone in Mautic’s ongoing evolution since we became an independent open source project, demonstrating our community’s commitment to transparency and clarity in our collaborative endeavors.

One of the central elements that took place during our EGM was the formal adoption of our updated Governance Model – Governance Model v2. This model has been crafted collaboratively by the community with careful thought, aiming to strengthen operational transparency and effectiveness. Its adoption formalizes a framework that guides our strategic decisions, fosters stronger communication and collaboration, and ensures our community’s voices are heard and influential.

With our new governance model in place, we are fully equipped to navigate the exciting future that lies ahead for the Mautic project.

Adding to our excitement is the inauguration of our newly elected Council members. After a period of nominations and and voting by members, we’re proud to introduce a group of dedicated individuals who are passionate about Mautic’s future. Representing different roles and facets of Mautic, these Council members were elected by you – our community – attesting to the faith and trust you place in their vision and leadership.

We are certain that their guidance, coupled with our community’s unyielding support, will lead Mautic onto a path characterized by innovation and growth.

You can learn more about the newly elected members and their respective roles on our council page: Mautic Council Members.

As we embark on this exciting chapter, we want to extend our deepest gratitude to each member of the Mautic community, and especially to the former Council members who supported Mautic since 2019 and all those who stepped forward to be considered for the election. We are grateful for your relentless contributions and unwavering spirit. It is your passion and dedication that propels Mautic forward.

Here’s to achieving even greater things together in the days ahead! ?

Stay tuned for many more updates, and as always, let’s keep pushing the boundaries together.

It has been a delight to see people standing up and being willing to represent Mautic on the Council – a central part of our new governance model.

As you may recall, there are seven seats available for election, and we recently launched the nominations process on our new Community Portal. The voting phase closed on Tuesday, 12th December at midnight and I’m delighted to share that we have successfully elected seven Mauticians to serve on the first community-elected Council.

Here’s the successful candidates in order of votes:

John Linhart (24 votes)

Norman Pracht (17 votes)

Dominique De Cooman (15 votes)

Ekke Guembel (15 votes)

Prateek Jain (14 votes)

Andy Towne (13 votes)

Favour Chibueze (11 votes)

I’d also like to give a big shout out to the three people who stood for election but were not elected in this round – Sven Döring, Dirk Spannaus and Avinash Dalvi. I greatly appreciate your willingness to put yourself forward and I hope that you will consider re-applying in future rounds and contributing in other ways in the meantime!

Next steps

The next steps from here are that we will be holding our Extraordinary General Assembly meeting on the 18th December, where we’re going to have the existing Council formally adopt the new governance model, step down from the Council, and then the new Council members will be formally inducted into their roles.

All members are welcome to join us in this meeting – please sign up here and you’ll have the link available just before the meeting starts.

Per our governance model, in the first election we hold, there will be the following terms:

The top three candidates – Cohort A – will serve a 3-year term

The next two candidates – Cohort B – will serve a 2-year term

The next two candidates – Cohort C – will serve a 1-year term

You will notice that Ekke and Dominique received the same number of votes, and between them it has been agreed that Dominique will serve for 3 years and Ekke will serve for 2 years.

This cohort-based approach for the initial election allows us to ensure that we don’t have terms expiring for too many candidates at the same time, which could be destabilizing for the community.

This also means that next year we will be looking to elect two new people into the Cohort C roles for a term of three years, and the year after we will be electing two new people into the Cohort B roles for a term of three years, and so forth.

Below is a chart which explains when each council member’s term starts and ends, and when the term after them will end.
 

I hope that you will join me in welcoming the new Council members and thanking them for their willingness to serve Mautic in this way.

We will be sharing profiles of each member in the coming days, and we hope to hold our first in-person Council meeting early next year.

It’s in this spirit of collaboration that we make this exciting announcement: Nominations are now open for the Mautic Council, and we’re looking for seven driven and community-focused individuals like YOU to step up.

The Mautic Council is a critical component in shaping our future and amplifying the voice of our community in decision making. Serving on the Council offers a unique opportunity for you, as an individual, to influence Mautic’s trajectory, lending your unique perspectives and experiences to its development and governance. There are seven seats on the Council – read more in the Governance Model. 

So why should you nominate someone (or yourself) for the Mautic Council?
 

1. Steering Mautic’s Future Course: Council membership allows you to play a direct role in critical decisions affecting Mautic’s future as a product and the wider community.
    
2. Voice of the Community: As a Council member, you’re in a position to represent the needs, ideas, and suggestions of the Mautic community.
    
3. Leadership Development: Being a member of the Mautic Council aids your professional development, sharpening your leadership and governance skills in a real-world, dynamic context.
    

To nominate someone (or yourself), the proposed candidate will have to be an individual member of our community.

Diversity is a cornerstone of our community, so we warmly encourage nominations for individuals from different backgrounds, affiliations, and areas of expertise. 

Nominees should have a strong commitment towards open source principles, possess an in-depth understanding of Mautic, and be willing to proactively work with other council members and the broader community. We particularly welcome those who have experience in business development, leadership and scaling organizations as this will also be a big focus for Mautic in the coming years.

Interested? Then take that next step and put forward your nomination here. 

Nominations will close on 30th November 2023, so make sure you don’t miss this exciting opportunity.

Fill the council seats with the power of the community, let your voice be heard, and help Mautic reach new heights. Happy nominating!

Have questions? Please drop into #wg-governance on Slack, or drop me an email at ruth.cheesley@mautic.org.

Join the community portal today!

A central home for our community

Over the last four years, our teams, working groups, meetup groups, initiatives and governance processes have grown. 

Contribution has always been the driving force behind our community, but it’s often been difficult to know what is going on, and how to get involved. Today, we take another leap forward in our mission by bringing these amazing entities together in one place, allowing everyone in the community to know what’s going on across the project, and more importantly, to get involved.

Our Community Portal is the central spot to stay up to date with what’s happening in our thriving Mautic community. Be it discussions around new features, exciting projects and meetings from different teams, upcoming meetups, or the latest nomination processes for the council, you’ll find it all here.

Over the coming months we will be sunsetting our costly meetup.com pro account, and moving all our meetups over to the community portal.  This will lift the financial limits we have on creating new meetup groups, which cost us $30 per group per month.  The savings will go towards the infrastructure costs for the Community Portal and also toward a marketing budget for the meetups working group to help promote local in-person events.

How to get involved

Getting involved is easier than ever before. Log into the Community Portal with your Mautic forums credentials or create a new account, and dive right into the vibrant discussions, share your perspectives, contribute to proposals, or simply get to know other members of the community. The portal is designed to ensure every voice is heard, and every idea is valued. Freely participate, share your knowledge, and learn from others in this thriving community.

As an open source product, the code is on GitHub, so if you spot any issues or want to help us with running the platform, check out the Community Portal repository.  It’s built on Ruby.  You can also help by translating the content, please drop us a line in #translations on Slack to get started with that!

Members only features

Kindly remember, while participation is open to all, certain areas of the portal like the General Assembly or the option to nominate proposals for the council will require being a member. This policy helps maintain a structured approach to decision-making and maintaining the integrity of our communal beliefs and values. You can become a member for $100 per year, or a prorated amount based on where you are registered for tax purposes – read more here.

Be a part of Mautic’s future!

The Community Portal is an embodiment of our commitment to the strong and encouraging community that Mautic has always been. Each group, each member, and each discussion shapes our collective journey towards better, innovative solutions. By pooling our strengths in this new platform, we aim to spark creativity, encourage participation, and fuel learning – everything that makes Mautic, truly Mautic.

We strongly believe that this central platform will enhance your engagement with Mautic, ensuring your ideas, perspectives, and contributions are effortlessly recognized and implemented.

So, we invite you to dive right into this new Community Portal, and explore the various conversations, projects, and discussions happening around. Let’s keep the conversation going; let’s continue learning from one another, and let’s keep shaping Mautic into software that makes a difference.

Join us, and be part of this exciting new chapter in our shared Mautic journey!

Join the community portal today!

Today, we’re excited to announce a turning point for Mautic – the unveiling of our new governance model, designed for passionate open source champions like you. This shift gives you the unique opportunity to become members of our General Assembly, where you can actively contribute to shaping Mautic’s future.

The General Assembly: Where Your Voice Matters

The General Assembly is the heart of Mautic’s governance structure. It is the platform where critical decisions that guide our future are made. This includes the election of our Community Council, establishing or dissolving teams and refining and updating the governance model itself.

Whether you’re an innovator wanting to make your mark or a company looking to extend your influence within the open source community, you now have the chance to take part in this transformative journey. All while redefining Mautic’s open source landscape.

Welcome to the new Mautic.

Our new governance model brings tiers of membership for both individuals and organizations, providing a meaningful way to be part of Mautic’s exciting growth story.

Individuals

You’re invited to join as a voting member by financially contributing at $100 per year, or at a rate that is proportional to the location where you are registered for tax purposes – find the specific rates here under the Members Calculations tab. 

If you are an active contributor to Mautic or a free, open source Mautic plugin you can also apply to join through the Practical Contributor route, if you prefer.

Not only does this membership make you a crucial part of our decision-making process, but it also signifies your commitment to open source innovation.

Become an individual member on Open Collective here

Organizations

No matter your organization’s size or mission, whether you use Mautic or sell Mautic services or just want to support us as a project, we have a membership tier suitable for you. 

Ranging from Community Membership ($1,200/yr) to Bronze ($5,000/yr), Silver ($10,000/yr), Gold ($15,000/yr) and Platinum ($20,000/yr) with many exciting perks at each tier. Learn more about the additional perks that are offered for each tier in the chart here. 

As an organization, your membership equips you with voting rights, brings you into our extensive network, gives you brand visibility, and allows participative influence in the Mautic project’s evolution.

Become an organizational member on Open Collective here

Drop us an email at outreach@mautic.org if you need more information.

Making open source more open

Choosing to become a member of our General Assembly is more than just gaining a membership – it’s planting a flag in the ground for open source advocacy. It’s about taking part in a broader movement championing transparency, innovation, and collective growth.

The aim is not merely to craft software but to build an open source ecosystem that thrives on the free exchange of ideas, shared knowledge, and mutual growth.

Your chance to influence

In becoming an individual or organizational member, you wield the power to influence. The decisions made within the General Assembly bear direct impact on Mautic’s journey. As a member, your voice can shape how we operate, how we evolve, and broaden the impact we make within the open source world.

Join Us

Now is your moment to make your mark. Seize this unique chance to help Mautic redefine what open source can truly mean. Be a part of this journey towards a dynamic, more inclusive open source future. More than just a governance model, we envision this as an open call, a beckon for pioneers, innovators, and visionaries like you.

Become a member of the Mautic General Assembly today. Let’s shape the future of open source, together. Embark on this journey with us. Your opportunity to contribute to Mautic’s transformation and the open source world is here.

Will you seize it?

FAQs

• What happens if I am an existing sponsor?
  • Existing sponsors will have the opportunity to convert their current sponsorship into an annual membership if they wish to become a member
  • You can decide to continue as a sponsor and not become a member – this will mean that you do not have any voting rights or ability to play an active part in shaping the future of Mautic.
  • You could become a member and continue to sponsor, if you wish!
     
• Is it possible to pay on a monthly basis?
  • At this point we are only offering annual membership to keep the administration process simple.  
     
• I’d like to become an organizational member but I need an invoice – can you provide me with one?
  • Absolutely, we can provide an invoice. Please reach out to us at outreach@mautic.org and we’ll get that sorted straight away!
     
• What does the money from memberships get spent on?
  • You can see the full breakdown of how and where we spend our money at https://opencollective.com/mautic – every transaction is public.
     
• How does the voting work if I am an individual member and have a company membership as well? 
  • Individual members will have one vote in any election or decision making process, and companies who are members also have one vote. You will therefore be able to cast a vote on behalf of yourself as an individual human, and on behalf of your company.
     
• Where will the voting take place?
  • We are just in the process of final testing of our new community portal, which will be where we manage all things governance from nominating and voting for Council Members and Team Leads to what product features we want to see coming in later versions of Mautic.
     
• How will I log into the new community portal to vote?
  • You will use your existing Mautic Community login. Companies who become members will have a company-specific login created for the purpose of voting.