What’s the Mautic Sprint All About?

The Mautic Sprint is more than just a gathering – it’s an opportunity to contribute, learn, and network. Here’s a glimpse of what’s on the agenda:

• Mentored contribution: Whether you’re a seasoned pro or new to open source, this is your chance to dive in and contribute to Mautic. Don’t worry if it’s your first time – we’ll have mentors on hand both in-person and remotely, to guide you every step of the way. There are opportunities to contribute in many ways – check out https://mau.tc/contribute for more information.
   
• The People Behind Mautic: Ever wondered who’s steering the ship? Here’s your chance to meet the folks behind Mautic. They’ll be there, sharing their experiences and ready to answer any burning questions you may have.
   
• Trials Project Support: We’re working hard on the new Trials project and would love to have your support in writing and reviewing the onboarding campaigns, as well as updating and translating our Knowledgebase content. We’re also creating a focus group who will be the first testers of the new system.
   
• The Ultimate Networking Experience: Mautic sprints have always been known for cultivating camaraderie. Prepare to make some unforgettable memories while connecting with passionate individuals from around the globe.

Extend Your Stay for FOSDEM!

But that’s not it! After the Mautic Sprint, a group of us will be heading over to Brussels for FOSDEM – the largest event for open source enthusiasts held over the following weekend.

Join the Mautic Stand at FOSDEM: We will have our stand at FOSDEM in H block. Don’t miss this golden opportunity to represent Mautic and interact with over 8,000 attendees from different corners of open source communities.

Attend Sessions from the Project Lead: Look forward to insightful sessions including one led by our very own Project Lead. Trust us, it’s something you don’t want to miss!

So, what are you waiting for? Mark your calendars, pack your bags (or stock up on snacks if you’re joining us remotely!), and get ready for an unforgettable adventure in the world of open source.

See you in Ghent!

Our second year of running the event, we welcome everyone interested in deepening their knowledge of Mautic and joining our vibrant community. Whether you’re a developer, marketer, technical writer, or simply curious about Mautic, this is the perfect opportunity to dive into the world of this outstanding open source marketing automation platform.

What to Expect

The event kicks off on the first day with a comprehensive introduction to Mautic during a training session. This session is tailor-made to provide a solid foundation for individuals new to Mautic, ensure you’re up to speed, and ready to unlock its full potential. Don’t miss this chance to supercharge your Mautic skills!

For the subsequent two days, we have lined up an exciting schedule of community contribution sessions. These sessions offer firsthand experience in various aspects of the Mautic project, including development, testing, marketing, technical writing, community building, and event organizing. Regardless of your expertise, there will be ample opportunities for you to make a valuable impact and contribute to the growth of Mautic.

Embrace Flexibility

In recognition of the diverse Mautic community spread across the globe, we are pleased to offer a remote participation option. If you can’t make it to Vienna, you can still join us virtually from anywhere. We want to ensure that every member of the Mautic community has the chance to participate and contribute, no matter their location.

Several of our team members will be contributing remotely so we will have mentors available both in-person and online to get you started.

Mautic Sprint (21st-22nd) 

Kickoff: Friday 10:00 h
Please see Slack channel #community-sprint for hours and all coordination 
(Use https://mau.tc/slack-invite if you do not yet have an account for the Mautic Slack space)

Access for remote attendees: via Zoom
(Meeting ID: 875 0093 1130, Passcode: 330242)
 

What we’re going to be working on:

Community Team

• Strategy for growing local communities
• Preparations for the next in-person Mautic conference

Education Team

• Finalising work on the new developer docs (API documentation writers needed!) and end-user docs

Legal & Finance Team

• Workflows for CollectiveVoice integration for collaborative approving of expenses on Open Collective in Slack (doc & video, form to complete)
• Tooling for implementing the new governance model
• Preparing copy and workflows for the call for nominations for the Mautic Council

Marketing Team

• Preparatory work for the upcoming strategy workshop
• Content and visuals to support the Mautic 5.0 release

Product Team

• Testing the Mautic 5.0 alpha release
• Fixing bugs identified
• Writing Mautic-specific email transports for Symfony Mailer

Location

If you’re planning to join us in-person, here’s some information about the venue:

The event is happening at the University of Vienna (Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 1090 Vienna), located very centrally in the city of Vienna. The main contribution area will be in the Sky Lounge event room on the 12th floor, which includes a rooftop terrace with a panoramic view of the city!

The venue is certified for green meetings and surrounded by restaurants and well known points of interest like the Freud museum. The 1st district is just a 5 minute walk away.

Location, location, location:

• One tram station away or a 3-minute walk to the U2 & U4 Station Schottenring. Get the Wiener Linien APP on your phone or use a maps service for public transportation information.
• Important Update: As can be read here, the Vienna Public Transportation System will be doing construction on the U2 and U4 lines that will affect us during the event. 

You can read more about the venue on the DDD website.

How to Get Involved

To be a part of Mautic Developer Days and Community Sprint in Vienna, firstly make sure that you mark these dates in your calendar.

If you plan to attend in-person, please book your ticket here. (132 EUR including coffee, heathy snacks, drinks and evening entertainment)

If you plan to attend remotely, please book your ticket here. (free, but donations welcome)

We will be sharing updates on the event agenda, registration process, and logistics.

In the meantime, we encourage you to spread the word among your networks and colleagues who might share an interest in Mautic. The more diverse and engaged our community, the stronger we become.

Conclusion

The Mautic Developer Days and Community Sprint in Vienna is your gateway to immerse yourself in the world of Mautic, enhance your skills, and contribute directly to this awesome open-source project. Whether you attend in person or remotely, we look forward to your active participation and dedication.

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals, share insights, and help shape the future of Mautic. Together, we will build and improve a powerful marketing automation platform that empowers businesses around the world.

Stay tuned for further updates and get ready to join us in Vienna or remotely from July 19th to July 21st.

Last month, the Mautic Community Sprint was hosted in Budapest, Hungary by local community member Joey Keller. Nine community members joined us in-person, with many more collaborating online.

Several companies sponsored the event by supporting their team members to attend including:

• Acquia
• Leuchtfeuer Digital Marketing
• Sales Snap
• Friendly
• Webmecanik
• Matinal Jornalismo
• Bluespace

We are very grateful for their support, without which we would not have been able to make so much progress!

We were also hosted by Cheppers, a partner of Acquia, for the first two days at their offices in central Budapest which was a huge bonus.

Goals for the sprint

Other than the general awesomeness of getting to know each other better, sitting together in a room each day and working alongside each other fully focused on Mautic (which is so much fun – you must come along next time!), each team had clearly defined goals for the sprint which included:

• Community team
  • Finish the design work for Mautic Conference Global [Completed!]
  • Kick off ticket sales and sponsor promotion [Completed!]
  • Establish campaigns to promote the event and raise footfall [In progress]
  • Drive awareness among potential sponsors [In progress]
  • Determine a location for the next in-person Mautic conference [in progress]
  • Work on ‘getting started with contributing’ project
     
• Education team
  • Completing major sections of the Docs migration to Read the Docs [in progress]
  • Reviewing and selecting a candidate for the Season of Docs project [completed]
     
• Marketing team
  • Planning new activities to promote awareness of Mautic [in progress]
  • Develop new designs to refresh Mautic’s social media presence [in progress]
  • Create a content calendar to populate the blog with useful resources for marketers and Mautic users [in progress]
  • Support the Mautic Conference Global team with promoting the event and reaching a wider audience [in progress]
  • Continue work on the Mautic Pitch Deck project
  • Create a drip campaign with the Education Team to help new users of Mautic to get started
     
• Product team
  • Finalize the work on Symfony 5 update [68% completed for 5.0 update]
  • Test and review PRs for the 4.3 release [completed!]
  • Work on improving the contributor experience and make it easier for people to get started [in progress]

The fun stuff

Of course, it’s not all about getting the work done during a Community Sprint, we also took the time to sample some of the local delicacies in our lunch and evening meals, and took an evening trip to the thermal baths.

Several of us also went on excursions around the city to take in the local history.

Some thoughts from our attendees and their organizations:

It was really great meeting in-person with folks that I’d only met online, and also with people I hadn’t even met online. It is such an experience to be a part of a community that really supports one another, without the “competition” spirit of some corporate environments. There is always a hand there to help you, and really I felt like I could ask even the most basic questions without feeling bad about myself. And when I felt insecure, folks were ready to lift me up and help me along =] And it was so much fun, intense on many levels and revitalizing in terms of motivation to keep doing what we do. It’s the people that always make it worth it 

~ Deborah Salves, Assistant Team Lead, Marketing (Brazil)
 

The Sprint lasted for just a few days, but it felt like it was much longer and as if I was there for a long time, thanks to the folks and the host. Everyone was super helpful and welcoming, and this meant a lot to me – especially being a newbie when it comes to Mautic. I came on the behalf of a Marketing Team, and I am very pleased with the guidance and encouragement I was receiving along the way. 

Working together with the people I haven’t met before and didn’t know for longer than maybe two weeks online, and traveling alone to a foreign country has inhaled the spirit of community and teamwork where everyone has only one goal – making the best of an open-source tool. 

During the Sprint we have exchanged the knowledge and the ideas and agreed on a direction towards which we will go in the future at least in the Marketing Team. 
So far, we have already accomplished some of those goals. Meeting in the Sprint has enabled us to get to know each other better and it has enriched and strengthened the relationship between the contributors in the community which will affect the further cooperation greatly.

~ Ivana Rosic, Sales Snap – IT & Marketing agency, working with Mautic for five years and recently started contributing (Serbia)
 

It was an opportunity to learn more about some current features of Mautic, learn with other people’s experiences and practices, as well as reassure that we made the right call in switching to Mautic. It was also helpful in planning some future actions based on the features we learned were/are being rolled out, which gives us a leg up.

~ Matinal Jornalismo, recently switched to Mautic and started contributing

Community Teams (Product, Education, Marketing, and Community) gather yearly to get some (more) work done, and also to allow for planning, besides welcoming new contributors who want to get involved with Mautic. During the event, we will work collaboratively on some tasks, and the Leadership Team will also hold a board meeting to work long term strategies. 

The Mautic Community Sprint (see details below) will include unconference-style sessions and workshops facilitated by our leaders. It will also have allocated times dedicated to sprint work, which welcomes everyone willing and interested to get involved.

What to expect

Our yearly sprints are a time to work together on our backlog of tasks, yes, but it is also a chance to get to know in-person some of our contributors and learn from what each and every one can offer. 

If you are interested in becoming a member of our community, this is a great opportunity to see how you can help and understand a little about how we coordinate our efforts to make Mautic even more awesome!

During the Mautic Community Sprint you can expect to:

• Be very welcome, because everyone is!
• Get some hands on experience
• Find out which of your skills can you dedicated yourself to alongside the rest of us
• Get the chance to meet in-person the people you usually work with online
• Learn from everyone’s skills and experience
• Share some of your own skills and experiences
• Work more closely together with other teams, coordinating their knowledge and plans
• Socialize, after hours, and make new friends all around the world

New to Mautic?

If you’re new to our community, or if you haven’t made up your mind yet, come meet us! You’ll get the chance to know how we work together across countries, languages and cultures. Our teams will welcome you and help you see where you fit best, considering your skills and interests.

Worried about your English? No need for that: if you can understand even a little, we can make it work. Remember we are always learning from one another, and always growing together.

Covid protocols

As we organize this in-person event, all current covid restrictions are in our mind. All attendees must be able to comply with the requirements concerning covid, as well as do their best to stay safe and keep the other members and venue staff safe.

What is the sprint for

Not only is the Mautic Community always looking for new ways to innovate in our industry, we are also committed to building our software collaboratively. It is at the core of our open source project that everyone can help, and every skill set can contribute in some way or another.

“As the heartbeat of the Mautic community, our Community Sprints bring together people who use, develop, design, and support the Mautic platform”, sums up Ruth Cheesley, Mautic’s Project Lead. She goes on to highlight that “these events are where improvements to the project are made, where important business connections are built, and where lifelong friendships bloom”.

Sprint Timeline

Our Leadership team is still putting the final touches on the Mautic Community Sprint timeline. More information will be provided soon.

Consider attending? 

Come join us! Attendance is of course free of charge, but we ask you to

Register now (free)

This allows us to know how many people to expect!

Got questions, ideas, comments?

This is the best place for these things: 

https://forum.mautic.org/t/join-us-for-our-in-person-mautic-community-sprint-event-may-2-4-in-budapest/23558

Our heart-felt thanks to

We thank our sponsors Cheppers who are kindly hosting us, Acquia, Leuchtfeuer Digital Marketing and Webmecanik, as well as contributors in our Open Collective for their support. Without it, this event would not be possible.

The point of this event is to make good progress in the teams, to increase cross-team action, and most of all: To provide a most convenient entry point for new volunteers.

So if you have considered helping Mautic, this is the perfect opportunity to get started – if you are a developer or not, and even if you are not sure what your prefered area of contribution might be.

Even great English is not required – if you can read and write just a bit, that’s completely fine.

How a ‘virtual’ sprint works

We are spread around the world and in many time zones, but we want to have a close-together experience as well as an efficient working environment. Therefore we use a combination of tools, see below.

Also, we have a few joint events (like Opening / Onboarding / Coffee Breaks – timeline see below), which will allow you to have a good overview and orientation, get to meet other contributors from around the world, and maybe to pick the right team if you are unsure where your skills can best be used. It also provides an opportunity for the teams to coordinate cross-team projects.

Everything else will happen within the teams, with contributors working on each task or subtask individually or in small groups, and with communication as fits.

Many of the tasks have been prepared by the teams, others may be added on the fly during the sprint. For each task, someone will be able to help understand what needs to be done, and to assist if needed. And surely there are tasks that suit your personal skills and interests!

Sign up to indicate your attendance

The first thing to do is to sign up on Eventbrite if you’re planning to join us. You don’t need to be attending the whole time – if you’re only able to spare a few hours that is also super valuable!  Please register using the link below. Attending is of course free.

Sign up to join the sprint

Provide your availability

We have set up a simple way for you to let us know roughly when you are expecting to join us. This helps us to plan our timeline more effectively, so we really appreciate it if you could indicate your availability in our Doodle Poll.

Provide your availability

Sprint Timeline

Below you will find a timeline of the events happening during the sprint.

• Asynchronous start for all who want to
• Mon 9:00 UK Time (see your local time) – “Early opening” (for all)
• Mon 9:15 UK Time (see your local time) – onboarding (per-team)
• Mon 12:00 UK Time (see your local time) – hangout (for all)
• Mon 14:00 UK Time (see your local time) – onboarding (to all teams)
• Mon 15:00 UK Time (see your local time) – hangout (for all)
• Mon 16:00 UK Time (see your local time) – “Welcome Americas” (for all)
• Mon 16:15 UK Time (see your local time) – onboarding (to all teams)
• Mon 18:00 UK Time (see your local time) – hangout (for all)
• Mon 23:00 UK Time (see your local time) – hangout (for all)
• Tue 8:45 UK Time (see your local time) – hangout (for all)
• Tue 9:00 UK Time (see your local time) – hangout (per team)
• Tue 9:30 UK Time (see your local time) – onboarding (to all teams)
• Tue 12:00 UK Time (see your local time) – hangout (for all)
• Tue 15:00 UK Time (see your local time) – hangout (for all)
• Tue 17:00 UK Time (see your local time) – “Farewell” (for all)
• Asynchronous continuation for all who want to

All the information you might need in the sprint can be found from the Sprint Dashboard, a public Google Doc.

Access the Sprint Dashboard

The hashtag for the event is #mauticsprint – please use it in any social media activity you might share!

Tools: Get prepared!

These are the basic things we use in the Mautic Community:

• Chat: Slack. We are using the regular team channels (#t-community, #t-education, #t-marketing and #t-product) as well as a joint channel #community-sprint exclusively for the sprint. If you do not yet have a Slack account: Please go to mautic.org/slack to sign up.

  Join sprint channel in Slack
   

• Video Call: Jitsi Meet. For online interaction (like Opening / Onboarding / Coffee Breaks), including screen sharing, we are using video calls. Please have a webcam ready if you like (just audio otherwise), and/or install the Jitsi app on your mobile device. And, just in case: You can also dial-up via phone through these numbers. 

  Also please do try the service up-front, and make sure to enter your name in Settings -> Profile so that we know who you are when you join

  Try or join sprint main video call

  Please be aware that the main online events will be recorded and the recording will be accessible to all, especially for those who miss an event e.g. due to timezones.

• Task management: Differs per team, we use Google Docs, Trello and more. You’ll find out!
   
• Other tools may be introduced as needed e.g. for brainstorming sessions

See you on Monday!

The event is happening on Friday, 1st November immediately after DrupalCon Amsterdam, and will be hosted at B.Amsterdam. This will be our first Community Summit!  Many thanks to Acquia for sponsoring the event.

We would like to extend an invitation to all Mauticians to join us – whether in person at Contribution Day, or virtually.  Here is an overview featuring some of the projects we are going to be working on during the Mautic Community Summit:

1. Migrating the Symfony framework to a newer version
2. Testing pull requests and triaging issues (support available for new contributors)
3. Reviewing and improving the Mautic Documentation

We will be joined by several of the Mautic team from Acquia, including Project Lead DB Hurley.

There are only 120 spaces available at Contribution Day, so if you intend on joining us in Amsterdam make sure you book your space on the website!  

If you’re joining virtually, please make sure you sign up via the website at www.contributionday.org as well, so we can get an idea of numbers, and join #community on Slack!