I was one of the chosen ones to attend the first MDN workweekend in Paris from March 7 to March 9, 2014. The experience I had there was way beyond normal words. I am out of adjectives to sum up the time spent there. But let us take some of them: awesome, thrilling, unprecendented, unexpected, inspiring, and most importantly, learning. Add up some excellent colleagues to work it, it was the perfect experience any Mozilla volunteer could ever have (I am really trying to make you guys out there jealous about this!).
What it meant for me?
Meeting Christian Heilmann for the third time, David Walsh and Luke Crouch for the second time, and having a hearty chat about MDN was the best thing I had done for months. On top of that, add the fact that I helped shape up requirements and initial SOPs for events for the Mozilla Developer Network (MDN) with Janet Swisher, the community head for MDN. Overall, it was a learning experience like never before.
My primary target was to get proper events format and structure ready for MDN. I had allotted all the three days for it, but it turned out that I could wrap it up in the first day, and use the first half of the second day to formalize it. This left me with one and half days worth of time to focus on other things. The productivity was mind-blowing. I ended up participating in planning for DevDerby, and setting a new focus group called Community WebDev for Mozilla, with Majken.
The proudest moment was, however, when Christian asked me and Priyanka to attend the last day of Developer Relations Workweek to put in our feedback on how the DevRel program would affect the Indian community. It was a cherishing experience to share our thoughts and also have them appreciated by the staff and other volunteers of Mozilla.
Ah, Paris!
Priyanka and I had reached Paris on 5th of March, 2 days before our original event. However, the feeling that we were actually in Paris sank in only after we visited the Mozilla office in Paris. It was awesome! Mozilla is not allowed to put up posters on the wall of the Paris office, simply because the building in one of the enlisted heritage buildings in Paris. It feels more like a museum than a proper office! A great experience in itself!
We went out on dinner every night to restaurants whose names I have forgotten; we had excellent French cuisine and delicious French wines each time. And Notre Damne! And Louvre!
Keep contributing!
Just a set of wise words for you people out there! I didn’t expect for these wonderful experiences. But they came along. I had not focused on going to Paris or being with such wonderful people. I had wanted to put forward my contributions, putting forward my passions before everything. Keep on contributing! And it pays! Not in the ways you would wonder! Your contributions may lead to more happiness and better stories. So keep contributing. Keep up the passion!
Happy Hacking!
Related posts
- The best MDN event so far - Blog.Mozilla
- MDN Workweek Paris - Priyanka Nag