Imagine a community where every voice is heard, every contribution is valued, and the power of collaboration drives innovation. Now, picture that community stretching across organizations, regions, and even entire continents. Sounds like a dream? It’s not—this is the reality of successful open source communities.

Building an open source community isn’t just about rallying a group of developers around a project—it’s about creating a space where people from all walks of life can come together, share knowledge, and build something greater than the sum of its parts. But what does it take to grow a community from the ground up? How do you unite local initiatives into a thriving global network? And most importantly, how can you foster a sense of ownership and purpose in your community, whether it’s within a single organization or a diverse ecosystem of clients, contributors, and stakeholders?

In this session, we’ll explore the secrets to building strong, sustainable open source communities, drawing from my experience in fostering growth within the Dutch Drupal community, uniting European associations through NEDA, and creating internal developer communities in large organizations. Whether you’re working with public sector clients, scaling a grassroots movement, or navigating the complexities of enterprise development, you’ll leave with actionable insights on how to make your community not only survive—but thrive.

Join me for an interactive and thought-provoking session that will empower you to lead your community toward lasting success. Let's build something meaningful, together.

Prerequisite
none

Outline
Open source communities are the lifeblood of innovation, but building and sustaining them is no easy task—especially when you’re dealing with diverse stakeholders, multiple regions, and large organizations. In this session, we’ll explore actionable strategies for building vibrant communities across a variety of contexts: from multi-client projects and regional growth efforts to scaling collaboration within large developer organizations.

Drawing from my experiences working within the Dutch government, leading NEDA, and helping foster internal communities in a large organization, I’ll share the real-world challenges, successes, and lessons learned. You’ll leave with examples to inspire and practical tools to engage, unify, and empower contributors in any environment, whether you’re managing an open-source project or facilitating internal knowledge-sharing in a corporate or governmental setting.

I will draw on principles from SAVE, Agile workforms, Liberating Structures, and show how to use Slack and other communicational tools to bring your community together. This session is not just talking about principles, it will show you the best practices. You will walk away with new insights you can implement immediately.

Key Topics:
1. Building Community for Multiple Clients:
- How to foster collaboration when your stakeholders are multiple clients or organizations with different priorities.

2. Community Building in the Netherlands:
- Strategies for growing a thriving open source community within a specific region or country.

3. Uniting European Associations for Growth:
- Lessons learned from uniting local Drupal associations across Europe through the Network of European Drupal Associations (NEDA).

4. Building a Healthy Internal Community in a Large Organization:
- How to cultivate knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and a sense of ownership within large organizations divided into multiple scrum teams.

Building and nurturing an open source community requires a deep understanding of both the technical and human aspects of collaboration. This session will provide you with the insights and strategies you need to grow your community, whether you're facing the challenge of aligning multiple clients with differing goals, uniting local associations for a shared mission, or fostering collaboration across internal teams in large organizations. Through practical examples and actionable advice, we’ll show you how to create a sense of belonging, ownership, and sustainable growth—no matter where your community is located or what its size is.

Learning Objectives
Understand the challenges and strategies for building and sustaining open source communities across multiple clients or stakeholders, and how to align different goals for a unified vision.

Gain insights into regional community-building efforts and learn how to tailor strategies to suit the unique needs of a local open-source community. What's the difference between the Netherlands and e.g. France?

Learn how to unite diverse different groups through collective initiatives, such as the Network of European Drupal Associations (NEDA), and drive growth across local communities with a shared mission.

Develop skills to build and maintain a healthy internal community within large organizations, specifically in environments with multiple scrum teams, fostering knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and a sense of ownership.

Acquire hands on actionable tools and best practices for engaging, empowering, and motivating community members, whether within a single project, a region, or a large organization.

Identify common pitfalls in community-building and learn strategies to avoid them, ensuring a sustainable and thriving community that drives innovation and collaboration.

Experience level
Beginner