Radek has been building Joomla extensions for more than ten years and has also given presentations and talks at various local (German and Polish) as well as at international Joomla events.

During this period Radek has also fulfilled many roles in the community, serving a wide range of departments and teams. More recently, in 2017, Radek served on the OSM Board as Department Coordinator for Marketing and Communications.

The main aim that Radek stated is in his manifesto is to ‘help with communication between the various teams and also between the teams and the board of directors. His biggest goal to empower the Joomla community. We wish him success!

Welcome back, Radek! What made you decide to return to leadership?

Hi, Joomla Community thanks for interviewing me.

I took a break from the community three years ago because at that time I experienced an unhealthy level of toxicity and hostility. This unfortunately reflected badly on my psyche and I eventually had to step back.

I'm back now because I am slowly recovering and even if there were some bad experiences in the past, I recall how much joy and how fulfilling it can be to serve this awesome community. I also have the hope that either there is not that much hostility now or I could help to get rid of it.

Could you explain to us what your task is as Operations Department Coordinator?

As the name already says, to coordinate between teams in the Operations Department and the department and the OSM board. Of course, the usual tasks such as budgeting, financial responsibilities and reporting to the board are also important. Additionally, every Department Coordinator is also Director on the Open Source Matters (OSM) Board.

What are the main challenges the Operations Department faces?

There are some serious challenges at the moment. So far, we’ve had no proper documentation and policies for the Webmaster Team. Also, the roles in that team weren't clearly enough defined. One has to consider that the Webmaster Team is taking care of the entire Joomla infrastructure and this is a very critical area. Fortunately, my predecessor started compiling the necessary documentation and we're in the process of completing it.

I'm glad also that the majority of the teams in my department are doing an awesome job and there is not much more than the usual tasks that need my attention.

You now have an assistant, Wilco (Alsemgeest), have you divided up the tasks and if so where does your focus lie?

Excellent question. Although I briefly met Wilco a few times before, I didn't really know him. When he offered to be my assistant, I agreed but to be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from him. But boy, oh boy, I'm so happy to have the opportunity to work together with him!

This guy is really unbelievable. Basically, he took care of the whole webmaster/infrastructure team, he is writing the entire documentation for this team and creating policies. He is writing meeting reports. And much, much more. He is simply a great partner to work with. Because of his involvement, I can take care of the remaining tasks. Without his and Rowan's help, my life would be much more difficult.

What is your main goal for 2020 / in your first term?

• Create a proper handover procedure in case I would need to step down someday so my successor would have an easy start.
• Reactivate the Joomla Template Directory Team.
• Continue documenting of all processes
• Improve communication between teams and the board

And a few other things I would rather not mention yet.

How can we help?

You can always help if you would like to. If you would like to join any of our teams don't hesitate to contact us.

For the moment we could use some good Web designers for the template directory team.

Is there anything we forgot to ask but should have asked you?

Difficult question. I don't know. How are your bees, how are your birds, how is your dog?