In just a few short weeks, a disparate group of Joomla volunteers across multiple disciplines will convene in Paris for a two day Outreach Sprint.
Within technology circles, the sprint is a well established practice so why does the Outreach department need to run one as well?
When Joomla was born in 2005, the world of web building tools was very different: and for a long time, the three major open source CMS platforms, Joomla, Wordpress and Drupal dominated this space but over time new tools and platforms have evolved, offering an easier introduction to the world of site building.
SaaS ecommerce platforms such as Shopify and Bigcommerce and site builders including Wix and Squarespace have lowered the technology barrier to allow the uninitiated to create a good looking, functional presence. It should be noted that this convenience comes at a high cost in terms of subscriptions and data sovereignty.
So here we are in 2026 with AI encroaching on everything and everyone so how do we make sure that Joomla remains not just relevant but a more desirable alternative?
And so back to the Sprint. Our team will work tirelessly over two days to put together effective programs to communicate all the benefits of Joomla with businesses, business owners, local government and most importantly the next generation of web designers and developers.
Within Europe and beyond, we’re seeing a move away from global technology conglomerates towards the benefits of open source and data sovereignty. This is a great opportunity for the Outreach department (which encompasses marketing, pr, social media, events, and education) to take advantage of this movement and push Joomla as the natural choice for ethical, accessible web design.
We will endeavour to create programmes across all these communication channels that will allow Joomla to not just survive but grow for the next decade and beyond.