Community Magazine 
Before I got my current job as Coordinator Communications & Digital, I ran my own company for 25 years. The first 15 years I was a writer / editor / journalist / writing coach.
In 2009 I started working with Joomla, not knowing anything about webdesign. I joined a JUG in 2012, two months later I was co-organizer :) (and stayed co-organizer for about five years).
I loved working with Joomla so much that I started projects, just to be able to create a website for them. That's when I thought: hey, maybe it's time for a career switch. In 2014 I decided to go pro with Joomla and switch to webdesign instead of writing.
Volunteer work
I already mentioned the JUG. After that I did a number of other things over the years:
- Writer: I wrote articles about Joomla in a Dutch webdesigner magazine.
- Speaker at JUGs and JoomlaDays.
- Member of the Dutch JoomlaDagen team for three years.
- Member of the team that organized all three editions of Joostock (a Joomlacamp/unconference event).
- Editor of the Dutch Joomla web agency brochure, a brochure webdesigners can use to convince their potential clients that Joomla is the right choice for them.
In 2020 I've started contributing to the Joomla Community Magazine, first as an author, and since 2022 I'm Team Leader of the wonderful Joomla Community Magazine Team.
Why I contribute to Joomla
To many people Joomla is just a tool. But if you look a little closer, you'll notice it's much more than that. It's a living system, raised and nourished by a community of volunteers dedicating their time to make it the best CMS ever. Without volunteers, Joomla wouldn't exist. It's not 'just a product'. Everyone who uses Joomla, can do so because someone, somewhere, contributed to it. I want to give back to the community that keeps Joomla alive.
And, probably needless to say: I love being part of that community.
Contributing to Joomla by volunteering brought me so much: valuable experience, more knowledge and a better understanding of Joomla and its community, and the opportunity to work together with a crowd of lovely people all over the world.
Dan has been building websites since 1995 and started using Joomla around 2009 after dabbling with Mambo. A sometimes attendee of JUGL and other networking groups, he runs a small web development business (DJA), collaborating with other developers and designers in and around London, England. In his spare time Dan plays the guitar, goes to gigs, bakes bread and is a crew volunteer at Glastonbury Festival. He runs a gig listing website called Music On My Doorstep.
Hello, thanks for checking out my profile. I've been working with Joomla since 2008 and I run a small Joomla! based digital agency called Square Balloon.
I'm very people orientated, so if anyone wants to get in touch for any reason whatsoever, just reach out. Friendly is my middle name. Well... it's not, but given my first name, you would probably believe anything I say about my middle names.
Before you ask, Mum suffers from a spelling disability called being Irish. Dad is English... but he's dyslexic so he can't spell either. Perhaps Mum was taunting him when she gave us all silly names. Anyway, it's pronounced, "Owen".
Heather is from the Shetland Islands in Scotland (where there are no trees) and has a degree in Marine Resource Management with an emphasis on aquaculture (more mussels please). She now lives in upstate New York, and works in forest resource management, with an emphasis on water quality - specifically NYC's water supply …… so basically the same!
She has been using Joomla since 2015 and currently manages one Joomla site, and reluctantly a WordPress one, for the non-profit organization she works for. She is just beginning to expand her Joomla network through some Joomla user groups and hopes to attend the 2025 Joomla Day USA in person to expand her skills and knowledge.
Heather enjoys traveling, wine, all the food, her horses (even the small terrorist pony), and cutting down trees.
About Maria Skampoura MBA, MCMI
Maria is the Founder and CEO of the tech start-up DEVELOPABLE in London, United Kingdom.
Maria holds an MBA with a specialisation in Finance from the University of Leicester in the UK and a Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) in the UK. Dedicated to the values of CMI, Maria served as the social media and Communications Lead (NED), at the Chartered Management Institute’s West Midlands & and North-West Boards, in the United Kingdom.
Always passionate about entrepreneurship, Maria has been providing students and graduate entrepreneurs with intensive start-up support as a mentor in programmes such as the BSEEN in the past, and currently at Arden University’s Business Incubator, as well as the City University of London.
Maria is the Founder and CEO of the tech start-up DEVELOPABLE in London, United Kingdom.
Maria holds an MBA with a specialisation in Finance from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and a Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) in the UK. Dedicated to the values of CMI, Maria served as the social media and Communications Lead (NED), at the Chartered Management Institute’s West Midlands & and North-West Boards, in the United Kingdom.
Always passionate about entrepreneurship, Maria has been providing students and graduate entrepreneurs with intensive start-up support for new ventures as a mentor in programmes such as the BSEEN in the past, and currently at Arden University’s Business Incubator, as well as the City University of London.
Since 2006 I have been working with the Joomla! CMS. Besides building and maintaining Joomla! websites and webshops, I am also familiar with SEO, hosting and developing extensions. Furthermore, I am a frequent visitor and speaker at JoomlaDays and various Joomla user groups.
I am committed to the Joomla! community as a member of the Extensions Directory team and the organization of Joomla user group Breda and JoomlaDagen Netherland
For me Joomla has been a hobby for a long time - since 2008. In 2019 I became as a Joomla extensions developer and now develop and maintain more than 80 free extensions for Joomla (see https://web-tolk.ru). Some of them are available in the Joomla Extensions Directory.
I am one of the moderators of the Russian-speaking Joomla community in Telegram. I publish posts on the Joomla Feed Telegram news channel in Russian, write Joomla digests and articles about Joomla development.
Husband. Father of 3 children. Saratov, Russia.
Independent, creative software builder. Been around from punch cards to cloud computing. Proponent of a model driven approach.
I like modelling. When creating software you first make a model of the problem and solution. That is what philosophers have been doing for ages: building a model in order to better understand the complex world around us. The model and the modelling language are abstractions, found in a creative process.
I've been an IT Consultant for some 25+ yrs, and a Web Developer for some 18+ years. I enjoy Open Source software and like to give back how and when I can. I have done some extensive beta-testing for many different projects/softwares.
I speak English, French fluently. I also have some languages skills in German and notions of Norwegian.
I have been helping indirectly Joomla for years but actively to the Joomla project since ~ Feb. 2024.
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