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.

Leadership interview: Luca Marzo

April-Luca

If anyone knows from personal experience what it’s like to be on the Board of Directors of Open Source Matters (the organisation powering Joomla), it would be Luca Marzo. He recently started his seventh term as Secretary of the Board, elected by us, the people of Joomla. After six terms on the Board, is there still any fun left? And what makes a good Board? Read and find out!

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Submitting your article(s) to the Joomla Community Magazine

2023-March-JCM

In our previous article about writing for the Joomla Community Magazine we explained how you can create an account on the JCM, the two ways you can write (submit directly or share a Google doc first) and, very briefly, how to submit your article. In this article we show you how to do that step by step.

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Capital Team: show me the money!

2023-February-Capital-Team

"We should do an article about our Capital Team," Luca Marzo said during the kick-off meeting for this issue. "Should be pretty easy to write as it will be very short," one of the authors present responded. He was right, and that was exactly the point: at the moment we don't have a Capital Team, but we need one. And if money is totally your thing, we need you to be in it.

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Who does Joomla need right now?

2023-February-Volunteers-Needed

You’ve probably heard or read it more than once: Joomla needs volunteers. Without people, new releases take longer and have less exciting features, documentation remains incomplete and bugs take forever to get fixed. But who do we need, and what would they be doing? Read how you can help.

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To us, the people of Joomla

JanuaryCommunity

We’ve all read it, probably more than once: Joomla’s beating heart is the community

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Joomla, may we have your votes please?

January-Elections

There's no such thing as a vote that doesn't matter.
(Obama)

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How to write for the Joomla Community Magazine

JCM-WritingforJCM

Maybe you knew this already: you too can become an author for the Joomla Community Magazine. If you want to share your knowledge about Joomla, extensions, templates, technical topics related to web design, show us a case study of a project you’ve been working on, or let us know what is going on in your part of the community, you’re welcome to write for us. But how to start? And where do you go from there?

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Joomla Community Magazine highlights of 2022

December-best-of-2022

As 2022 comes to an end, it’s time to reflect on what happened in the Joomla Community Magazine in the past twelve months. Team members Luca Marzo, Anja de Crom, Hans van der Meer and Phil Walton look back on the past year and forward to the next.

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Send Joomla your holiday wishes!

December-Happy-Holidays

This time of the year means holiday season in the Joomniverse! Whatever holiday you’re celebrating, we’d love it if you share the holiday happiness with us, your fellow Joomlers from around the corner or the other side of the globe. Check out how you can do this in a few simple steps (yes, we love tutorials at the JCM)!

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What to do if you disagree with an article in the Joomla Community Magazine

December-Disagreeing

So you’re scanning the articles in the JCM, you see something and you think: say what? As you read further, clouds of steam gather around you, and after you’re done reading you decide it’s time for action. But what can you do?

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