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.
As a co-founder of Joomla! and OpenSourceMatters Inc I've never been known to be lacking an opinion or being too afraid to express it.
Despite what some people might think I'm a shy and modest man who doesnt like to blow his own trumpet or boast about achievements.
You don't need a badge to polish to contribute to Joomla you just need to roll up your sleeves and do it.
Mohamed Abdelaziz is a seasoned computer engineer who earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the Computer Science and Automatic Control Department at the Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Egypt, in 2000. He began his career as a software engineer, collaborating on the development of database systems such as Hotel Management and Container Management. Between 2002 and 2004, he contributed to automating industrial licenses management for the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Saudi Arabia.
Since 2006, Mohamed has specialized as a Joomla developer, focusing on developing, troubleshooting, and customizing Joomla extensions. His portfolio includes numerous extensions, some of which are available on the Joomla Extensions Directory (JED). Additionally, he has lent his expertise as a technical reviewer for Eric Tiggeler's books, "Joomla! 1.5: Beginner's Guide" (2010) and "Joomla! 2.5 Beginner's Guide" (2012).
Beyond Joomla, Mohamed has a keen interest in emerging technologies, particularly in developing AI Agent systems. In his leisure time, he enjoys playing and watching football and chess.
About Maria Skampoura MBA, MCMI
Maria is the President of Open Source Matters Inc.. Open Source Matters (OSM) is a not-for-profit organisation incorporated in New York, USA, created to serve the financial and legal interests of the Joomla! project.
Always passionate about entrepreneurship, Maria is the founder and CEO of the B2B WebDev SaaS start-up DEVELOPABLE, which is registered in London, UK. DEVELOPABLE is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that offers busy business owners one-click Joomla! Website creation with no prior coding knowledge.
Maria has been sharing her passion for entrepreneurship by providing students and graduate entrepreneurs with intensive start-up support as a mentor in programmes such as the BSEEN, the Arden Enterprise Incubator, and the City University of London.
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 UK Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Dedicated to CMI values, 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.
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.
Since 2008, I am creating websites with Joomla. In 2014 I started volunteering in the Joomla community and I am now active in various teams (Maintainers, Accessibility, Events). I like to write articles for the Joomla Magazine and other blogs. Since 2019, I have been (co-)organising the JoomlaDay Germany / D-A-CH.
Ioannis Fytros is a web developer at the City of Athens (Greece), currently doing his Master's in e-Government, a strong supporter of open government and open source software, a constant user and huge fan of Joomla! CMS since the Mambo days.
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