Roberto Allende

Plone entrepreneur, trainer and evangelist, creator of the World Plone Day. Current board member.

Who I am

I work as a trainer and commercial manager at Menttes. In 2007 I co-founded Plone Cono Sur and for the last 4 years I have been involved in over 55 activities promoting Plone, including talks in free software conventions, free as in free beer and free speech training sessions, mini-sprints, etc. Most of these events were held in South America, though I also took part in activities in Central America, the United States and Europe. I am one of the co-administrators of Plone Cono Sur and I have translated several documents into Spanish and written articles in blog posts and magazines. I was member of the Board during the 2008-2009 period and advisor during 2008-2009. I am also contributing to the Plone Marketing Committee and maintaining some of the 12 third-party products my company has published and currently maintains.

Why I am interested

I am passionate about working to promote the use of Plone worldwide and to make an impact on the foundation as a whole. While I contribute to all aspects of the Community, I am particularly interested in focusing on the Spanish-speaking market in particular and non-English speakers in general. This focus is especially evident within the many user-groups I have created and to which I contribute regularly. I have noticed that there is an increasing demand for volunteers within this category. Whenever there is a Free Software convention or similar event, I am there promoting Plone by organizing mini-courses, educating the public, and proudly spreading the word. Being a member of the Board would boost my credibility as a promoter and allow me to substantiate the work I do on a regular basis. I believe that if needed I can be an asset when it comes to securing financial support for certain projects.

Contributions during 2009-2010

  • I was Global Champion of World Plone Day 2010 and also local host coordinator at La Plata, Argentina. WPD 2010 had 40 hosts around the world including cities like Tokyo, Taipei,

    Yaoundé in Cameroon, Muchen, Roma, Boston, Los Angeles, among many others. I also started to look for a new World Plone Day Global Champion.

  • I'm the Organizer of the Plone Symposium South America 2010 to be held in Cordoba, Argentina. The PSSA 2010 is the second edition of a regional Plone Symposium and will have speakers from Argentina, Brasil, Venezuela, Peru, Canada, Chile, EEUU. More here.
  • During Plone Foundation Board meetings i worked hard to include the perspective of non-central countries, even if there are a lot to learn and to be done from my part still, I believe the Foundation made important improvements in this area.

What I can add to the Plone Foundation

  • As a Plone entrepreneur from a non-European or North American country, I believe I can strengthen the global vision of the board and Plone Foundation. WPD is an example of this.
  • During the many free software conventions and meetings I have attended, I have met a great many people and I believe we should get closer and at least try to work together with other Python and free software communities.

Plans for 2010-2011

  • I am interested to work with Membership Committee and Community Members from non-central countries to get inside Plone Foundation. During my trips i have met several people that would made enough merit but don't apply because lack of knowledge or their have problems making their applications. I believe i can assist both, Membership Committee and applicants.
  • I want to work on plone.net. I am planning two stages, first migration and design improvement to be completed by march 2011, the second stage would be focused on concept and tools in order to make plone.net as a canonical point to promote Plone and its service providers to different segments including NGO and Enterprise.

Both initiatives would be worked with their committees respectively and wouldn't be developed without the support and consensus of the Board and feedback of the Community.

Seconded by:

  • Chris Calloway
  • Steve McMahon