Paul Roeland

integrator, open source activist and non-profit tech person.Currently on the Board.

Who am I?

I'm a long-time technology and open-source activist, that has worked for a wide range of non-profits and other organisations. Been wasting my spare time at hacklabs and the like as well.

Currently my function is known as 'tech coordinator' for the Clean Clothes Campaign, which is a fancy way of saying sysadmin, programmer, and e-campaigner all at once. The combination fits me like a glove.

Started using Plone just around 0.99beta, and I've enjoyed the ride so far immensely.

Why I'm interested.

The past year of serving as secretary has been great fun for me. I like communities, and love working for them. And, handily, I actually find fixing things so that others can work at their best not only necessary, but satisfying.

Being on the Board provided me with a great opportunity to give back to a community that has done a lot for me, and for my pet non-profits.
At the Plone Symposium East, I was even given the great honour of being allowed to ramble on about my passion for both activism and open-source, and why I think the two can and should learn from another.

Of course, I also ran into limits, and there are things I could have done better. But overall, my personal balance shows me I can make a useful contribution. That is exactly my goal.

What I Bring.

Long experience in questions of process and decision-making. If there's one thing you learn in a large, federated non-profit with 60-odd member countries, it's a keen eye for how to keep discussions focused, guarantee diversity of opinion, and use best-of-breed methods of reaching a conclusion.

As an integrator, that has set up Plone sites large and (very) small, I have a good understanding of what end users like, both for public sites and for intranets. I've not only set those up, but also kept them running for years on end, which is quite a different experience than just delivering a site according to specs.

I'm a sysadmin by head, a campaigner by heart. So while I'm rather methodical, I'm also passionate, outspoken, and communicative. That would be both my strong points and my weak points...

Nomination seconded by:

Elizabeth Leddy
Chris Calloway
Steve McMahon