Stellenbosch Sprint Report (Jan 2026)
Published January 26th, 2026
This was a Plone Sprint in Stellenbosch, South Africa from January 16-19, 2026, dedicated to strategy ("bosberaad") to bring Plone strongly into the 2030s. Attendees included 14 in person, and 8 online, from all over the world, including current and previous Plone Foundation Board members, release managers, senior and junior developers as well as good representation from many businesses and entities in the Plone ecosystem, including Webtide, Redturtle, Kitconcept, Syslab, Interaktiv, Juizi, Quaive, the Brazilian government, LMU Munich, University of Jyväskylä and more. Organized by Juizi and facilitated for the first three days by Jon Cherry from Cherry Flava.
Day 1: Past and current status
After a traditional South African braai the night before, and some coffee and rusks the next morning, we got going at 9am in the seminar room of the National Institute of Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS) at Stellenbosch University.
First we looked at the desired outcomes - what do we want to achieve with this strategy sprint? Everybody got a chance to voice their thoughts about the current status of Plone and the community. The highlights of using and/or developing Plone and the challenges we are facing, were shared openly and sometimes heatedly.
A strategy was defined as:
an integrated set of choices that positions Plone to win
We looked at what winning means for Plone, and what opportunities lie ahead over the next 5 years. Good to have a futurist in the room, thanks Jon, and lively contributions from all 14 in-person participants, and also from the 8 who were online - some of them for practically all the sessions, in spite of time-zone, video and sound factors. Impressive!
Dinner was burgers and beers at De Vrije Burger in the centre of Stellenbosch, where we were kicked out eventually after they had closed.
Day 2: Future wonders
The second day started again with coffee, rusks and fruit, and then timed exercises. Questions like "What if Plone was destroyed last night, how would we rebuild, what would it now be like?" Long lists were made and out of that Jon helped us redefine (rediscover?) what Plone is.
Plone is a content management system that is built for people.
After lunch in the Neelsie, we identified Plone values and how Plone goes about creating value. That led us to:
Plone is a content management system that is built for people, that value community, fun, security, trust and being open.
After this long day, some participants joined for a Coetzenburg mountain walk, followed by dinner at Genki and icecream at Kristen`s where the slogan on the wall reminded us that, while it seemed all we had done that day was define what we already knew, we needed to "believe our own hype".
Day 3: The strategy
After morning coffee, Jon rolled up his sleeves, warned us we had a lot to do, and started by asking "What is the critical strategy challenge that Plone needs to overcome?" and "What would need to be true for Plone to achieve success overcoming this challenge?" We looked at the critical buying questions that potential prospects are asking themselves. From there Jon helped us find one thing that Plone must then be known for:
Plone is Open
The next step was to identify one North Star, one internal guiding principle that captures the essence of what we need to focus on in order to achieve success in making sure Plone is known to be open. Something that would "make the boat go faster".
We defined this North Star as:
Invite contribution
Before going into a direction, whether it be deciding what functionality to build with volunteer resources for Plone 7, or making a decision in Steering Circle or in a Board meeting, we should ask ourselves: "Will this invite contribution?"
To stress-test this guiding principle, three immediate and achievable immediate action steps for the next 3 months (before Jon's blog post about this sprint comes out) were identified. Further additional bigger actions steps were also identified and noted.
There was strong momentum towards renewing plone.org by June 2026. Overall feelings were positive and energizing.
The day ended with a wine tasting and dinner. We were joined by NITheCS Director, Prof Francesco Petruccioni and his wife Monique Labat, as well as NITheCS Institute Manager René Kotzé for an evening of dining and relaxed but energetic conversation.
Day 4: Wrap up, Spreading the News and Reaching the Local Community
On Monday, after coffee and more rusks, we continued discussions as a group and in smaller groups. Some had a campus tour. Then followed the Plone Monday event with three speakers and local editors, students and other decision makers. Here's the recording:
The event showcased two Plone use cases and Érico Andrei spoke passionately about Open Source and Plone. The event was well received and good feedback was given.
Afterwards, some of us headed to the airport, while others took it easy and a smaller group headed for Strand Beach, for a barefoot walk with sea air and sunset, burger specials at Bossa and a quieter drive back to Stellenbosch.
Tai chi and breathing
Thank you Mike Metcalfe for the wonderful tai chi between discussions every day, to help us with our CGI (computer generated injuries), and keep us going. Thank you also to Fred van Dijk who introduced us to a breathing exercise - not all of us knew he sings in a choir!
A Way Forward
To sum up the results of the sprint: we were able to refocus on what Plone actually is. It was "like a long-overdue therapy session" as one participant put it. We "got to know each other (even) better". We now have a "guiding principle to keep us moving forward into the bright new future". And a specific followup was defined. Many deep-level philosophical references were made (that managed to really impress Jon). From time to time, appropriate movie and music connections helped us feel what the others meant. Some of us left feeling cautiously optimistic, others more enthusiastically so. On the whole, there were "multiple moments of clarity". The feeling was that we need "a cadence" of doing this sort of thing and that this not be a once-off event. And that it be facilitated.
And now the work starts...
Join the upcoming Sprints: Bucharest, Beethoven (Bonn), Pole Position (Kerpen), Buschenschank, Plone Conference in Maasstricht, Axolote and Salamina.
Join online on Plone Tune-Up Day, every third Friday of the month.
Join World Plone Day 2026. Submit a talk, watch a talk, join an inperson event or livestream. There might even be an AskMeAnything. You might even be asked to be the guest.
Participants
- Alex Zeeman
- Alexander Loechel
- Alexander Pilz
- Astrid Beyers
- Érico Andrei
- Fred van Dijk
- Guido Stevens
- Johan Beyers
- Jörg Zell
- Karel Calitz
- Mike Metcalfe
- Rikupekka Oksanen
- Stefano Marchetti
- T. Kim Nguyen
- Armin Stross-Radschinski (remote)
- Brian Davis (remote)
- Jakob Kahl (remote)
- João Henrique Gouveia (remote)
- Matt Barkau (remote)
- Maurits van Rees (remote)
- Mikel Larreategi (remote)
- Steve Piercy (remote)
- Victor Fernández de Alba (remote)
More photos in flickr.