I was happy to have OpenConcept well represented at Ottawa's first Ladies Learning Code Drupal event. There was a great turnout of interested people, keen to get their feet wet learning Drupal. Mathew Winstone from Coldfront Labs led the full day event. It was clear how much work he had put into getting new people who weren't familiar with programming started with Drupal.
It was great to be able to leverage Pantheon's free hosting service to get people started. Fortunately, we didn't need to introduce the students to Git or installing a local environment before getting them involved in...
Community
By Mike Gifford
on 01/12/2014
San Francisco is beautiful in the fall, BADCamp has become a real institution in the Drupal community, and I had an opportunity to present about Drupal 8's accessibility. So I packed my bags and flew down to sunny California and was able to participate in several Drupal Core Code Sprints, the NGO Summit and several talks.
It is useful to go to these community events and to have a chance to hang out with other people who are shaping this community. The Drupal community involves a lot of passionate people who believe strongly in collaboration. It is always exciting to see how people are using...
It is useful to go to these community events and to have a chance to hang out with other people who are shaping this community. The Drupal community involves a lot of passionate people who believe strongly in collaboration. It is always exciting to see how people are using...
By Mike Gifford
on 10/09/2014
This is a story of our origins that I hope will resonate with others seeking change in this world. There are many truths, some of them are here.
Foundation
The name OpenConcept came from a kitchen table conversation between three friends: Nancy Shaver, Russell McOrmond and myself. The initial idea was to use the Web as an interface for Popular Education (PopEd) and to help build Sustainable Communities. This idea never got off the ground at the time, but Russell continued to direct me in the essentials of HTML, PHP, MySQL and server administration. Russell also schooled me in the ethics of...
Foundation
The name OpenConcept came from a kitchen table conversation between three friends: Nancy Shaver, Russell McOrmond and myself. The initial idea was to use the Web as an interface for Popular Education (PopEd) and to help build Sustainable Communities. This idea never got off the ground at the time, but Russell continued to direct me in the essentials of HTML, PHP, MySQL and server administration. Russell also schooled me in the ethics of...
By Mike Gifford
on 06/09/2014
I didn't start OpenConcept because I was interested in business, I started this company because I saw the Internet as being a vehicle of much needed change in our world. So when thinking about the future of my business, I had pretty non-traditional way of looking at growth.
My initial inspirations about OpenConcept as a business started around a kitchen table over 15 years ago, and in much of this time has been spent around a kitchen table. What I knew was that progressive organizations needed to be better at collaborating with each other and that open source web tools were one way to...
My initial inspirations about OpenConcept as a business started around a kitchen table over 15 years ago, and in much of this time has been spent around a kitchen table. What I knew was that progressive organizations needed to be better at collaborating with each other and that open source web tools were one way to...
By Chris Wright
on 02/09/2014
I had the opportunity to attend CodeFest 2014 in Ottawa. This two-day conference was a great chance for anyone who “works in the web” to get together, share their expertise and learn from their peers.
Background
Codefest is a free, volunteer-run conference centered around the Web Experience Toolkit (WET).
WET is an open source project led by the Government of Canada that is developed openly on GitHub. The focus of WET is to develop an innovative, user-centered web experience that can be widely deployed through an open and collaborative process of development.
Topical Chats and Technical...
Background
Codefest is a free, volunteer-run conference centered around the Web Experience Toolkit (WET).
WET is an open source project led by the Government of Canada that is developed openly on GitHub. The focus of WET is to develop an innovative, user-centered web experience that can be widely deployed through an open and collaborative process of development.
Topical Chats and Technical...
By Cindy Warren
on 05/06/2014
We're happy to announce that Claire-Isabelle Carlier is now a permanent member of our staff in the new position of Business Development and Marketing Manager. Over the past few months, on top of learning a lot about Drupal, about our company and our clients, and about working in Canada, Claire has already proven to be a valuable member of our team.
She has updated our corporate look, logo and values statement; produced several proposals for new work; started enhancing our online presence (stay tuned, more to come!); prepared collateral and give-aways for two conferences; organized our...
She has updated our corporate look, logo and values statement; produced several proposals for new work; started enhancing our online presence (stay tuned, more to come!); prepared collateral and give-aways for two conferences; organized our...
By Cindy Warren
on 30/05/2014
OpenConcept prides itself on supporting the community, and takes action to do so in several ways – one of which is encouraging staff to volunteer with community groups and services that they are passionate about, and getting behind that volunteer work by allowing for flexible hours and through corporate charitable donations.
I've been volunteering for the Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region (DCOR) for about five years now, and I'm so grateful for the support Mike Gifford has shown for this service and my involvement in it since I began working at OpenConcept at the end of 2011.
The Distress...
I've been volunteering for the Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region (DCOR) for about five years now, and I'm so grateful for the support Mike Gifford has shown for this service and my involvement in it since I began working at OpenConcept at the end of 2011.
The Distress...
By Cindy Warren
on 15/01/2014
Drupal is 13 today! The community continues to grow and we are proud to be a part of it!
A good excuse to enjoy some cake with lunch.
A good excuse to enjoy some cake with lunch.
By Mike Gifford
on 14/01/2014
We are always looking for ways to become a better business. We have always strived to meet the needs of our clients and staff in a cost effective and environmentally friendly fashion. Last year we started the process of becoming a Certified B Corporation, as it seemed to fit well within the work we've done in the past decade. It was a very interesting process and raised many issues that we hadn't considered previously, which would expand the impact we can have as a business.
It is really empowering to be part of a movement that is working to have business be a force for good. Being formally...
It is really empowering to be part of a movement that is working to have business be a force for good. Being formally...
By Mike Gifford
on 13/01/2014
Once again we're happy to sponsor Drupal Camp Ottawa. We'll have more posts on this soon. There are a number of sessions we're looking forward to presenting and as always look forward to meeting with others in the Drupal community to work together to strengthen the code that glues us together.