Emma Irwin

Council Q&A + Video

Posted by Emma in remo

I’m hoping to help with the Mozilla Reps council this year. I’ve actually wanted to for a while, but my schedule really hasn’t allowed me to consider it until recently. I’m not comfortable with the term ‘campaigning’, because I really do – just want to help. Reps, and indeed Mozilla is in a really unique and important stage of growth, and I have a lot of ideas, energy and passion for a community which has given me so, so so much. More than anything I want to hear from Reps…read more

Apr.08

North America Reps Meetup – Portland

Posted by Emma in remo

It was with great comfort, after a difficult week for Mozilla that I joined the North America Reps (USA and Canada) in Portland for a weekend of community building planning ( and hugs ). This was our second meetup, with some new faces, and new energy. Exciting to see our tiny community starting to grow and strategize. When I first became a Rep in early 2012 there were roughly 7 Reps in total between our two countries, while I counted 22 today. I also suspect that number is…read more

Mar.05

Webmaker at the Open Data Summit 2014

Posted by Emma in mozparty, remo, Teaching Kids, Webmaker

I was extremely honoured to present ‘Integrate Web Literacy with Mozilla Webmaker’ , at the Canadian Open Data this past February 20th, one day before Open Data Day. The Open Data community has been a collaborative partner of Mozilla in British Columbia for a couple of years now, and definitely kindred spirits in promoting openness and digital literacy. In 2013 our Mozilla community joined in for Open Data day at City Hall in Victoria BC. Herb Lainchbury organized the adult hackathon, and we brought a group of youth to hack on…read more

Feb.23

#Webmaker Club – So far

Posted by Emma in remo, Teaching Kids, teachtheweb, Uncategorized, Webmaker

After close to two years – and thanks to a visionary principle – I was able to start a Webmaker club in my daughter’s school. Web literacy is not a part of British Columbia’s curriculum. I’ve learned a lot, here’s the Cole’s Notes: Lunch Club The only window for our club is between 12:25 and 1:00 – lunch break. Our first class was about 28 kids, but as weather got better (and more kids opted to play outside) that slowly declined leaving a core group of…read more

Feb.14

Hug a Drupalista this Valentine’s Day

Posted by Emma in drupal

I’ve had this post percolating in my head, since attending a JavaScript/HTML5 hackathon last year. An event where the host made a made a joke about ‘Drupal development’ implying a project and community working in ‘innovation past’. I apologetically sank into my seat. Not only was I one of only 3 women in a room of 80 hackers, I was also a PHP Drupal developer - double-shot of isolation. I get it though – I’ve participated in my own share of code-snobbery it’s entertaining, it lets us vent coding horrors…read more

Dec.30

Through the Keyhole – Contributing to Open Projects

Posted by Emma in drupal, Mozilla, remo, women in technology

I have been contributing to a variety of open projects for about 8 years now- a life changing experience in more ways than I can list. I’ve learned so much collaboratively building, fixing, documenting, testing, and leading projects I believe in. Admittedly, some of the best lessons have also been in learning to fail, or change direction. ‘Open’ is all about people, and I have met so many inspiring, courageous, brilliant and humble people from all over the world – changing the world. This post is in gratitude of…read more

Think globally, act locally

Posted by Emma in remo, Teaching Kids

“Think Globally, Act Locally” originally began at the grassroots level, however, it is now a global concept with high importance. It is not just volunteers who take the environment into consideration. It is corporations, government officials, education system, and local communities. - from Wikipedia On Friday December 13th, our local Mozilla community hosted a Mozilla Webmaker booth at Discover Tectoria, a showcase of Victoria’s tech community. In addition to the booth, Dethe Elza and I presented two sessions: ‘Learning to Code with Mozilla Webmaker” to an auditorium filled with parents,…read more

Dec.15

Webmaker School Club

Posted by Emma in remo, Teaching Kids, women in technology

I’ve wanted to run a Webmaker school club for quite a while, and met with resistance for just as long. Thanks to our amazing principle, I am completely thrilled to finally… have the initiative accepted in my daughter’s school starting Monday. Currently working hard on a lesson plan, that includes online and offline activities + Q & A Skype sessions with people who can share on specific topics as we cover them. Excited to have my ‘own kids’, twenty-eight of them :) To help support others who may want to…read more

Nov.17

Get-Involved-World-Run-By-Bumper-Sticker-(5410)

Nov.13

Contribution as a Way of Life – The Survey

Posted by Emma in remo

I’ve been developing a talk: ‘Contribution as a Way of Life’, so far demoed to very patient & supportive colleagues at ImageX and a few smaller gatherings (both online and offline) with a lot of interest – including the idea as a workshop . I truly believe contribution and open participation should be an extension of our work and play where possible. In my experience there are simple ways of evaluating a project for contribution – explaining: why it matters, why it’s easy, why it’s FUN and equally reasons to…read more

#MozSummit (Toronto)

Posted by Emma in Inspiration, remo

I’ve found it very challenging to write a post on the Mozilla Summit - how can I possibly, ever reflect the experience of spending a weekend with 600 brilliant inspiring people; Of the greater awareness that in two other locations there are 1800 other Mozillians exploring the same ideas? How can I lightly summarize a single innovative idea, project and session, much-less describe three days of them? I cannot! I give up imaging it’s possible(at least for me). I can say without hesitation, that the Summit awakened, and clarified…read more

Nov.05