Mozilla Service Week – its easy to help bookshare.org

I think most of you know its Mozilla Service Week this week. We’ve been featuring stories and opportunities on the Mozilla Service Week blog, and as you know here on my blog –I usually like to try to find ways that everyone can get involved in making the Web better, no matter how technically advanced you are! Everyone can help make a difference.

One way I’ve been getting involved this week is to help bookshare.org. Bookshare are a non-profit org who are committed to helping people with visual impairments, physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities by dramatically increasing the quantity and timely availability of books and newspapers in accessible formats.

What does that mean? Its means for example if you are blind, you want to be able to have access to books (and the latest bestseller books) just like everybody else. bookshare.org is helping people enjoy the beauty of reading.

They already make more than 50,000 books available to folks who need them in accessible formats for people of all ages and disabilites – who have different tastes.

People in the world love to read and those of us who read everyday take that completely for granted. One of the small ways you could help bookshare is by writing a review of your favourite book and sending it to them. We all want to have recommendations before we start reading a book, so please help by sharing your opinions with others.

Its easy to get involved, simply…

1. Visit http://bookshare.org/ and use the search field to check for the book you have in mind.

2. If its there, write a brief or detailed review (your choice!)

3. Email it to volunteer@bookshare.org – and they will upload it onto the site for you.

Its amazingly rewarding and so easy to do. Why not make a point of doing it every time you finish reading a book!

Mozilla Service is finally here

For folks in the Mozilla community volunteering is a way of life. Its what drives them and what has created one of the most wildly used and translated pieces of software in the world…

… Today we kicked off Mozilla Service Week - which has brought a new element to what volunteering at Mozilla means. Over the past months we’ve been encourgaing people to step up and make a difference in their area by directly offering technology related help. That’s more than sitting behind a monitor and coding, and more than submitting a bug — its about meeting face to face, offering advice, and helping someone enjoy this really wonderful thing we call the Web.

As someone involved in Marketing and who is not a coder, web designer, and doesn’t have anything like the amazing skills most of you have — I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to get involved and help make a difference. Well, I can tell you that it doesn’t matter what skill level you have — you can always help someone else have a better experience on the Web. Advocate why you love it, share how you use it, make sure people know why we need to protect it. There’s so much we can do.

Please go to mozillaservice.org, sign up and help us make the Web a better place this week, and for always.

Read more:

http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2009/09/14/mozilla-service-week-is-here/

http://mozillaservice.org

New Term: School of Firefox coming soon!

There are some things in life you need to learn … such as learning to walk, to read and knowing that pie is ‘off’ in your fridge (though all of that is hopefully instinctive)

And there are also some things in life in worth learning well … such as speaking French, having patience, and making great brownies!

Then there are those things in life which by learning, you just know are going to make your life a whole lot better! Learning about Firefox is one of those, and for the last few weeks, we’ve been working on a new fun learning destination for Firefox – called the “School of Firefox”. We’ll soon be able to take you through lessons, tips and videos on all you need to know about using Firefox.

Its going to help new Firefox users get set up and familiar with Firefox features fast, and for those of us who think we already know the deal, we hope there’s lots more besides to learn about your fox!

We’ll be sharing more about the site in the next couple of weeks. So get your pencil’s pencils sharpened – a new fun way to learn Firefox is coming soon!

Marketing at Mozilla – Do you want to join? There’s a new open position

Marketing is funny at Mozilla. Whenever, I’m asked what do I do, I’ll very often say “marketing” — and that always feels strange when it tumbles out of my mouth. The next question is usually “… so what is marketing at Mozilla then?” … and further questions about “If you do all that, how big is the team?”

Let me try to answer…

What is marketing at Mozilla?
Well, this would be a very long answer if I went into even half the detail. But let me say in short – our job is all about…
- Sharing and advocating for a more open and better Web
- Spreading Firefox, and having people enjoy a modern browsing experience
- Help build and work together with Mozilla communities, and other open source communities to make great software

and we do this in so many ways which are not typical to marketing. We …

- Work together in the open to craft, build and run campaigns
- Empower and encourage communities to hold their own events and campaigns
- Share results in public, and talk about both our achievements and findings to take on board in future

- and much, much more…

How big is the Team in Europe?
In Europe there are 4 people including myself who help do the above. But actually, our team is much bigger than this. In each country there are scores of Firefox and Mozilla fans, and community members who each day advocate and share the importance of the open Web. Our wider team reaches in the hundreds, and that’s the way we like it!  Anyone can join, and anyone can get involved regardless of skill. The only requirement is a passion for open source and a desire to make the Web better.

** New Open Community Marketing position **
So if you got this far in my post — I’d say you are interested in marketing and community at Mozilla. And we are very lucky to have an open full time job opportunity available for a European Community Marketing Manager. The position is based in Paris. Here’s a quick round up of the job spec:

European Community Marketing Manager
Primary responsibilities include development of new programs to engage community and activism, as well as promote Firefox mindshare throughout Europe. Defining and implementing regional community campaigns and activities, market research, and day-to-day efforts in order to support community marketing, growth and effectiveness.

The ideal candidate will be highly organized and self-motivated, a strong communicator with experience managing marketing programs and campaigns.

** Primary Responsibilities:
* Lead, develop and implement new community grassroots  initiatives and marketing campaigns
* Support and initiate activities for Mozilla Campus reps program in Europe
* Contribute to overall community marketing programs with “real-world” components (eg. Meetups, Campus events, launch parties, etc)
* Conduct and assist with regular community surveys
* Review, share, participate and provide information on Spreadfirefox, forums, marketing mailing lists, IRC and blogs
* Communicate across a diverse community of project contributors and volunteers
* Assist with other marketing related activities and where needed, participate at key trade shows and events
* Provide support for Mozilla Mission-focused community initiatives

So, if you want to be a part of this amazing movement. Read more about the job and apply here.

** Photo courtesy of homardpayette on Saturday February 7th 2009 at FOSDEM ‘09

Firefox 3.5 London launch party, downloads, demos and beer!

Gerv, Pascal and I got together last night with some London Firefox and Mozilla fans to help celebrate the launch of Firefox 3.5 last Tuesday.

About 25 of us enjoyed a few beers and snacks, there were several familiar faces who joined us last year for the Firefox 3 launch. Gerv demoed some neat 3.5 new features – Location Aware Browsing, Open Video, Downloadable fonts and Performance. Pascal talked about the cool dev stuff which is going on at Mozilla Labs.

Some interesting people were there from:

Ubervue – A group of Romanian super smart guys who have built the next gen social media conversation tracker. They now have opened up their API for anyone to hack on. Check it out!

Open Rights Group - a campaigning organization aiming to raise awareness of digital rights and civil liberties issues.  They need your help and support in the UK!

Influence Crowd – Philip Sheldrake the guy behind this is one of the smartest and highest energy folks around in Social Media analytics – there’s nothing he doesn’t know! He’s working on some cool new stuff in social media and measuring true success and accountability:

Fun moments:
- We watched live on screen Firefox 3.5 downloads pass 16M – we are now at 17.5M – see where we are now here: http://downloadstats.mozilla.com/
- Gerv ran the original Firefox code on loop – apparently it takes 25 mins to cycle through and it was shown at the first release party. All pretty cool stuff.

T-shirt & Cause moment:
We actually had some t-shirts to share, and was delighted to see people donate. In a beer glass we raised 75 pounds (125 US$) for the Mozilla Foundation — helping to keep the openness of the Web. A big thank you to all who donated.

A great night was had by all. It was wonderful to join with people who deeply care about the future of the Web, and are so supportive of the Mozilla community and cause.

More pictures here — unfortunately they are a bit grainy, the light wasn’t so good.

Firefox 3.5 LIVE – help us celebrate in London, July 6

Firefox 3.5 is now alive and kicking! Our fastest release ever, new personal security features and support for open video. Its a release in which once again Firefox is “Upgrading the Web”.

Help us celebrate this landmark achievement in London, on Monday July 6. We’ll have a few beers together, and there will be a big screen to demo Firefox 3.5 and what’s new at Mozilla Labs.

We’d love to see your demos too – so please come along and share what you have.

Sign up on Upcoming at : http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/3013300/

When: Monday July 6, 2009 from 7:00pm – 9:00pm

Where: Shooting Star

125-129 Middlesex Street
London, England E1 8JF

See you there!

New – Firefox browser for CyberMentors

I blogged a few days ago about how many people talk to me these days about the web, and how it impacts their and their families’ lives. Almost all the folks over 35 want to talk about how their kids interact with the Internet, and are generally more worried than they are thrilled by kids spending more and more of their time online.

We all have to admit, that we have become like our own parents (when we were young), and do not fully understand the world of our children. Thankfully there are many tools and bits of software which help parents protect their children whilst browsing the Web. Firefox Add-ons such as Glubble allow parents to set which sites children can visit, whilst youngsters can safely play games, chat, surf and find information.

That said, a worrying development of the Web has been the rise cyber-bullying in our children’s lives. Beatbullying, is a UK based charity who works tirelessly to help Britain’s youngsters deal with and protect themselves against bullying. Earlier this year they launched their CyberMentors Program, offering help and advice from trained mentors to anyone who is being bullied online. Mozilla supported CyberMentors project straight out of the gate, whereby members of the Mozilla community volunteered to be trained as CyberMentors. Yesterday, we took our partnership a stage further for this worthwhile cause by building and launching a new custom Firefox browser for CyberMentors.

The new browser offers:
• Chatting with victims of bullying and other CyberMentors
• Reporting online bullying
• Providing tips for online safety
• Accessing the Beatbullying media centre

The Firefox browser has been customised with building-in buttons and a media-player which links easily to CyberMentors video and audio. There’s also a persona (skin for your browser) which kids will love.

Beatbullying campaign to make ‘the web a safer environment for youngsters’. We are proud to work side by side together with a fellow public benefit organization, advancing our mission to improve the online experience for people everywhere, whilst keeping the web safe and open for everyone.
Get Firefox for CyberMentors on the PC, Mac & Linux,  and if you already use Firefox, you just need the Add-On >>

Talking about the Web, talking about Mozilla …

Over the weekend I did a lot of fun things, and one not so fun thing (guess which one!):

• Opened a new bank account
• Saw Jude Law tread the boards in London town and play Hamlet
• Shared an evening with new people at a friend’s birthday party
• Shared Father’s Day with my lovely Dad

Why am I telling you all this? Well, it never, never ceases to amaze me how many times I end up talking about Mozilla and about how much people want to listen. It doesnt matter if I’m completing a horrendously long application process for a new bank account, or introducing myself to my friend’s brother — as soon as people hear the word Firefox they want to talk.

Now, I meet a lot of tech people, so I its natural that the conversation leads to tech talk — and they are 99.9% always Firefox fans. But time and time again, meeting new people who are teachers, lawyers, writers, film makers, banking staff – whether they are Firefox users or not, they want to talk about the Web.  And they always have a glut of questions:

• Is Facebook safe for my kids?
• What about content? How do I stop someone pirating my film, music, tv show?
• What do I think about Google?
• What’s the future of the Web? Where will it end?

I’m refreshed to have these conversations, and am very happy to talk about the Web in all shapes and sizes.  I come away happy that at some point, I’ve had another chance to evangelize for a more open Web. But, what strikes me is people are hungry for information. They *want* to have conversations about the Web. They want to debate and so they can have informed opinions, and learn from anothers’ differentiation point.

People are not naive, they know about the Web, and they have concerns and fears — and excitment and loves. But they also often need to talk it through, as well as read about what’s going on. Dont be afraid to strike up a chat on a flight, over supper, in a cab — each time you do, you’ll be helping someone better understand the beauty of the Web.

I’m delighted to see the Web play such a large role in people’s lives, and am proud that the work we do at Mozilla is directly impacting them.

** picture courtesy of soylentgreen23

Mozilla Service Week – ‘Be the Difference’

Over the past few months we’ve mentioned several times about our plans to launch a technology related volunteer week, and today we are very proudly unveiling mozillaservice.org

During the week of September 14-21 we are asking people all over the world to step up and make a difference in their local communities by using the beauty of the Web.

We want people to come forward and volunteer their time, to seek out opportunities to do good in their communities, and make a real difference to people’s live with technology.  We’re looking for people who want to share, give, engage, create, and collaborate by offering their time and talent to local public benefit organizations, non-profits and people who need their help –

i) you could be a coder, or do testing, localize, or you might know networks etc

ii) you know how to use the Web, and are Web savvy

Here are some ways you could help:

* Help a full time working Mum learn how to buy groceries online when her kids are sleeping
* Connect with your local community centre and offer to build a website, or a calender of events
* Reach out to a local library and offer to write a tutorial on how to use the Web
* Design a twitter background image for an NGO
* Go to your local school and volunteer to help set up wi-fi network
* Refurbish an old laptop and donate it to a senior citizens retirement home
* Call a family meeting and explain to everyone why the Web is important
* …. the lists are really endless.

Everyone should have the opportunity to know how to use the Internet, have easy access to it, and have a good experience when they’re online. As you know, Mozilla as a public benefit organization has a firm mission to make the Web better for everybody. In fact, the Mozilla community already has an incredible track record of doing amazing things. So we know, that however big all small people’s action are — they will make a serious difference.

We’ve so far launched mozillaservice.org in English, however, over the coming weeks with the help of the Mozilla community, Mozilla Service Week will be available in many languages and with additional partners.

So what should you do next?

You can learn more on how to get involved by either volunteering or listing your, or your organization’s needs. You can also already pledge how many hours of support you would like to volunteer.

Giving and creating are so much of open source life, we are very proud to bring those skills, the energy, and the caring nature of people into the lives of as many people as possible.

Please get involved with Mozilla Service Week – Everyone can help build a better internet.

Go to mozillaservice.org

Add Mozilla Service Week Twitter

Tag anything related – mozservice09

Credits:
Mozilla Service Week so far has been made possible by scores of people – Mary Colvig, Austin King, Stephen Donner, Krupa Raj, Jeremy Orem, and Peter Deitz. There are many, many more people Austin has mentioned on his blog as well.

NB: We are building Mozilla Service Week out in the open with the help of many volunteers – there will be many more people to thank over the coming weeks.

Mozilla Service Week – Update

a few weeks ago my colleague Mary gave a short announcement about Mozilla’s plans to organize a Technology Volunteer Week. This wasn’t about volunteering for the Mozilla Project, in terms of coding or localizing  Mozilla projects – but about encouraging folks out there to do technology acts of real life public good.

The Mozilla Service Week – will bring together the Mozilla community, and many others who deeply care about technology to make a real difference in their community with the help of the Web.  This could be something as small as helping your grandma get online, (which is actually, I’m sure a very big deal for you, your grandma and your family!), to organizing a group effort to collect used hardware for your local community centre.

Every action will help, and make a difference to someone’s world.

Since we first told you about Mozilla Service Week, we’ve made great progress. 17 different Mozilla communities around the world have come forward to help us build Mozilla Service Week in their local language over the coming weeks (please let me know if you would also like to help). And, we nearly have the English site ready to go.  Just a few more tweaks, and then we’ll be ready to share this with you. The week of service itself will now take place in September, but there’s plenty to do together before then to make sure this is a brilliant volunteering week.

We’ll soon have more news for you very soon… please stay tuned!