shadowcat_mdk

A couple of recent events, and a long running conversation, have set me to thinking about all the companies who contribute to the world of Perl. When I say contribute I mean any, or multiple of the following:

1. Use Perl;
2. Have Perl developers;
3. Sponsor Perl events;
4. Send delegates to conferences;
5. Buy Perl services from consultants;
6. Sponsor development;
7. Release Code;
8. Sponsor a module creation;
9. Manage an event;
10. Host an event;
11. Encourage employees to be community members;
12. Allow employees time to pursue community participation;
13. etc.[1]

When it comes to us talking about people who contribute to the world of Perl it can be real easy to just mention those most visible[2] as being 'paid up' or 'most contributory' participants. This is not done to disregard the others who do participate and promote but out of a lack of understanding.

So I want to change that.

I would like to promote, equally, any organisation that does something for Perl. I am not going to go out and solicit the information, I could happily name a bunch of people[3] and still sound insulting as I missed people out. So I want you to send me some details and i will promote it around the various channels I have access to. In the Perl world that's a number of places.

Hopefully if we create a little noise we can make it outside of our community, but even if we don't we can at least point people at the when they ask who using something or doing something for the Perl community.

So what do I need from you?
Well this is easier than you think, I need some details and you have to supply some or all of what I ask, the more I have, the more I can edit into different formats. I need the vast majority in plain text so i can use it across different mediums.

If you work for a corporate organisation and don't know if you can get permission, don't stress, pass it to HR/Media with the words 'hey marketing monkey, free promotion, go go...'[4]

What I need?

• Name of Organisation;


• How you are connected with Perl;

• Web Address;


• Social media links;


• Logo;


• Pictures (of related activities);


• Email or contact details;


• Location (address if wanted);


• More details on employees, contributions;


• Any advocacy about a Perl thing (event, company, individual, code);


• Anything you feel is relevant including testimonials.

Images can be any size and almost any format, make sure you own the copyright and can give me permission to use them elsewhere. I will not take any rights for the images themselves and will use them by the guidelines that you can supply.

Please ensure that text has as minimal formatting as possible. I will be setting it in a variety of places, some using fixed stylesheets, some using markdown so the smaller effort I have to get it into acceptable formats, the better. I would prefer it to be .txt, .md or other plain text format if possible.

From this I will tweet, facebook, Google+, blog (more than one location) create lists on community sites and if I feel that it would help get you on the front page of some community places. If we do this well enough I will also place them into a public Git repo and let people access them so that we can have a resource for others to show off.

If your Managerial Overlords need more you might want to tell them that this is free advertising and promotion, it will at least give them a higher profile. You can also tell them that they can supply usage guidelines to accompany any submission.

I look forward to you all making the effort.[5] If you have trouble commenting on this post just email me and we can discuss this further - use m.keating@shadowcat.co.uk.

Notes
[1] I am fairly sure we could keep adding to this list but this is as far as I got.

[2] Or loud ;)

[3] At random I could mention a dozen or more easily - Grant Street Group, cPANEL, Infinity Interactive, foo Magazin, CV Library, Blue Host, Perceptyx, BBC, NetBanx, Nestoria, Eligo, Perl Careers, Linode, Science Photo Library, netric, Smoothwall, Opus VL etc. - see, easy ;)

[4] Or words to that effect that are maybe not so insulting!

[5] If you all don't do anything it sure as heck gives me less work ;)