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Get Started With Open Savannah |
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No matter what your background is, we would love to put it to use! Open Savannah isn't just about building software; we're making our community work better, and that means we need help from everyone:
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Subject-Matter Experts and Passionate People
The people building technology solutions usually are not experts in the field. Whether your professional experience matches up with our projects, or whether you just have an interest that you're willing to pursue further than most, if you are willing to dig in deep and provide context and guidance to our developers then we need your help. -
Project Managers and Problem Solvers
Any project that is going to have an impact needs someone to set the course and clear the hurdles. If you have a gift for seeing the big picture and tackling problems before they reach you, then you have a place with Open Savannah. -
Designers and User Experience
If you have an aesthetic eye and an understanding of why people make the decisions they do, then you know how important good design is to a project. The goal of Open Savannah is to make the systems that surround us work better for all of us. If you can take a good thing and make it better, then we need your help. -
Advocates and Evangilists
Sadly, just because we build it doesn't mean anyone will come. For our effort to have an impact, our projects need to be visible to both the people who will benefit from them, and the people who are in a position to recommend them. We need people to help our stuff be used, adopted, and maybe even redistributed to other brigades across the country. -
Governments and Non-Profits
We need to know what our community needs and we need stewards to share ownership of the projects. If you work with government or an organization that wants to make the Savannah area better for everyone, then we need your help. -
Coders and Technologists
You are where the rubber hits the road on most of our projects. Come work with us and learn some new tools and try out some new skills. It's going to be a lot of fun because you're not going at this alone - you'll have the benefit of all the skills seen above. Let's build things the world really needs - we need your help!
We've got a growing list of projects to look through on our projects page. Each page describes the project, it's state of completion and any current needs. If you're a coder, the easiest entry point will be to introduce yourself to members of a project you're interested in by submitting a pull request for an outstanding issue. If you're not sure how to jump in on a project, email Gary (he's our project delivery lead) and he'll get you rolling.
Our projects meet on their own schedules, but an easy way to get involved is to come to one of our biweekly Community Action Nights. They kick off with some social time to mingle, chat, and browse proposed projects that haven't gotten off the ground yet. Then we make a cup of coffee (or seltzer, or just a handful of cheese and crackers) and hear about ongoing projects or needs the community has. Some topics come from Open Savannah members, and others come from outside the brigade.
We keep the conversation going between meetups on Slack. Generally, each project and proposal has its own slack channel so it's easy to see what people are up to and if it's something you want to join. There is also a #project-chatter channel where general discussion takes place. If you haven't used Slack before, it's easy – just request an invitation here and you'll receive an email with more directions.
You can always contact our brigade captains directly. If you have other kinds of questions, Carl V. Lewis and Aaron Pompei can probably help you out.