Micky Metts: Cooperative Development - Thinking Outside the Boss!
Drupal Nights
Davenport Conference Room
25 1st Street
Cambridge, MA 02141
Bringing democracy and social equality to your projects through cooperation. Joining, forming, and running worker-owned businesses in web development.
Worker-owned cooperatives are businesses owned and controlled by the people who work in them. They are a time-tested way to create quality jobs, and are gaining momentum as a strategy to build and anchor wealth in communities.
Justice is a big part of the worker cooperative movement. Fairness and openness are values that must be in place for cooperative efforts to survive and flourish.
Agaric is a worker-owned cooperative with members from around the globe, that work collectively on projects. We share the work and share the profits. We are active members of the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) and having attended the Worker National Cooperative Conference in Chicago and the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy in Worcester, Ma in July, 2015.
We would like to present some ideas and processes that are working for us and for others, and to discuss the viable options for cooperatives and collectives within technology. We live and work to connect ideas, resources, and people. Our collective goal (which extends beyond our business) is the most power possible for all people over their own lives. Because we are part of the Free Software movement, we build on tools and frameworks like Drupal, created and tested by thousands of people.
Agaric hosts local monthly meetups in Boston to discuss cooperative business structures and processes.
"Own the Change" is a short film for those considering worker-owned cooperatives. The film was made by GRITtv & TESA, the Toolbox for Education and Social Action.
Discussion:
We will discuss how Agaric is structured and how some other successful local and worldwide cooperatives work.
- What defines a cooperative?
- What is a cooperative network?
- How do you form a cooperative?
- How do you onboard new members?
- Why is Drupal important to the cooperative movement?
Drupal Hacker - Activist - Industry Organizer - I am a pioneer and early adopter of technologies.
I am a member of Agaric, a worker owned cooperative of developers. I enjoy doing what I love to do. I am also a member of LibreBoston, (a sub-group of BLU, the Boston Linux Users Group). I speak at events about free software for a free society.
My past experience includes the creation and development of diverse online communities. I am an Agile Project Manager with experience working with large and small teams of programmers to build custom applications for large and small companies using FREE software (fsf.org) and platforms for community use. My entrepreneurship has included the invention of Cyber Weddings and Friend Finder in 1996. My interests include: Drupal, PHP, Community, FREE SOFTWARE, GNU/Linux, VOIP, VoIPdrupal.
My presentations at Drupal events in the USA have been on topics including VoIP and Cooperatives and Collectives.
- GladCamp - LA, 2014
- DrupalCampCT - Yale, 2014
- D4D Boston - MIT, 2014
- NERD Summit - UMASS Amherst, 2014
- NEWDcamp - RI, 2014
- Software Freedom Day - Cambridge, 2014
- NYCcamp - NYC, 2015
My current focus is on DataStrategies, Security, Performance and VoipDrupal.
