In this talk, Gale describes a little bit about what open source software is and how she used her volunteer experience as an Apache Taverna committer to become a technical writer at Facebook. She describes the tangible and intangible skills she gained, as well as how she got noticed when the primary communication channel was a mailing list, and no one knew who she was.

Visiting Dojo Expert

Gale Naylor, Facebook, was an aerospace engineer for 15 years, then taught herself Visual Basic and became a programmer/analyst. She started at Facebook in October 2016 as a contract Technical Writer and converted to a full-time employee position in March of 2017. She also has a masters degree in Education and likes to design outdoor living spaces. She's active in her local STC chapter and is currently Chapter President.

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Recorded: November 2017

View the Slides

A side-note from Liz

If you're a tech writer looking at joining an OS project, Amruta Ranade put together a list of projects and added some advice. Also, there's a great post on Redit that lists places to start if you know nothing about open source projects.

Updated 2021: Erin Brock Carlson was in Room 42 to discuss a new place she discovered where techcomm folks can volunteer and contribute to meaningful work in their communities. Be sure to watch or listen to the podcast recording,

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