Candidates for Board Election

Ric van Westhreenen

About me: From 2005 I am part of the TYPO3 Community. From 2013 on, I am your vice-president of the TYPO3 Association Board. That gives me an enormous amount of history, knowledge, and experience. 

As a former agency owner and currently working as a contractor at large organizations, I have an independent role within the board. I have no dependency on my agency. That way, I can look at all the challenges and changes from a perspective that benefits all members most. I'm value-driven and looking at the long term: where will we be with TYPO3 in three years. How does the market evolve in the DACH-region and worldwide?

My motivation: Within the Board, I'm responsible for the official events organized by independent groups of enthusiastic people from the Community, and I'm responsible for the professional use of our trademark. 

Since 2013 I made sure that the TYPO3 Association got almost all TYPO3 top-level domains back so that all our members can profit from our visibility. Last year I 'fought' some legal battles to acquire trademarks in India and Ukraine. Also, I opposed the registration and use of our trademark by other companies with the help of our trademark lawyers. Currently, we have secured our trademark in the most critical markets for TYPO3.

We are standing at some exciting changes: 

  • how do we go on with our events, 
  • in what way can we involve more people from the worldwide Community, 
  • how do we get more diversity within our committees and boards, and 
  • in what way can we become more attractive to young people. 

A strong brand is one thing, being attractive and an open community through activities like our events is another. 

For this, I will be running for vice-president again. If you feel this is important, too, vote for me. 

If you have any questions, please use the commenting section below.