Lately I’ve met several software developers who are good at both coding and maintaining open source software. Sometimes, but not often, these people are also good at publicizing what they create, supporting their developer base, and leading a community.

Here in the Rails community I feel we’ve been lucky enough to have several great coders who are also great leaders. I’m not just talking about the people on the Rails core, I’m talking about people who create educational media such as rails blogs, tutorials, books, classes, screencasts, podcasts. I’m also talking about anyone who has taken the time to release a Rails Plugin or Gem, support new Rails developers (like on mailing lists, forums, or IRC), or run events promoting Rails or Ruby.

Doing this sort of community development (as you may already know), can often be a thankless job. It may feel like the people at the top (or in our case, the core developers) get all the credit. Just like I’ve heard people say “Why bother coding a Rails patch, it won’t get accepted” in regards to code, I’ve also heard “Why bother producing this Rails content, if it won’t be appreciated or recognized” in regards to community development. Thus, I’ve personally done my best to recognize and publicize these people, either by promoting them in the Rails Envy Podcast or through the Ruby Hero Awards, but sometimes I wish I could do more.

I wish I could empower more people to create more media, write more books, create more events, and support new Rails developers and give these people the recognition they deserve. So, how might I do that?

Introducing the Rails Activists

As Rails has grown it’s become increasingly clear that the framework might benefit from having official team designated to work on the Public Relations side of the framework. These people, called the Rails Activists, will be the official point of contact for media, support, and community building. Official Announcement Here

Matt Aimonetti was the first Activist brought onto the team by DHH. I shortly followed, then Ryan Bates, and Mike Gunderloy. I’m quite honored to be on the team amongst these other guys. I’m sure there will be additional members brought onto the team in the next few months, but I think this is a good start.

Our responsibilities are as follows:

1. Help maintain and develop the documentation and RubyonRails.org website

This makes me the most excited, because I know there are people out there who would love to further develop Rails docs as well as the website and make it a better resource. We’d love to hear from you, see below on how you can help.

2. Help with public relations

Do you or your company create something for Rails developers that you want help publicizing? Are you launching a large Rails website, and want some help with publicity? Does it belong on RubyOnRails.org or the official blog? contact us.

I love helping people publicize their work (as you know by now), so email us. Worst case scenario, it ends up on the Rails Envy Podcast. ;-)

3. Empower people to do good work

If you want to help with the documentation, you have an idea for a new resource, or you want to completely redo the wiki, let us know. Come to us with your ideas on how you can support the community on the internet or even in your local neighborhood. Lets figure out how we can help you spread the word.

4. Figurehead

Do you need someone to come to your company or conference to speak on Rails as an official member of the Rails team? Yeah, yeah, it’s just a title, but well… It’ll sound good to your boss.

5. Let the Rails Core team focus on what they do best

Programming! Yes, I’m sure they’re good at other things, but personally I’d rather have the Rails core team coding Rails 3 then organizing the community and doing publicity. ;-)

6. Listen to the Community

I care a great deal about growing Rails in 2009, and pushing it deeper into the enterprise. Each of the Activists has their own initiatives and projects to help do this, but we’re going to need community involvement to attack some of the bigger issues. Two examples of this might include fixing the Wiki, and the creation of some sort of Rails Book.

Interested in Helping Us?

We want to hear your ideas about what the Rails Team should focus on. To voice your ideas and cast your vote, please take a moment to go to the

Rails User Voice

If you’d like to get more involved with our initiatives, then you also might want to join the:

Rails Activism Google Group

I’m really excited to see what our team can accomplish over the next few months. 2009 is going to be great year for Rails, that much is obvious.

Flickr Credits: come my tiny metal children, Why I’m Going to Work for Zooomr, Helping Hand