February 10 is the deadline to apply to be a permanent member or board member of the Drupal Association.

Compared to last year, there are relatively few applications and even fewer for board positions. Bringing in energetic and visionary new members is an important part of the Association continuing to build strength and capacity.

If you're considering applying, now's the time!

Here are some pointers on why you might apply, how to do so, and what to expect.

Why apply?

The Drupal Association works to support and strengthen the Drupal project, and permanent members are the mainstay of the Association. The board of directors is drawn from the permanent members.

If you have a vision and energy for working to support Drupal, this might be your calling.

The internal regulations, include the message that "Permanent Members shall be judged on the contributions they make to the Drupal project and on their role within the Drupal community."

But this year there's discussion within the membership about the need to relax a bit about the need for a proven record and profile in the Drupal community. It turns out that a bunch of coders are not always the best at covering off all the areas of work the Association is taking on. While prior Drupal experience is certainly a significant asset, there's also an interest this year in opening up more and drawing in people with different profiles, skill sets, aptitudes, and perspectives.

Gaps and needs

All board positions except the Secretary are up for election. People aren't elected directly into positions. Rather, applicants are elected as permanent members, the permanent members vote on the applicants for the board of directors, and finally the board then votes individuals into specific board positions. There is no limit on the number of board positions, so if you identify a new need that should be covered by a new board position this year you can note this and apply. By talking with some permanent members first you can make sure you're on target with current needs.

Many types of skills and work are needed to help the Association continue to meet its mandate. There's a range of ideas among the current permanent members about what's most needed. In most areas, rather than a single board member, we could several active members with complimentary skills. Areas that individual members see as priorities include:

• Event coordination. Putting on Drupalcons and smaller events is a major focus of the Association and an area for which there's always a need for more expertise and energy.
• Supporting code development. Organizing code and design sprint and generally facilitating developers to collaborate and pool their efforts is a significant need requiring creative thought and energy.
• Organizational development. The Drupal Association is a young organization with relatively few members who have a lot of prior organizational development experience. Skills and tasks needed in this area might include improving communications and decision making; maintaining and revising the statutes; putting in place organizational records; training and orienting new members; preparing for meetings.
• Project management. The Association manages various large projects such as the drupal.org upgrade and has a need for expertise in project management.
• Communications. The Drupal project has an increasing need for expertise in communications, to keep the Drupal community engaged and informed about numerous activities, developments, and events.
• Sector liaisons. Major users of Drupal include non-profits, media and publishing organizations, and education institutions but there is relatively little expertise or focus in the Association on understanding these user groups' Drupal vision and needs and helping achieve them.
• Drupal.org improvements. The ongoing redesign is a major Association priority and one that can use further focus and attention in the coming year.
• Marketing, see this post by Kieran Lal.

Where to find out more

• Read these posts by permanent members Addison Berry, Dries Buytaert, and Angela Byron.
• Hang out in IRC in #drupal-candidates in freenode on February 9 and February 10. We'll try to have permanent members and board members there to answer your questions, help you with applications, and hook you up with potential sponsors for your application. If you're new to IRC, see these pointers on drupal.org
• Browse through the staff listing, find one or more people who look to share your areas of interest, and submit the contact form with a note that you'd like to get in touch with them.
• The applications site.