About

Read more about where EddieHub started and the core values of the community.

Our Background

EddieHub was founded by Eddie Jaoude, GitHub Star, GitHub Star of the Year 2020 and winner of the GitHub Community Growth Award 2021. As a passionate advocate of Open Source who has always believed in giving back to the tech community, Eddie’s particular focus is creating and supporting opportunities for those wanting to start a career in tech.

Recognising that starting in Open Source can be daunting, Eddie was keen to build a community which focused on Open Source for those with varying tech abilities and at different stages of their tech journey.

The main objective was for members to share their experiences by adopting both a mentor and mentee role on the premise that everyone has something to teach but also something to learn. “Collaboration First, Code Second” quickly became what the community members live by.

Our Aims

EddieHub’s overall aim is to support members in: accelerating their learnings so that they can have the career they want.

This can be broken down into two components:

1. Improving your technical expertise through Open Source
   Through tutorials explaining key concepts of Open Source ranging from; how to get started on Github, to Documentation, Automated Testing and Continuous Delivery (CI and CD), guest interviews with experts in the field to live streams where your projects can be reviewed and you can receive feedback and encouragement.

   Technical knowledge is also built upon in the Discord channels and GitHub Discussions where members can ask questions and share their projects, whilst getting the guidance and support from Eddie, our expert moderators as well as all members of the community.


2. Building upon your communication skills

   For EddieHub, learning how to collaborate is key and we believe that a vital part of knowing how to collaborate with others is through effective communication skills.

   Often there are limited opportunities to expand upon these skills. You may work within a small team and liaise with the same colleagues on a daily basis, work on your own or, as a result of geographic location, there may not be opportunities (such as clubs or meet-up groups) to develop your communication style and confidence.

   By creating a community with members from all around the world and with different technical levels, EddieHub has generated an opportunity for members to interact with a large diversity of people. This constant interaction between members means that the way they receive feedback has an impact on how they communicate feedback to others.

   Recognising that at the outset these communication skills were primarily through the Discord written messages and GitHub Issues and Pull Requests, EddieHub has launched initiatives for regular Public Speaking events, tutorials and “Ask me Anything” sessions to further support its members.

   We are pleased that members have reported that this approach has been invaluable to them. Had they not made their projects Open Source, they would not have been able to progress these in the same way as a private project. In addition, whilst feedback was either not sought or viewed as a negative critique, it is now both actively encouraged and more confidently given.

Our Core Values

Behind these aims are EddieHub’s core values:

1. An inclusive and welcoming environment

   As with many other communities, EddieHub has a Code of Conduct and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion policy. In addition we have excellent moderators who keep a close eye to ensure that members feel EddieHub is a safe space where they can learn, network and share their experiences.

   We had observed that many other communities had a very “male orientated” language, as well as making assumptions that everyone went by the “he/him” gender pronoun. We wanted EddieHub to be different and use gender neutral language to ensure that we did not alienate any members whilst making a clear stance against the “bro culture” which often dominates the tech space.

   Through a community discussion we achieved this through our Discord bot named “EddieBot”, which picks up and suggests alternatives to gender favouring, polarising, race related, religion inconsiderate or other unequal phrasing. In addition, Eddiebot was built by the community members and we feel this is an accurate reflection to members’ commitment to these core values.

   
2. The wellbeing of our community members.

   Moderators and members advocate for taking time for self care and avoiding burning out. We have a Discord channel dedicated to our members sharing what they do in their down time, which in turn reminds others to take a break. We want to lead by example in the tech space and stop glamourising overworking and the “hustle” culture, through sharing tips and tutorials on the EddieHub Blog as to how you can ensure you are looking after yourself.

3. Achieve your goals whilst having fun!

   Whilst no EddieHub member is the same, one thing we all have in common - Open Source is our hobby, our passion - not just a job.

   At EddieHub we will always encourage members to make their next Open Source contribution and we are their biggest cheerleaders. Whether we might nudge members directly to check on how their project is going, to hackathons and challenges as well as asking them to come out of their comfort zone to moderate a call or speak in public for the first time.