The Heart of EllisLab: Why we do what we do

This is the keynote I gave that the ExpressionEngine CodeIgniter conference in Brooklyn NY, 2011.

1. The Heart of EllisLab Why we do what we do Thursday, October 27, 11
2. Popularity Contest • Currently #10 for Top million • Currently #6 for Top 100,000 • Currently #5 for Top 10,000 • #1 Full Commercial Platform in all categories Thursday, October 27, 11
3. Popularity is a result, not a goal. Thursday, October 27, 11
4. Bet your {exp} EE is the best platform Thursday, October 27, 11
5. EllisLab’s Philosophy Thursday, October 27, 11
6. Only the human element is sacred. Thursday, October 27, 11
7. Web professionals make the world better Thursday, October 27, 11
8. EllisLab invests in web professionals to change the world Thursday, October 27, 11
9. Are we helping you succeed? Thursday, October 27, 11
10. Retool EllisLab to be a User Experience, Customer Experience Company Thursday, October 27, 11
11. EllisLab as UX/CX Company • Full commitment to making the change from all staff. • Reviewed everything from top to bottom, with the only the human element as sacred. • Invested in formal training for all staff • Retooled our development practices Thursday, October 27, 11
12. Meet James • More than just the “CP Guy” • Responsible for training and implementing UX/CX company wide Thursday, October 27, 11
13. Empowering our Team • Implemented Scrum • Executive team “let go” • Our staff stepped up big time - the old ways were holding them back. Thursday, October 27, 11
14. 10 Months... • Reliable 12-14 shipping schedule • Significantly improved communication, including company newsletter • Significantly improved feedback loop • More code shipped than all of last year, including three major updates to EE Thursday, October 27, 11
15. 10 months continued! • Invested heavily in public facing tools like GitHub & Beanstalk • Improved “out of the box support” • Private Support Beta • Enterprise Services Beta Thursday, October 27, 11
16. 10 months part 3 • Tangible improvements to EE’s UI • Focus on features people need • Developer Preview Program • Major improvements to CodeIgniter & working with the CI Community Thursday, October 27, 11
17. CodeIgniter licensed with Open Source License v3 Thursday, October 27, 11
18. OSL 3 Benefits • Certified by the Open Source Initiative • Compatible with most BSD-style licenses • Legal friendly • Protects your IP while encouraging wide adoption Thursday, October 27, 11
19. ExpressionEngine’s Philosophy Thursday, October 27, 11
20. The less we assume, the more we enable. Thursday, October 27, 11
21. Best platform for 3rd party development possible Thursday, October 27, 11
22. “Operating System” like approach Thursday, October 27, 11
23. We’re building a platform that enables web professionals to build anything on the web. Thursday, October 27, 11
24. EE 2.4/5 • Editor focused on writing/content creation • Continued File Manager improvements • Gallery Conversion Thursday, October 27, 11
25. EE 2.x Overall • Stability is a feature • Performance is a feature • “Low hanging fruit” features • EE 2.x Continuous incremental improvements to existing UI • Major UI refresh in EE 3 Thursday, October 27, 11
26. Lessons from EE 2. • Internal structure is critical to productivity, especially during dramatic growth • Tried to do too much at once. • Talked about it way too early in development • Can’t outsource design/ux, even under the best of circumstances Thursday, October 27, 11
27. End of Life for EE 1.x • December 5th, 2011 - EE 1.x no longer included with new purchases. • April 23rd, 2012 - EE no longer publicly supported • Download access will remain if you own a license. • EE 1.x supported via Private Support Contracts for businesses and projects that need it Thursday, October 27, 11
28. Current version vs. Future version Transparency • Current version = Very open communication • Future version = Quiet mode • We always want to hear from you Thursday, October 27, 11
29. Design/UX Position Open • Talk with James if you’re interested or know someone who is. Thursday, October 27, 11
30. EE Reactor For Developers by Developers Thursday, October 27, 11
31. Why? Improve EE for the developer community faster than EllisLab can alone. Thursday, October 27, 11
32. How does it work? • Can contribute to EE directly via GitHub • Uses the “lieutenant model” of contribution • Final contributions vetted & tested just like the rest of EE prior to inclusion • Just one version of EE. Thursday, October 27, 11
33. The EE Reactor Team • Brian Litzinger, The Nerdery • Erik Reagan, FocusLab • Greg Ferrell, Solspace • Jack McDade, Build with Structure • Leevi Graham, Newism • Rob Sanchez, Barrett Newton Interactive Thursday, October 27, 11
34. Rest of the year • Focus on services going from private beta to public services • Advertising campaign • Promotional opportunities for the professional community • “Industry Partner Opportunities” Thursday, October 27, 11
35. Recap • We retooled EllisLab to be a UX/CX company to better serve you. • Translate feedback into real improvements, shipped every 12-14 weeks • CodeIgniter now licensed under OSL v3 • Design/UX opening - Apply with James • EE Reactor Team Experiment now Live Thursday, October 27, 11
36. We love you. Thursday, October 27, 11
37. Dr. Who 2005+ Companions, Ranked • Martha • Rory • Amy • Donna • Rose Thursday, October 27, 11