Hi there,

As much as I enjoy talking about our Mission and the values that drive our work, sometimes I take it for granted that people understand what we actually do everyday to Make Things That Matter. We can’t talk our way into making a difference. Our actions are how we deliver on our promises. Fortunately, we have assembled a talented and passionate team to get the job done.

Our developers have more than 100 years of combined Drupal experience! Beyond that, we have experts in project management, design, and strategic planning who are “all in” on supporting our values and helping clients achieve their goals.

That’s why this month, I wanted to highlight a few ways our team members bring our mission to life.

Be Open is a Two-Way Commitment

One way we Make Things That Matter is by internalizing and owning our values. This means we each need to decide how the values apply to our work and how we find meaning in them.

Last month our “Living Our Values” series continued with a closer look at Be Open. I kicked off the discussion by clarifying that Be Open goes well beyond a commitment to Open Source. We live this value by embracing new ideas, questions and solutions.

Our Director of Growth, Megan Glover, expanded on this thought, explaining how transparency guides our work internally and the way we serve clients.

The important thing to remember about Be Open is that it has to be a two-way street. If you are simply open to receiving ideas and information you’re not doing your part. You need to contribute, build on ideas, and freely give back to the process if you want to get the most out of the experience.

Bringing Expertise to the Table

As a technology studio, one way TEN7 can give back is through Open Source. That means we don’t just use Open Source software, we help make it better.

We’re proud to support our developers by paying them for time they spend contributing to the Drupal community. You can see an example of this in a recent three-part series by Senior Computer Scientist Derek Wright, explaining how he helped add bundle subclasses to Drupal Core 9.3.0.

Our technical contributions aren’t limited to Drupal. Our DevOps team, led by Tess Flynn, has done groundbreaking work creating, refining and sharing Flightdeck, a tool for website hosting and local development. In keeping with our effort to Be Open, Tess freely shares her expertise to help people get the most out of this tool.

A Vehicle for Growth and Impact

The only thing better than doing good work is doing more good work, which is why TEN7 has been so focused on sustainable growth. Part of that has included adding skill sets to our team, such as our Director of User Experience, Janna Netland Lover. In a blog post last month, Janna outlined how her eye for design will benefit clients and help them better achieve their goals.

We're also always looking for new tools and partners to help us better serve our clients. That’s why we’re expanding our work with Pantheon, to offer robust infrastructure for the websites we build, improving performance and reliability. We’ll tell you more about this relationship in the coming months!

Expertise and Empathy

Our commitment to clients and to the community requires technical skills AND a desire to use those skills to help people. I’m lucky to have a team that can deliver the head and the heart to get us where we want to go.

I’m excited about the path we’re on and I can’t wait to see where it will take us next!

Until next time,
Ivan