In Retrospect: The Impact of Hacktoberfest with Interledger

Hello, everyone! 👋

I'm Santosh, an Open Source Ambassador at the Interledger Foundation. With over 8 years of experience as a JavaScript Engineer, I'm currently working at Marvin, a user research platform. At Marvin, I build apps that help users stay more focused on the user experience, making user-centric decisions. I've been an open-source contributor and advocate for the open web for over a decade. Previously, I was a volunteer at Mozilla, serving as a Mozilla Rep and a Tech Speaker for over 10 years. My contributions to Mozilla even landed my name in the about:credits of every shipped Firefox browser.

Embracing the Interledger Vision 🌐

In 2022, Hacktoberfest brought me closer to Interledger. As Alex was onboarding Interledger projects to Hacktoberfest, I was fortunate enough to discover and participate in Hacktoberfest with Interledger. My passion for open web standards found a perfect home with Interledger, thanks to their commitment to advocating for open payments and web monetization standards. This involvement led to my invitation to the Interledger Summit 2022, where I delved deeper into ILP's vision and mission.

This year, I took on the role of Ambassador at the Interledger Foundation, and my first goal was to execute Hacktoberfest with Interledger 2023 to Introduce the Interledger project and organization as a pathway that many Open-source contributors can get involved with. A special thanks to @ayeshaware and @lwlkarama for their quick onboarding into the Ambassadorship program and their invaluable guidance and support throughout the past two months. Your mentorship has been an immense help, and I'm grateful for it.

Hacktoberfest: A Month of Open Source Magic ✨

Hacktoberfest is a month-long celebration of open source that encourages people to contribute throughout October. Each year, thousands of contributors participate in this festival to enhance their skills, get mentorship, and contribute to the projects they love.

This Hacktoberfest, we witnessed a surge of contributions, new stars on our repositories, and support from both seasoned open-source contributors and enthusiastic newcomers. We also partnered with seven open-source and tech communities across Angola, Tanzania, and India, introducing open payments, the Interledger Protocol, and Web monetization to over 1,300 people.

Key Highlights of the Campaign 🌟

GitHub Contributions 🐱

We invited contributors to work on several Interledger projects, including Rafiki, Testnet, and Web Monetization. We received around 50 pull requests across our Interledger repositories. You can track the contributions via these links:

• Testnet Pull Requests

• Rafiki Pull Requests

• Helm Charts Pull Requests

None of this would have been possible without the constant efforts from the Tech team. Alex, @sabineschaller, Timea, Max, @huijing, Ionut, Melissa, Tseli, and many others have been with us from the very start, actively creating and assigning issues, reviewing code, and providing constant feedback and support to help contributors successfully submit their code and engage with Interledger. Thank you for being the driving force.

Stars on the Repositories 🌟

We saw a significant increase in stars, with about 250+ stars across our repositories on GitHub. These stars reflect the growing interest in our work, emphasizing the value of our projects and the dedication of our community.

Global Collaborations: Our Partnerships 🌍

We partnered with several open-source and tech communities worldwide, fostering innovation, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing. Our collaborations reached across borders and connected with like-minded organizations. Our partners include:

• Angola Open Source Community in Angola
• GDSC Mbeya in Mbeya, Tanzania
• Open Source Talks in Ahmedabad, India
• Codewave Hub in Hyderabad, India
• GDSC NFSU in Gandhinagar, India
• GDSC - ABES in Ghaziabad, India
• Hack This Fall in Vadodara, India

Over 1,300 individuals participated in our Hacktoberfest events across Angola, Tanzania, and India, spreading Interledger's message to diverse communities.

Angola Open-source Community on LinkedIn: Hacktoberfest with Interledger: Join the Open Payments Movement

Você sabe JavaScript e TypeScript? Interledger Foundation convida você para uma emocionante celebração do Hacktoberfest! A Interledger é uma plataforma…

linkedin.com

Spreading Interledger's Message 📢

I had the privilege of delivering a talk about 'Coding for Change: Hacktoberfest with Interledger' to around 550 individuals in Tanzania and India. This talk introduced Interledger, Open Payments, Web Monetization, and how people can contribute and become part of the Interledger community.

Social Media Buzz 📱

People shared updates, pictures, and write-ups about the event, capturing the spirit of Hacktoberfest and helping us connect with a broader audience.

A huge thank you to Chiara and Anna for amplifying the community's voice and actively engaging with their posts across multiple channels. Special thanks to Madalina for providing us with all the design assets needed for engagement.

Communications 🗨️

Over 40 people joined us on community.interledger.org, and 50+ joined our Slack community, fostering communication and collaboration.

Kickstarting the Campaign 🚀

Vineel and I brainstormed about community engagement and successfully planned and executed the campaign in approximately three weeks. This involved creating timelines, establishing a rewards program, defining various activities, fostering cross-functional engagement, reaching out to open-source and tech communities, and devising strategies to maximize the campaign's impact.

Our focus during this process was on several key aspects:

1. How Open Source Communities and Contributors Can Discover and Learn About Interledger.

2. How We Can Effectively Onboard and Support New Contributors: This includes the addition of comprehensive contribution guides and informative posts to facilitate their journey.

3. Identifying Resources and Knowledge That We Can Provide: We aim to equip contributors with the necessary tools and knowledge to contribute effectively.

Through careful planning and consideration, we worked to ensure the success of this campaign. A big thank you to Hui Jing for helping us design and launch the website and to Madalina for providing us with all the design assets needed for building the website.

Rewards for contributors

As previously mentioned during the campaign launch, contributing with 1 or more accepted PRs will earn you a T-shirt 🎽, and those who make 4 or more accepted pull requests will receive an exclusive, limited-edition swag! Instructions for redeeming your swag will be posted shortly. Stay tuned by following the #hacktoberfest channel on our Community Slack for the latest updates. 🚀👕🛍

Looking Ahead 🔍

As we close the chapter on this year's Hacktoberfest campaign, it's essential to acknowledge the remarkable efforts and dedication of our community. You've helped us come closer to our goals, and for that, we're immensely grateful.

The journey doesn't end here. We look forward to building on this momentum and continuing to work together to make Interledger and open source even better. Keep your eyes on our repositories, stay connected on our communication channels, and be ready for more exciting initiatives shortly. Vineel and I, along with Alex, are working on coordinating with the programs team and tech team to amplify our impact.

Once again, thank you for being a part of the "Hacktoberfest with Interledger" campaign. Your contributions have left a lasting mark on our community, and together, we'll keep pushing the boundaries of open-source innovation.

A heartfelt thank you to @laka, @chrislarry, and @vineel. This wouldn't have been possible without your constant support, mentorship, and ideas. I’m looking forward to achieving even greater things together. 🌟✨🚀