Some weeks ago, Thomas Löffler sent a tweet with the hash tag #t3kudos, that got quite some response. Here is an interview with Thomas about his motivation and how you can also contribute.

Marcus Hello Thomas, today we will “talk” about your initiative “#t3kudos” and what’s all about. But first, can you introduce yourself? Who are you? What’s your role in the TYPO3 world?

Thomas Hey Marcus, my name is Thomas Löffler a.k.a. Spooner Web. I’m more or less active in the TYPO3 community with organizing events (e.g. TYPO3camp Stuttgart) and project lead in the typo3.org team.

Marcus Some weeks ago, you started with a tweet using the hash tag “t3kudos”. What does it mean? The “t3” part is related to TYPO3, but what does “kudo” mean?

Thomas The hash tag “#t3kudos” was an impulsive idea when writing my tweet to categorize the hopefully subsequent tweets. “Kudos” means “fame” or “glory” and is often used to thank people for their work.

Marcus What is your intention with this initiative?

Thomas Christmas is coming and this is the time you spend money for charity. I wanted to spend money for the people working voluntarily and in their free time to create and support extensions. In my tweet I suggest the people to choose 3 extension they like and use most. Then they should spend money and give kudos.

Marcus How can I give kudos? The focus is on financial contributions, isn’t it? What possibilities are there?

Thomas Yes, the focus is on financial contributions via PayPal, Patreon or Amazon wish list.

Marcus Apropos the wishlists: I got one item from my wishlist until now. It was a book about bbq and black pots. The cool thing is, that I always remember the donator, when I look up a recipe. Thanks Patrick Gaumond!
Not everybody is able or does want to contribute something financially. Are there other means for “t3kudos”?

Thomas There are many ways to give kudos. Of course, the financial way is the easiest way for yourself and the benefited. You can spread word, help with reviews and bug fixing or just by saying “Thank you”.

Marcus Some time ago, I used a software, which was not freeware, but “postcard ware”. Each user should send a postcard to the publisher, where (s)he used the software or from one of the holidays. This is also a quite creative way to say to give kudos.
What could be a trigger to send #t3kudos?

Thomas You can choose your trigger yourself. What is important for you? On base of whose work do you earn money? What is your main source of information? Who gave you support via Slack or E-Mail? Who is spending much effort for building the community? Who is doing a Team Sprint and is open for sponsoring? You like a blog, a post, a Core feature or something else? It’s on you.

Marcus If someone likes the idea of #t3kudos, how can (s)he help to transport the idea? On which social media channel, did you already see the hash tag? Where would you like to see them propagated (more)?

Thomas If you give t3kudos or see someone giving it, spread the word. The more people are joining the better. It’s part of a good community to say “Thank you” and it should be more often. My main channel is Twitter, but you can do it as well on other channels.

Marcus One last personal question: This was not the first time, I see you organizing something like that. Last year, it was the very successfull #VfBSaisonspende. There people “bet” on a self set condition and, in case of success, had to donate the self proposed amount of money to a non profit organization. So my question: Is there a certain (maybe very personal) reason, that motivates you, to organize such things?

Thomas My motivation with #VfBSaisonspende was and is to give money to people or organizations that needs it. In connection with a gamification that everybody can set its conditions and the amount, the participants have a quiet conscience and fun at the same time.

Marcus Thank you, Thomas for your time and the answers to my questions. I wish all contributors and receivers much fun with the outcome of #t3kudos.

Credits

Since about over a year it is already possible to support me. Many other TYPO3 community members support me already over several months. I want to thank everyone, who does it already. If you appreciate my blog and want to support me, you can also say “Thank You!”. Find out the possiblities here:

I found the blog post image on pixabay . It was published by avi_acl under the CC0 public domain license. It was modified by myself using pablo on buffer.