Here is an interview of Irina Sandu, member of the Romanian Mozilla community. I had the pleasure of meeting her for the first time at the European Mozcamp in Barcelona two weeks ago.

Last week, we got together one afternoon on IRC, in order to discuss her work as a contributor in Mozilla. This interview was a very interesting moment, as I discovered the original story of her implication in Mozilla. Here is what she told me:

Delphine: Hello Irina, how are you ?

Irina: I'm great, starting a new week attending classes and going to work.

D: So first of all, could you please tell us how old you are, and where you come from ?

Irina: I'm 20 and I live in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

D: What do you do as a Mozilla contributor ? Could you explain us a little bit what is your work ?

Irina: I started by translating the mozilla-europe.org website in Romanian. I had to localize the whole website, because there was no Romanian version.

D: Ok ! And since then, has your work evolved ? Do you now work on other things ?

Irina: After that, I continued translating press releases and updating the Romanian text when the website was redesigned for a new release. I am also involved in promoting Firefox and helping organize events, like the Firefox 3 release party. Actually, these days we are preparing Mozilla's participation at an event here, in Bucharest. I am very interested in being involved with marketing for Mozilla, as I am studying in this field and working for an advertising agency. I feel that helping Mozilla with marketing here in Romania can teach me a lot of valuable things I can use later in my career.

D: And how did you get to work with Mozilla ? What I mean is, did you already know Mozilla before starting ? If not, how did you arrive in Mozilla ?

Irina: About 4 years ago, I started using Firefox after reading a blog post which recommended it and I was really excited that I could download the browser in my own language. After finding out I could add extensions to it and personalize it the way I want, I went on the website and was disappointed because the website wasn't localized in Romanian. So I sent an email to Mozilla and they were happy to let me translate it. After 2 weeks, I think, there also was a Romanian version of the Mozilla Europe website. Yeap, that's how it was ! I could add that I was and am fascinated by the Internet and spend lots of time online, so it's very interesting for me to do things in this area.

D: Great ! And are there many girls working with you, in your team ? (the rumor says « yes » ! )

Irina: Well, there is another girl, currently living in Spain, who has been helping us with promoting Firefox and Mozilla. Her name is Alina. And we would be happy to welcome other people to the Romanian community, girls or boys, who can give us a hand and also join the fun.

D: OK ! And what are your principal interests in the project since you have started participating (have they changed with time?) ? What could you say that Mozilla has brought you ?

Irina: When I started it was all about localization and making Mozilla and Firefox more available to the Romanian users. In the meantime I finished high school and now I'm studying marketing, and I have become more interested in this field. Working with Mozilla has definitely improved my language skills, both when localizing but also when meeting Mozillians at international community events. And now I'm learning about PR, organizing events and handling the press. So I can say that volunteering for Mozilla has taught me and it continues to teach me useful things for my career. And did I mention that Mozillians know how to party?

D: Ok, thank you so much for your time Irina ! Is there anything else you would like to add / tell us ?

Irina: Rock on !

D: Perfect ! Thanks again for this interview !