Magento Association: March 2025 Town Hall – Highlights and Key Takeaways

The Magento Association’s March 2025 Town Hall was an information-packed quarterly update. It was a powerful moment of reconnection, realignment, and renewed purpose for a global community that’s evolved through uncertainty and resilience. With over 100 attendees from around the world and a slate of inspiring speakers, this event outlined a pivotal roadmap for the year ahead and beyond.

What follows is a high-level overview of the session’s key messages and initiatives — designed to act as meeting minutes for members and community stakeholders. A more in-depth editorial feature will follow soon.

President Slava Kravchuk opened with a personal and forward-looking message, reflecting on the journey since Magento Association’s founding in 2018. He reminded us of the fears that followed Adobe’s acquisition, and the unexpected optimism that followed.

“We now have clarity. We're no longer confused about Adobe’s intentions. The brand is strong, and the path ahead for Magento Open Source is defined, and full of opportunity.”

Key milestones were celebrated:

• A working relationship with Adobe that continues to mature.
• A community-led prioritisation process for pull requests.
• A growing Meet Magento event ecosystem — even extending into new territories like the Philippines and Florida.

But this isn’t just about legacy. The clear message was this: 2025 is a pivotal year

1. Financial Health & Funding the Future

Danny Verkade led a transparent walk-through of the Association’s 2024 financials. Despite a modest net loss during the transition to in-house operations, the trajectory is promising.

• Adobe remains a key sponsor, with a generous match-funding model.
• Operational efficiencies are being realised post-SmithBucklin.
• 2025 focus: more partnerships, more membership value, and maximising marketing investment in Magento Open Source.

2. Membership, Sponsorship & Sustainability

Board member Ollie Hunt articulated a clear vision for how members, partners, and sponsors each contribute to the MA ecosystem.

• Community Subscribers: Free, informative access — a gateway to deeper involvement.
• Paid Members: Voting rights, perks, and influence — the lifeblood of governance and direction.
• Sponsors & Partners: Critical financial support and visibility — from event funding to ecosystem enablement.

Ollie emphasised the match-funding power of Adobe’s contributions and announced efforts to streamline involvement, benefits, and visibility across all levels of participation.

3. Events: The Heartbeat of the Community

Whether it’s Meet Magento, local meetups, or new Roundtable sessions, events remain central to MA’s community-building mission. Under Ollie’s guidance and the events committee, MA aims to:

• Expand global reach.
• Create playbooks for meetups and roundtables.
• Launch a Magento Open Source Pavilion at large non-Magento events — a bold move to step outside the Magento bubble and amplify visibility.

4. Marketing, Transparency, and Community Engagement

Laura Folco shared updates on a more engaged marketing engine:

• A revived monthly newsletter and more frequent updates on the website.
• A social media strategy full of energy and clarity.
• A relaunch of the Magento podcast with Brent Peterson at the helm.
• Plans for a Quarterly Board Report to increase transparency.

5. Empowering Developers & Contributors

Laura also outlined a plan for improving the open source contribution process, including:

• Expanding community prioritisation to more repositories.
• Developing a smoother path for larger contributions and features.
• Launching a Community Council to work directly with Adobe to fast-track PRs.

6. Elevating Agency Value

Vatsal Shah introduced a new Member Directory and Showcase Platform — a "Clutch for Magento Open Source", offering:

• Company listings for agencies and integrators.
• The ability to publish case studies and build trust with prospective merchants.
   

7. Magento Champion Programme

Vijay Golani announced a new recognition programme for community contributions — the Magento Champions initiative. Designed to be inclusive, it will:

• Recognise a wide range of contributions — code, content, event organising, speaking, and more.
• Be regionally and topically inclusive (e.g. marketing, security, dev).
• Operate transparently via a scoring system and independent review committee.
   

8. Documentation Reimagined

To improve developer and merchant onboarding, MA is launching two new documentation initiatives:

• DevDocs for technical guidance.
• Merchant Docs for business-facing support.

Both will be community-editable and hosted independently of Adobe’s documentation stack.

9. Governance & Sustainability

Slava returned to reinforce the importance of governance, with updated bylaws, regular elections, and improved board-committee alignment. He also stressed the need to mature as an organisation, with scalable processes and a deep reliance on committee-led delivery.

10. Adobe’s Vision for the Future

Ritesh Somani (Adobe) outlined the product landscape, explaining three core offerings:

• Magento Open Source (community-driven).
   
• Adobe Commerce (on-prem or cloud).
   
• Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service (multi-tenant SaaS).
   

His key message: These are additive options, not replacements. Magento Open Source remains vital. New offerings unlock new opportunities, especially for agencies, extension developers, and system integrators ready to help merchants navigate their journey.

This Town Hall went far beyond updates; it was a rallying cry. A reinvigorated Magento Association is emerging — one focused on growth, governance, and true community ownership.

“MA is not some separate corporation. We’re all volunteers here. This only works if we work together.” — Slava Kravchuk

From events and memberships to marketing and code, the Magento Association is opening its doors wider than ever.

Now is the time to step in.