[OME2026] OMERO tooling and the OME community

Abstract: Open-source communities can only thrive by converting users into contributors into maintainers, and OME is no different. In this talk, I present my own journey through those stages and how the OME has been supportive through it, as a blueprint and case study. Beyond the specific software I was a part of building, I will discuss the broader experience of joining an open-source community, the challenges that come with maintaining any piece of software, and the relationship between building tools and shaping the community around them. This talk aims to inspire others to take the leap from passive user to active contributor, showing how individual contributions can have an impact on scientific software infrastructure much beyond what one initially thinks.