A new year with some ambitious prospects


On Monday June the 7th, we gathered all together to participate in the Ordinary General Assembly of Les-tilleuls.coop, during which we vote and decide on the applications to join the membership. The annual accounts and economics results of the past year are also shown and submitted to all of the worker-associates. The summary of our activity is also one of the main subjects during this crucial event of our cooperative life.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://les-tilleuls.coop/fr/agency/social-project" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://les-tilleuls-wordpress.preprod-tilleuls.ovh/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/436.jpg" alt="ago2021" title="ago2021"/></a></figure>



<h3>Summary of the past year</h3>



With the events related to the COVID-19, it has been a tough year for our co-op which, even before the announcement of the lockdown in March, decided to temporarily close its facilities and apply full teleworking. When the lockdown was announced, we already were equipped with the necessary tools and the methodologies were well established. Thanks to the fact that before that we used to telework part-time, the transition was easy and without any hiccups.



Regarding the offers, no changes were made and the results were quite positive : all of our consulting, development and training activities were done remotely and gave us the chance to work with some new partners located in the United Kingdom and in Germany.



Last Spring, our co-op was in the spotlight for the development of Click’N’Collect, a free and open-source platform based on Sylius to allow merchant to maintain their activity differently during the sanitary crisis. Still concerning technological evolution, we can highlight the release of API Platform v2.6, Mercure v0.10, and Panther v1.0.



Lastly, it’s with pleasure that we kept sharing our knowledge and showed our tool through various national and international events held remotely (finger crossed: we hope for this adaptation to become an old memory).



<h3>Acceptance of new cooperators</h3>



This day of the OGA, we have accepted <meta charset="utf-8"><a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/rhedynen_" target="_blank">Vincent Fuger</a>, <a rel="noopener" href="https://github.com/grimpereau" target="_blank">Jade Bellereau</a>, <a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/c0il" target="_blank">Loïc Vernet</a>, <a rel="noopener" href="https://fr.linkedin.com/in/c%C3%A9cile-ropital-536548104" target="_blank">Cécile Ropital</a> et <a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/nik0phil" target="_blank">Nicolas Philippe</a>, all votes were unanimous. Congratulations to all of them ! The supervisory board was updated and new members were added: Jade Bellereau and Cécile Ropital joined <meta charset="utf-8"><a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/_alanpoulain" target="_blank">Alan Poulain</a>, <a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/s0yuka" target="_blank">Antoine Bluchet</a>, <a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/gheb_dev" target="_blank">Grégoire Hébert</a> et <a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/jockkos" target="_blank">Jacques Lefèbvre</a>, which one of their role is to check on the accounting and practices of the company.



<h3>A new year with some ambitious prospects</h3>



The management of our cooperative, executed by <meta charset="utf-8"><a rel="noopener" href="http://twitter.com/dunglas" target="_blank">Kévin Dunglas</a> since its foundation in 2011, did also evolve. After an experiment that started at the beginning of the year 2021, we are pleased to announce that Les-Tilleuls.coop is now co-managed by <meta charset="utf-8"><a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/marion_age" target="_blank">Marion Agé</a>, who is now in charge of the strategic management of the cooperative with Kévin. Concerning how we rule, nothing has changed, every major decision is made on the day of the General Assembly which happens every month and the two co-ceo have a revocable imperative mandate to apply them. We will get back on that subject in the near future in the form of a dedicated blog post talking about the reason that motivated this paritary-based co-management.



Our cooperative, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is pleased to be aligned in its growth known since its beginnings while renewing its internal management. Congratulations to Marion Agé and all of our encouragement in this new step that is opening for her and our cooperative.



Now, all eyes are focused on the month of September with <a href="https://api-platform.com/con/2021/" data-type="URL" data-id="https://api-platform.com/con/2021/">our first API Platform Con</a>, a day of English and French speaking conferences with renowned speakers talking about all of the API ecosystem. A bit more than half of the speakers have been announced, <a href="https://api-platform.com/con/2021/#pricing" data-type="URL" data-id="https://api-platform.com/con/2021/#pricing">don’t forget to get your ticket</a> before the places run out !

[Ordinary General Assembly 2021] Naming of a co-ceo: Marion Agé, 2020 a good year despite the global crisis

Last month, we made a big announcement about API Platform’s community: Les-Tilleuls.coop is organizing <a href="https://api-platform.com/con/2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the very first conference dedicated to API Platform and its ecosystem</a> and it will take place on September 10th 2021, in Lille (France) but also online.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://api-platform.com/con/2021/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://les-tilleuls-wordpress.preprod-tilleuls.ovh/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/432.png" alt="apicon" title="apicon"/></a></figure>







If you’re a PHP developer, <a href="https://api-platform.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">API Platform</a> should sound familiar: it is a framework based on Symfony that allows you to create hypermedia REST or GraphQL APIs in a few minutes. It is also a whole ecosystem of interoperable components that can be used independently if needed. With the use of the generator component on the client side (in particular with the <a href="https://nextjs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Next.js</a> and <a href="https://fr.nuxtjs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nuxt.js</a> generators), it is possible to create a JAMstack website instantly (React, Vue.js, Vuetify, or Quasar integrations are also available). An admin interface, powered by React with Next.js and based on React Admin is also available. The development environment and deployment mechanism are based on Docker, Kubernetes and Helm. The architecture is based on the <a href="https://caddyserver.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caddy web server</a> along with the <a href="https://mercure.rocks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mercure</a> and <a href="https://vulcain.rocks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vulcain</a> protocols Go implementations.&nbsp;



Also, API Platform counts almost <a href="https://packagist.org/packages/api-platform/core" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7 million downloads on Packagist</a>, <a href="https://api-platform.com/community/contributors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">700 contributors around the world</a>, <a href="https://www.meetup.com/fr-FR/api-platform" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1000 people on the meetup user group</a> and is a recurring topic of conferences.



<h3>A bilingual and hybrid gathering</h3>



You can attend the event in two ways:&nbsp;



<ul><li role="presentation">on site: the event will be held in the heart of Lille.&nbsp;You will be able to freely choose between one of the two stages (the English-speaking track hosted in the auditorium or the French-speaking track in the very next room). Note that <a href="https://api-platform.com/con/2021/#covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we will follow sanitary protocols</a>.&nbsp;</li><li role="presentation">online: the English-speaking track will be broadcasted live.</li></ul>



No call for papers needed for this edition, our team has created a line up that will delight multiple interests: we will talk about APIs, PHP, Symfony, JavaScript, React, Vue.js, Docker, or even Kubernetes&#8230;&nbsp;Some first speakers have already been announced:



<ul><li><a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/lukaszchrusciel" target="_blank">Łukasz Chruściel</a> will show you the main challenges Sylius encountered in implementing API Platform in their project.</li><li><a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/ZahiriJ" target="_blank">Justine Zahiri</a> will show you some of the latest changes in the API Platform Next.js client generator and prove that you don’t need to be an expert to contribute to API Platform.</li><li><a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/samuelroze" target="_blank">Samuel Rozé</a> will talk about asynchronous APIs.</li><li>Other names will be announced on Monday 26th April, be patient!</li></ul>



<h3>Revenues transparency</h3>



API Platform Con is financed by only two sources of revenues: <a rel="noopener" href="https://api-platform.com/con/2021/#pricing" target="_blank">ticketing</a> and <a rel="noopener" href="https://api-platform.com/con/2021/#partners" target="_blank">sales of sponsor packages</a> to tech companies. However, making this day possible has various costs:



<ul><li role="presentation">Conference rooms rentals and audiovisual professionals&rsquo; hiring.</li><li role="presentation">Speakers’ travel accommodation.</li><li role="presentation">Catering: orders of morning, lunch and afternoon coffee breaks and buffets.</li><li role="presentation">Marketing: graphic design, scenery, printing,&nbsp;web advertising&#8230;</li></ul>



If profits are made from this event, they will be donated to the development of the <a href="https://github.com/api-platform/api-platform" target="_blank" rel="noopener">API Platform project</a>. &nbsp;



Not registered yet? Early Bird tickets for the on-site event are available until April 30, so join us to make sure you don&rsquo;t miss out! Your company would like to be one of our partners? Some slots are still available: <a href="mailto:events@les-tilleuls.coop?subject=API%20Platform%20Con%20Sponsorship%20Request">contact our team</a> to get the sponsorship&nbsp;brochure! If you have any questions about the event, <a href="https://api-platform.com/con/2021/faq/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have a look on our FAQ section</a>.

Everything you need to know about API Platform Con

For some time now, we have been implementing a new routine in our SCOP: every two months, the whole team meets up for a whole day dedicated to contributing to the Free tools we use, we develop&#8230; or not!



This new initiative comes in addition to what was already allocated to some of our cooperators to maintain some of the projects that allow our structure (like so many others) to prosper. The problem of the sustainability and maintenance of Free Software &#8211; Although they are the foundation of the information society &#8211; is a complex and publicly useful subject to which few effective answers have yet been found.



By dedicating time to our developers to work on these projects, our cooperative is trying to improve the situation and to contribute in return to the public interest infrastructures created and maintained for free by developers from all over the world. It&rsquo;s also a good opportunity for our teams to learn new skills, to discover new technologies and to face advanced problems.



Despite the calm of August, we have again taken up this challenge: a few days ago, about twenty cooperators gathered to fix security issues, resolve bugs, review patches proposed by the community and add new features on various free projects that we like.



The day started with the constitution of the working groups:&nbsp;



The API Platform working group was busy releasing API Platform 2.4.6 and preparing the imminent release of API Platform 2.5 beta ;



The team working on React Admin focused on finalizing a brand new version of the integration with API Platform (done in collaboration with Marmelab) which will greatly improve its ease of use and customization;



The team working on Symfony focused on fixing bugs affecting the tool.



Discover our contributions:



The team finalized the addition of a major new feature that will arrive in API Platform 2.5: the support of generated API formats (such as Hydra) in the auto-generated OpenAPI documentation, and the possibility to generate JSON Schema corresponding to a resource;



Using this new infrastructure, Jacques Lefebvre added a command to export a JSON Schema from a ressource;



Quentin Barloy solved a bug affecting API Platform when a data provider returns a generator, he also improved the documentation concerning this feature. Moreover he added unit tests covering the brand new JSON Schema generator;



Kévin Van Der Stracten did his first bug fix on API Platform, with the help of Antoine Bluchet;



Grégory Copin adapted the NextJS application generator provided with API Platform to use the new version of the popular JavaScript framework;



Mathieu Dewet, in collaboration with Robin Chalas, fixed the implementation of the refreshUser method of the LdapProvider, and fixed some other issues in Symfony ;



Vincent Chalamon drastically improved the security and usability of the access control mechanism provided with API Platform;



Grégoire Hébert added a new feature to API Platform allowing to choose which OpenAPI versions to activate;



Jean-François Thuillier and Morgan Auchedé finalized the new version of API Platform Admin and started writing documentation.



The outcome of this working day: 13 PRs have been merged, 2 issues are open and other topics are under consideration.&nbsp;



At Les-Tilleuls.coop, we encourage and support our cooperators, even the beginners or the most shy, to contribute to the software they use. The Free Software community is based on knowledge sharing, collaboration and exchange. Every contribution, no matter how small, is beneficial and has a lasting effect on the ecosystem. Some reticence may arise, linked to the fear of not feeling legitimate to contribute, but we must keep in mind that we are lucky to have access to a large community of contributors acting for the continuous improvement and reliability of the software we use. Supporting them like this is the best way to thank them for all the time they have already undertaken in this process.

A day at Les-Tilleuls.coop: collective contribution to Free Software

What do we do at a General Meeting?

Hello everyone! I&rsquo;m <meta charset="utf-8"><a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/Pandora_angora" target="_blank">Caroline</a>, back-end developer freshly arrived at Les-Tilleuls.coop! Today was my first general assembly (GA) and the first of the year 2019. Here is my feedback on this special day.



<h3>What do we do at a General Meeting?</h3>



Les-Tilleuls.coop being a SCOP (go here to learn more), we make decisions together in a democratic way. Each employee can make proposals or give his or her opinion on different areas. Once a month, all the cooperators meet at the office in Lille to make various decisions related to legal news, the budget or recruitment. Each cooperator has one vote representing one vote, it is not a dictatorship here.



The office is busier than usual. We are from a dozen people to about thirty in some minutes. We take a breakfast together, we discuss then we make a Tetris with the armchairs so that everyone can return in the meeting room.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://les-tilleuls-wordpress.preprod-tilleuls.ovh/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/286.jpg" alt="AG" title="AG"/></figure>



Tetris with chairs.



 



The agenda is established a few days before and sent to each cooperator who can contribute directly. If someone has a proposal for a tool, an idea, you shouldn&rsquo;t hesitate to add it and to present it to everyone during the GM. We discuss the different points, give our opinion and then we vote by a show of hands (for, against, abstention).  



Olivier (our CFO) started this first GM of the year with the balance sheet of the turnover of 2018. It was an opportunity to talk about customer relations, the strong and weak points, to get advice on processes to improve.



An important aspect in the life of our cooperative concerns recruitment. We discuss candidates&rsquo; profiles by email or on Slack, we vote on hiring them together at the GM. During a GM, we can also suggest a candidate and then vote to decide if we dig the lead or not, and what offer we can make. We also review current hires and the marketing strategy for future hires (we&rsquo;re hiring, come on! &lt;3 ).



Then, we present the different prospects, the current demands of the client, what his needs are and we plan which cooperator will be available and the most suitable for each mission. We then vote on all the other proposals concerning the life of the scop, such as the budget for an event or the implementation of a new reform.



It is 12:30, we end the GM with the presentation of the different workshops planned for the afternoon. We take the opportunity to work together on internal projects, on Open Source contributions or to train for conferences. 



At the end of the day, a report of the GM is sent to all and we fix a date for the next monthly GM. We celebrate the end of the GM with a good meal in a nice brewery. A convivial moment to share with the cooperators of the different offices 🙂



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://les-tilleuls-wordpress.preprod-tilleuls.ovh/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/287.jpg" alt="TEAM 3B" title="TEAM 3B"/></figure>



We eat a very balanced diet to survive the cold. weather.



<h3>Workshops</h3>



Several groups were formed in the afternoon to work on different internal projects, Open Source projects, preparations for training or upcoming meetups. This afternoon I followed a video-conference training on <meta charset="utf-8"><a rel="noopener" href="https://blackfire.io/" target="_blank">Blackfire</a> given by Christophe Dujarric.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="fr">Cet après-midi, c’est formation <a href="https://twitter.com/blackfireio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@blackfireio</a> avec <a href="https://twitter.com/Chris_Dujarric?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Chris_Dujarric</a> en attendant le meetup <a href="https://twitter.com/afup_hdf?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@afup_hdf</a> de demain <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Masterclass?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Masterclass</a> <a href="https://t.co/N32J6bTQHp">pic.twitter.com/N32J6bTQHp</a>— Les-Tilleuls.coop (@coopTilleuls) <a href="https://twitter.com/coopTilleuls/status/1087362605465985027?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">21 janvier 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>



I then finished my day on the writing workshop for the blog. Another busy day at the cooperative. See you soon!

A day at Les-Tilleuls.coop

You're a collective of freelancers, right?

Les Tilleuls&hellip; Do you work in the agricultural field?

Your model works for now, but what happens when you reach 100?

Cooperatives are the rescues of companies in difficulty

It's too utopian a model, it won't work

Since our founding in 2011, we are regularly subject to a list of questions about how we operate, our governance or how we anticipate our growth.



Often unknown, sometimes misunderstood, cooperative societies have nevertheless been noticed for several years for their performance and dynamism. The latest report from the General Confederation of Cooperatives is clear: the 3,000 cooperatives listed in France represent a turnover of nearly 5 billion euros and a five-year survival rate of 67%, a result higher than the national average of 60.  



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="http://www.les-scop.coop/sites/fr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://les-tilleuls-wordpress.preprod-tilleuls.ovh/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/265.png" alt="CG SCOP" title="CG SCOP"/></a></figure>







In this article, we will try to answer some of the questions received in order to prove that the cooperative sphere offers an effective alternative to traditional economic models.



<h3>You&rsquo;re a collective of freelancers, right?</h3>



Not at all. We are a self-managed company. This does not mean that we are an independent group.



We try to shake up traditional management patterns by involving all of our employees in our decision making. To ensure that information circulates throughout our 3 offices, we optimize our internal communication through several platforms (Slack, Google Hangouts, etc.) and for major decisions, we meet for a monthly review. During this meeting, we summarize the budgetary situation, the current recruitments, the internal evolutions, the projects, and when a decision must be acted, we organize a vote (in our case, 1 person = 1 vote).



If a disagreement arises during a meeting, we discuss it, argue it, and try to resolve the issue. When everyone has made up their minds, a vote is taken to confirm the decision.



<h3>Les Tilleuls… Do you work in the agricultural field?</h3>



Although our name can be confusing (I promise, one day we will explain its origin), we are a production cooperative operating in the field of computer development.



Today, there are several forms of cooperatives. We can mention as an example :



<ul><li>Users&rsquo; cooperatives: the associates are the users of goods and services. These cooperatives are notably present in the food trade, schools, low-cost housing…</li><li>Cooperatives of enterprises: the associates are independent workers. Agricultural, craft, maritime or transport cooperatives are among them.</li><li>Employee cooperatives: the associate members are the employees.</li><li>Cooperative banks: the partners are the customers and members who receive payment services.</li></ul>



Among the most widespread sectors, the Scop&rsquo;s 2017 summary shows that the service sector represents more than 40% of cooperatives in France, followed by industry and education, health and social action. The agricultural cooperatives represent, them, 1.2%.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://les-tilleuls-wordpress.preprod-tilleuls.ovh/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/262.png" alt="repartition coopératives" title="repartition secteurs"/></figure>







Cooperative companies are present in sectors as varied as lasers, robotics software, printing, selective sorting… Ditto for digital, as an example, Alma or Code4Corsica offer services similar to ours while Coopcycle has been shaking up foodtech for more than a year by proposing a software (built with <meta charset="utf-8"><a rel="noopener" href="https://api-platform.com/" target="_blank">API Platform</a> &lt;3) to connect customers, merchants and bike delivery cooperatives.



<h3>Your model works for now, but what happens when you reach 100?</h3>



Existing cooperatives with hundreds or thousands of employees prove that it is possible to run a company in this way.



Let&rsquo;s take the case of the <meta charset="utf-8"><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.up.coop/" target="_blank">Groupe Up</a> . Founded in 1964, this group has 2,500 employees (including more than 600 associate employees) spread over 14 countries and generates a turnover of nearly 6 billion euros. Its governance is based on three poles: all the employee-members, the Board of Directors (elected every 4 years by the employees) and the Executive Committee. The employee-members (the only shareholders) participate each year in a general meeting where they debate and vote on the group&rsquo;s strategic orientations.



This may seem complex, but it makes their organization all the more fluid. The employee shareholders are mobilized to put into practice a 360° management approach where the commitment and involvement of all employees consolidate the foundations of a democratic company. This organization promotes the sustainability of jobs, resources and the solidity of the company. And it works: their annual reports and several publications prove that the Up group is a SCOP where it is good to work and profitable.



<h3>Cooperatives are the rescues of companies in difficulty</h3>



In 2017, 65% of cooperatives were creations ex nihilo and less than 5% of them were the result of rescues of struggling businesses. Moreover, two thirds of the cooperatives created between 2012 and 2017 are still active today. This promises many more good years at Les-Tilleuls.coop…



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://les-tilleuls-wordpress.preprod-tilleuls.ovh/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/263.png" alt="creation scop" title="creation scop"/></figure>







<h3>It&rsquo;s too utopian a model, it won&rsquo;t work</h3>



The cooperative model is a worldwide economic reality: there are more than 180,000 cooperatives in Europe and according to a UN survey, this form of economy represents 20% of GDP in New Zealand, 18% in the Netherlands and 14% in Finland.



The survival rate at 3 years of French companies created in Scop is 82% above the national average (66%, source Insee). At five years, this gap widens further. In the industrial sector, Scops have resisted better than other SMEs over the last ten years. The cooperative movement has many human and economic advantages for employees, who have a majority stake in the capital and ensure democratic governance.



At Les-Tilleuls.coop, each of us invests our time, talents and ideas to make the company grow. This equation works, since our SCOP has grown by almost four figures in 7 years, has always been profitable and has an extremely low turnover. Are you tempted to participate in our project? We are constantly looking for new talent. Do not hesitate to send us your CV, we are currently developing our Paris branch!