# DSF member of the month - Benjamin Balder Bach

DevFeed: [DSF member of the month - Benjamin Balder Bach](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/dsf-member-of-the-month-benjamin-balder-bach-3553.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2026/aug/31/dsf-member-of-the-month-benjamin-balder-bach/>)

Author: Sarah Abderemane

Published: 2026-08-31T05:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [The Django weblog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/the-django-weblog.md>)

Topics: [Django](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/django.md>), [PHP](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/php.md>), [Computer science](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/computer-science.md>), [HTML](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/html.md>), [SQL](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/sql.md>)

Tags: [community](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/community.md>), [developers](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/developers.md>), [development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/development.md>), [django](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/django.md>), [framework](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/framework.md>), [open-source](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/open-source.md>), [php](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/php.md>), [python](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/python.md>), [sql](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/sql.md>), [support](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/support.md>)

## AI overview

An August 2026 Django community profile introduces Benjamin Balder Bach, highlighting his work with Django Day Copenhagen and the Social Media Working Group. He discusses his path from self-taught web designer to computer science and digital design studies, along with his experience using HTML, SQL, ASP classic, PHP, and Django. The interview connects Django's emphasis on rapid development with the importance of understanding users through developer involvement in frontline support.

## Source excerpt

For August 2026, we welcome Benjamin Balder Bach as our DSF member of the month! ⭐ Benjamin has long been part of the Django community, serving for years as an organizer of Django Day Copenhagen and as Chair of the Social Media Working Group. He is a DSF member since June 2020! You can learn more about Benjamin by visiting Benjamin's website and his GitHub Profile. Let's spend some time getting to know Benjamin better! Can you tell us a little about yourself? (hobbies, education, etc) Hello! I like DIY in general, so whether it's software, cooking, sewing, growing plants or building stuff with wood - I really like practical things with a finish in sight. I really don't mind when it's not a software project, though 😇 I'll try to nail what my education and work is about: I started as a self-taught programmer when I had a job at 15 (as a web designer). Before that, I had been delivering newspapers and cleaning toilets at my school, so it was a pretty big leap forward. I knew HTML but learned about SQL and ASP classic (not .net) because my employer back in 2000 let me learn while working. Fast-forward, I studied Computer Science from 2005 and took my masters degree in Digital Design and Communication - heavily inspired by years of PHP and Django experience, my thesis ended up being about "Risky and Rapid Design Spaces" (2013) - a concept/anecdote that I still stand by. It becomes relevant in the context of Django because the front-and-center message and goal of the framework is to "encourages rapid development". "Rapid" means that we iterate and deploy changes quickly (with lots of aspects of what that means). But I think we need to understand and frame the "risky" part, especially understanding that a GIANT risk-avertion factor is to have developers understand and share context with users, whether they are clients, customers or staff colleagues. For instance, while I was working at Read the Docs, we had developers rotating on frontline support, meaning that everyone in