Colorado Springs Drupal Meetup: Thursday, October 2, 6:30 p.m.
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prestonso - Fri, 2008-09-05 04:48
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2008-10-02 18:30 America/Denver - 2008-10-02 21:00 America/DenverJoin us for our next meet-up hosted by East Library (Pikes Peak Library District) on Thursday, October 2nd. For this meetup food will be provided at 6:30 p.m. and the actual jibbering will begin at 7:00 p.m.
We've got an exciting course in beginning and intermediate theming by Preston planned, which should take up most if not all of the evening. If there's something you want to discuss, we'll talk about it at the end.
Regular DBUG attendees are always very welcome!
East Library [map]
5550 N. Union Blvd.
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
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See you there!
Organizers:
Ical feed
Agenda
I talked with several folks after our meeting and we came up with a more structured potential agenda to maximize our time as the library closes at 9 pm:
6:30 - 7:00 - Arrivals, eating and discussion. We could do basic business regarding upcoming meetings and introductions.
7:00 - 8:00 - Theming by Preston. We want to be sure there is something both for brand new folks and for experienced developers.
8:00 - 8:30 - BOF (Birds of a Feather) discussions, hands-on opportunities, etc. We all come with varied background and needs. Here, we we can identify topics to maximize our BOF time.
8:30 - 9:00 - Come back together to share, agree on a topic for the next meeting, etc.
Of course, this is simply some of our thoughts on a structure and I'm sure we can improve upon it.
Unfortunately, I will be out of town for this meeting, so I won't be bringing pizza for this meeting only. Sorry.
Rick Nashleanas
www.monarchdigital.com
Food
I'll take care of pizza and soda for this meeting, since it is on my turf.
Does anyone have a better idea for food, btw? I'm fine with pizza, I'm just throwing it out there.
Cheers,
Virginia
Theming intro
I'm just slightly worried about the time allotted for the theming course; wanted to get into some significant detail instead of just covering the basics for the designers at the meeting really wanting to get hands-on fast. I could cover all of what i'm planning to talk about very quickly, but I'd rather have longer. How far would people like to get with theming? An hour and a half would be great for what I'd like to discuss, but I want to base it off of the needs of the people who'll be attending.
Preston So
Web/Print Designer
Monarch Digital, Colorado Springs
My near-dead non-Drupal site
Two bits.
Theming is an excellent topic that should be done justice; I'd hate to see it truncated arbitrarily. Further, I think you'll be able to cover at a level appropriate for beginners and more seasoned folks.
However, I think it's easy to become distracted by a "classroom" format for the meetups. There should be time for anyone who's interested to show off projects, ask questions, and all that. Also, assuming the size of the room permits, I see no reason folks can't wander off and have their own non-interfering talks about other topics if they want.
My two bits.
Theming
There are three us here that are very interested in hearing Preston's theming course. I know my coworker is very interested in theming and has questions about modifying themes and I'm interested as well as we are in the very initial phases of planning a theme for our redesign.
I like the idea of having a BoF time during the meetings as well.
Just my two cents.
Thanks for everything you guys are doing to help us newbies out!
YES
I can't speak for everyone, but the more I know about theming, the better!
-Sharon
Thoughts
I have been doing a lot of thinking about exactly how to get the most out of these meetups, and how to organize them in a way which will allow for maximum learning. I think the main issue we have encountered is that the main presentation has not been catered to the attendees. Part of this is due to the fact that there have been little to no suggestions as to what should be presented.
Another major problem is that there are users at many different skill levels who are interested in a variety of different topics. My memory might be a bit off, but as I remember, last meetup we had a 2-3 advanced users another 2-3 intermediate users, and about 8 people new to drupal in some way or form. Therefore, I think it is probably best to do something like the following:
6:30-6:45 Food, and introductions
6:45-7:00 Basic introduction to Drupal. Simply, what is it, why is it good, and why should I care.
7:00-8:00 Break into small groups with 1-2 intermediate-advanced users and a few novices. Ask specific questions, discuss interesting things, show off a few examples, and the like...
8:00-9:00 Come back together, each group to share something interesting learned.
While this is almost identical to the schedule proposed by Rick, I think it does a few additional things. First of all, it provides a time to discuss exactly what Drupal is, and hopefully gives a very brief introduction to anybody who may be completely new. Secondly, it puts much more emphasis on small talk, less classroom type settings. If a topic is interesting enough for the entire group, it should be brought up during the sharing time frame.
Honestly, I think that the classroom type session is very hard to pull off. Besides, who ever liked school?! Instead, I think these meetups would be much more useful if they were centered around Birds of a Feather type discussions. This is not to say that classroom type discussions are impossible.. for example, if half of the attendees really want to learn about theming, then they should form a large group with 1-2 expert themers leading the discussion. While this larger session is going on, the others break apart to discuss what they want.
If you attended DrupalCamp, you probably noticed that there were BOF and sessions. Personally, I gained much more from the Birds of a Feather than I did from the sessions... and I think that this is a general trend. Do you think that making these meetups more BOF oriented is a good idea?
--
-- matt tucker
pingVision
Classroom vs. BOF
I think that we need to stick to the agenda that was decided at the last meet-up for the next one, with my theming introduction that will have enough information that everyone will be interested in. I will be providing some insight that I think most if not all of the attendees will find valuable.
Additionally, I'm not sure either if we need an entire hour to discuss what was talked about; that can be covered in a relatively short time. My proposal is that the "coming back together" occupies the last fifteen minutes of the meet-up, maybe from 8:30 to 8:45. I think that having several small spin-off sessions at the next meet-up is a fantastic idea for those uninterested in theming.
After the next meet-up, I would be all for structuring the meet-ups around BOF-type gatherings, but for now I think we need to stick to what we as a group discussed previously.
Just my proposals.
Preston So
Creative Director
Monarch Digital, Colorado Springs
My near-dead non-Drupal site
Inviting new folks
Another discussion I had after our meeting was about inviting new folks to our meet ups.
Like we did in last night's meeting, we always must include valuable, introductory information for folks who may have never touched Drupal previously.
Young organizations like this either grow or die. I'd like to brainstorm here to come up with programs to increase new attendees.
Rick Nashleanas
www.monarchdigital.com
October Meeting Location
Hi folks,
The room we used last night is booked in October and November, so I reserved the Childrens Story Room at East Library instead. It should be large enough for everyone and we will have a laptop/projector again and there is wireless access. And picture books and puppets, harhar!!
Like Preston said, the address for East Library is:
5550 N. Union Blvd.
Colorado Springs, CO
80918
I'll have someone out in the lobby to direct you to the room, as it's kinda off the beaten path. Or just head to the Children's section of the Library and ask someone at the desk.
Cheers,
Virginia
Meeting content
For those of us Drupal newbies, I believe it would be beneficial to go through some of the more basic stuff. The material at the second meeting was interesting, but it was way over my head, and I found it hard to follow along. If there were a small breakout session or at least a list of topics to study that discuss getting started with building basic Drupal websites, we newbies could hopefully get up to speed a little quicker and or easier. The Drupal forums have a ton of info, however, figuring out where to start has been problematic for me.
So much to learn, so little time!
John G.
Thanks
Thank you for the comments. We are trying our best to make these meetups as valuable as possible for all who attend. So knowing that what we discussed was too advanced is good. It will help us in knowing what to talk about in the future.
On that note, it really is hard to know what to talk about... it has been quite some time since most of us who are presenting started using drupal.. we forgot all of the troubles and errors we came across. Are you having a single issue that you cannot solve, or is it more general like "how do I get started"? Have you installed drupal, are you working with contributed modules, do you know what a contributed module is? All of these questions are, at this point in time, unanswered for most of the attendees, and that makes it very hard to know what will be beneficial for all. The better we understand the demographic we are working with, the better we will be able to aid in the learning.
It might be a bit obvious, but to directly answer your question, have you tried the documentation section of getting started?
--
-- matt tucker
pingVision
Getting started
Actually I have. Maybe I need to revisit it some more though.
OPINION: Like a lot of open source stuff I have played with, the documentation tends to assume more knowledge about the product than the newbie actually has. OPINION OFF!
On the other hand, even after reading and working through one Drupal book (I am waiting for others to come available at PPLD), I am still puzzling over quite a few things. Probably the fact I have spent the last 10 years working with Frontpage is working against me.... I know Drupal isn't designed to "hold the users' hands" like MS does. :-)
I guess that once I get over a few initial speed bumps, Drupal methodology will be more apparent to me than it is now.
John
So much to learn, so little time!
One other thing
I really appreciate the time and effort everybody has been putting into this. I would really like to see this group get off the ground and grow into something that generates a lot of enthusiasm and support.
John G.
So much to learn, so little time!
Keeping it Balanced
The group is comprised of all levels of ability from professionals to those considering whether to even choose Drupal as the CMM for their organization. It's true that the beginners rely on the more experienced people (I fit in that category), but the more advanced participants need to gain something from the meetings or they may stop coming, and the beginners will find themselves where they are now - looking for a community to teach them. I like the idea of covering a topic like Themes from start to finish - it's equal opportunity learning for everyone who attends...
Juju
Almost
A common misunderstanding is that advanced drupal users attend these meetups to learn. Honestly, this is hardly the situation. Personally, I attend these meetups for two reasons. The first is because I am mildly obsessed with drupal.. and I will jump at any chance I have to interact with it or its users. The second reason is that I enjoy teaching others. Teaching others about drupal will only come back to help the general community. More people who know about drupal = more people using drupal = more developers and testers = better code and functionality = better websites = good for everybody.
I think that keeping these meetups interactive is the biggest issue. Advanced users who do not get a chance to discuss, teach, or talk will be discouraged from coming. However, advanced users who are given the opportunity to teach or talk about something interesting will find value.
Just my two cents.
--
-- matt tucker
pingVision
Drupal for Firebug
As a side conversation for some of the more experienced people, I will try to give the "Drupal for Firebug" module / addon some justice. It was announced at DrupalCon Szeged and already has quite a few features which are pretty neat for more advanced developers and themers.
--
-- matt tucker
pingVision
Echo
Just to echo what people have been saying.
I think that having one or two main presentations is a good idea--teaching a concept, or demonstrating a module that kind of thing is a good thing for the meetups.
The classroom-type environment might not work that well in such a limited time-frame.
Often times the best part of the meetups for me is what happens when we run out of planned time.
Somebody asks a question about an Itch they've been trying to scratch, and (hopefully) someone has an answer, or a new look at a solution. Or when someone asks a question that's way over my head, but In general terms I understand what's going on by the end of the answer.
What I'm trying to say is the informal portion of the evening meetups can be just as important as the formal.
And if there is a strong desire for a formal "classroom-DrupalCamp-educational-long form" style meetup, perhaps something could be worked out on a weekend day when there might be more time.
I'm glad we're talking about this
No matter what we eventually do for the immediate meeting or for future meetings, I'm very glad we're examining our agendas and programs to appeal to all of our audiences.
Ideally, I'd like everyone coming away from our meetings saying that they were glad they came and that they would refer more folks to come!
Rick Nashleanas
www.monarchdigital.com
Monthly Call for News at Meetups?
Just an idea for something we might consider doing in the meetups: a "call for news".
We could take a couple of minutes and let the group announce either things that they've personally achieved or are working on with Drupal. Also, newly discovered Drupal tips/tricks could be really useful.
Examples:
"I built a new module for my site that does..."
"I just deployed a new D6 installation which serves a population of 500 and is focused on using Views to serve lists of content."
"I discovered a great new module that does..."
"I attended a meetup in Boulder and we learned..."
Anyway, I just thought this might be a quick way to share new information with the group. I don't feel like we've given ourselves a lot of opportunities to hear/express those sorts of things so far.
I'm looking forward to the next meetup! :)
Mark W. Jarrell
Manager of Web Services
Jones Knowledge Integration Group, Inc.
http://jonesknowledge.com
http://jonesdifference.com
http://jiu.edu
Twitter: attheshow
Reminder - Meeting is Tomorrow!
This is just a quick reminder that the SCUG monthly meeting is tomorrow at the East Library:
5550 N. Union Blvd.
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
Carpool from the north?
If anyone is planning on heading south from Denver or even norther, drop me a note.