Since we're having fewer and fewer people turn out for meetups in Cardiff lately, I was thinking of changing the format slightly. I'm not sure if it's that we're not really exploring enough Drupal, or whether the audience down this way wants something different entirely, but I've had some ideas and I thought I'd float them here.
In the future I think we could:
-
Change the location so there's a more organised 'feel' to the whole thing. Utilising some better media for presenting might give more focus on properly exploring topics.
-
Explore more newbie friendly topics - I don't know whether the audience down this way is the module-writing, using git and building server stacks kind of audience. Maybe some gentler "how do you build stuff in D7" topics might be in order - using Views, Rules, Fields, and so on.
-
Maybe even do every other meetup as an opportunity for new talent to get to know the system. I'm sure businesses try out Drupal only to be turned off by the learning curve. A free 'introductions' event might encourage some more interest.
-
Guests - if we could convince Marcus Deglos to talk about Varnish (properly, not like me), or get Tim Millwood down to show off Acquia DevCloud or something, might that be of more interest?
Thoughts very welcome. I won't announce another event til we've thrashed this out ;-)
-- J.
Comments
I only attended the first
I only attended the first ever meetup in October last year, always wanted to attend another one - particularly the one about git - but never get around it due to location and timing. I work in the city centre till about 5.20 and commute via bus back home (near Heath park), I got a car but I'd be down where you guys are it'd be 6.45
Also, all the emails I get for these events come way too late in my inbox (I need a little bit more advanced warning then 4 October) and don't include dates and time.
With regards to topics, I'm mixed on newbie stuff. I'd want to get my hands dirty instead of just listening to topics (first meetup wasn't even that and I've got no idea how the others were). But having said this, I'm no developer, I know Drupal well enough to get me a basic site together but not well enough to built something really powerful - have tried but failed as motivation dwindles down when it comes to the nitty gritty stuff.
One thing I'd love to see is how to built your "perfect" development environment.
I'd also like to meet people who I could outsource those nitty gritty type of stuff to, i.e. proper developers in the area.
November event?
Seeing as there was no other reply, am I right in assuming that there won't be a November meetup? Or was there already one last week?
As an aside, I've got a rough project in mind but my Drupal skills have deteriorated so much that it's unlikely I'll ever do it myself, any recommendations for a local developer I can get in touch with?
Is there no meetup
Is there no meetup tomorrow?
Also, I'd be able to assist with your project. Send me some details, and I'll take a look.
Ollie.
Drupal Developer at Nomensa, and part-time freelancer.
Hi there, having kicked off
Hi there,
having kicked off this topic, I'm slightly abashed at not having responded to it - apologies! I've been rather distracted by dealing with family and health issues lately - which is why I haven't arranged anything for November. I'm not sure that should stop others from meeting up if they want to, though.
tdimg - thank you for taking time to respond to my slightly bewildered post :-) There are some good points here. Had we known the timing was an issue, I'm sure we could arrange a lift or something, for you.
I think at the beginning of the year, we had a really enthusiastic South Wales group, but as time's gone on it's been more and more about bringing folks in from elsewhere, and it seems a bit.. well.. pointless to have a meetup in South Wales only for it to be attended by folks from everywhere but there! Not that they're unwelcome, but I'd love to see what the locals want, first and foremost! I know the Drupal folk are out there. I'm just not sure what the right sort of group is for them. The NWDUG has a big turnout, and pretty well organised events, with topics, talks, workshops and code sprints. In other places, it's all about the pub.
So, what I'm hearing is:
Lots of prior notice.
The bay might be a bit out of the way.
Some folks are site builders, some are full on developers, and some folks might just be curious to know more?
I'll try to figure out how to present this. I have my own ideas as to what makes me tick, personally, but I really feel like the group is failing to serve the local community somewhat, and this is what I want to change. If it turns out that noone's really interested, then that's a valid answer too, but I suspect they are ;-)
-- J
Is there a meetup tomorrow
Is there a meetup tomorrow evening?
Drupal Developer at Nomensa, and part-time freelancer.