Downtown Los Angeles Drupal Meetup at Sensis Agency and via WebEx on November 20, 2012: Youth and Drupal & Security Best Practices

The next general Downtown Los Angeles Drupal meetup is on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 and will be at Sensis Agency in Downtown Los Angeles. Those interested in attending this meetup remotely are welcome to join us via WebEx.

At this meetup, we're having our usual news and announcements, raffle prizes, lightning talks (which are short, bite-sized presentations) and featured presentations.

Drupal and Youth at Urban Txt

Urban TxT (Urban Teens Exploring Technology) is an organization in Downtown Los Angeles that encourages inner city teen males to become catalysts of change in urban communities.

We'll be hearing from Oscar Menjibar (@menjibar) and youth members at Urban TxT about how they learned about Drupal during a technology summer program and then used Drupal to tell their story!

Drupal Security Best Practices

It's been a while since the Los Angeles area has had a talk on Drupal Security, so we'll be focusing on this important subject at this meetup. Christefano Reyes (@christefano) from Exaltation of Larks (@LarksLA) will present on today's security-related best practices for Drupal. The following topics will be covered:

• Common attacks to protect against
• How the Drupal project's security team works
• A security checklist anyone can use
• My site's been hacked! Now what?
• Available security tools, documentation and training materials

Drupal Happy Hour

Join us between 5:30-7pm for happy hour at Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant (one floor above Sensis). Takami serves the highest quality Sushi, Robata and Japanese-influenced entrees and boasts unparalleled views of the LA area with outdoor patio dining. Happy hour at Takami is between 4-7pm and their phone number is 213-236-9600.

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Our venue and drinks sponsor is Sensis (@SensisAgency), a cross-cultural advertising agency with digital at its core. We got our start building websites and have expanded into a full service advertising agency, helping our clients take advantage of the fundamental changes taking place in the marketing world.

Our parking, video conferencing and raffle prize sponsor for this event is Exaltation of Larks, a Drupal strategy, consulting, development and training company with a team of Drupal experts in Los Angeles. We create fun websites, mobile apps, virtual worlds and e-commerce sites. Follow us at @LarksLA to learn more about our Drupal services and upcoming trainings.

This event is being organized with help from Droplabs (@Droplabs), a collaborative Drupal event and coworking space in Downtown Los Angeles. We're quickly gaining a reputation for being the only free coworking space around with a freemium business model: come work here for free and only pay for the extras, such as 24/7 access, equipment rental and a locker for your belongings.

Drupal After Dark

Even if you can't make it to happy hour or the meetup, you're welcome to join us afterward for a Drupal After Dark. After we wrap up the meeting and clean up, a group of us will go to a nearby restaurant or pub. Stay tuned to the comments below for suggestions for a Drupal After Dark location.

Agenda

After happy hour at Takami, we'll start our meeting at Sensis at 7pm. Our meetups follow a basic format and start off with Drupal news and announcements, local job announcements, raffle prizes and full-length presentations.

As always, we'll also have community Q&A, during which time anyone in attendance can ask questions, divine answers from the crowd and give brief, 5-10 minute-long presentations known as lightning talks. We'll finish off the night with more networking and a Drupal After Dark at 9:00pm.

For any changes to our agenda for the evening, stay tuned to this meetup announcement or click the Sign up button below (or both!) to be notified when the agenda has been updated.

   5:30pm
   Happy Hour at Takami
   Projector and Tables / Chairs Setup

   6:55pm
   Start of WebEx Meeting

   7:00pm
   News and Upcoming Events, including:
     • Drupal Travelers Program
     • Drupal Coworking Friday
     • Interesting events listed at http://groups.drupal.org/events
   Breakout Sessions
   Users Helping Users (continued)

   8:00pm
   Raffle Prizes!
   Lightning Talks
   Featured Presentations
   Drupal and Youth at Urban Txt, by Oscar Menjibar
   Drupal Security Best Practices, by Christefano Reyes

   9:00pm
   Wrap-up, Clean-up and Close-up
   Drupal After Dark and more networking

Join us on WebEx and Twitter!

The featured presentations at this meetup will be broadcasted via WebEx, courtesy of Exaltation of Larks. WebEx works in your browser, whether you use Linux, Windows or Mac OS X.

To join the meeting, click the Sign up button below to receive the meeting URL and password (a Drupal.org account is required).

During the meetup, several of the event organizers will also be monitoring Twitter for feedback and questions that mention @DowntownDrupal.

Breakout Sessions

We have several spaces available for breakout sessions. This is an open, multi-track format where we break into groups and discuss a variety of topics. Each breakout session is led by a volunteer who picks the topic, picks the space and can optionally report back to the larger group in the form of an announcement or lightning talk.

This is also an opportunity for Users Helping Users, which is a participant-driven format where members of the community give and receive help with whatever questions and problems they're having with Drupal.

Please note that while Users Helping Users is not designed to be a replacement for bona fide consulting from a Drupal professional that there are plenty of Drupal experts and professionals who attend our meetups and sometimes they need help, too!

Featured Presentations

At this meetup, we're having our usual news and announcements, raffle prizes, lightning talks (which are short, bite-sized presentations) and featured presentations.

Drupal and Youth at Urban Txt

Urban TxT (Urban Teens Exploring Technology) is an organization in Downtown Los Angeles that encourages inner city teen males to become catalysts of change in urban communities. We'll be hearing from Oscar Menjibar (@menjibar) and youth members at Urban TxT about how they learned about Drupal during a technology summer program and then used Drupal to tell their story!

Drupal Security Best Practices

It's been a while since the Los Angeles area has had a talk on Drupal Security, so we'll be focusing on this important subject at this meetup. Christefano Reyes (@christefano) from Exaltation of Larks (@LarksLA) will present on today's security-related best practices for Drupal. The following topics will be covered:

• Common attacks to protect against
• How the Drupal project's security team works
• A security checklist anyone can use
• My site's been hacked! Now what?
• Available security tools, documentation and training materials

Raffle prizes! Collect them all! Must be present to win!

Raffle prizes at this meetup have been provided by Exaltation of Larks. Our raffle prizes often include discount codes, magazines, DVDs, books, and free seats to professional Drupal trainings. We are always grateful to our sponsors for their continued support.

If you have any items you'd like to donate to the raffle, please contact any of the organizers at the meetup. Thank you!

Location and Directions

   Sensis
   811 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 2050
   Los Angeles, CA 90017

Public Transportation

Our venue is 100 feet away from the 7th Street / Metro Red Line Center Station. For information about bus routes, see http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/bus_overview/images/802.pdf  

   7th Street / Metro Center Station
   660 South Figueroa St.
   Los Angeles, CA 90017

   213-922-6000
   http://www.metro.net

Parking

Anyone who carpools and parks at either Joe's Auto Parks (724 South Figueroa St.) or United Valet Parking, Inc. (757 South Flower St.) will receive complimentary $5 parking courtesy of our parking sponsor, Exaltation of Larks.

1. Joe's Auto Parks (724 South Figueroa St.; 213-629-3263)
2. United Valet Parking, Inc. (757 South Flower St.; 213-622-0137)

Both parking locations are within a 3 minute walk of our venue and have a $5 evening rate if arriving after 4pm.

Street parking is $5 per hour from 8am-8pm Pacific. There are ample parking lots and garages in the immediate area. For additional parking locations, see http://en.parkopedia.com/parking/815_west_7th_street_los_angeles_ca_90017/

About Downtown Los Angeles Drupal

The Downtown Los Angeles Drupal group regularly meets in and around Downtown Los Angeles, California. We organize a large number of weekly and monthly events on various Drupal topics, including the general Downtown Los Angeles Drupal meetup that has been meeting regularly on the 3rd Tuesday of the month since early 2010.

The Downtown area is the most active area for Drupal in the Greater Los Angeles Area and has seen hundreds of Drupal events, including job fairs, meetups and workshops, study group meetings, conferences about design and theming, paid trainings, FREE tutoring sessions from Drupal professionals and barn raisings to benefit non-profits and members of our community here in and around Downtown Los Angeles.

Attending Drupal events in and around Downtown Los Angeles is one of the best ways to meet and talk with other Drupaleros and we encourage you to attend as many meetings and special events as you'd like. Whether it's to find solutions to problems you've been having, sharing something you've learned or just meeting interesting like-minded people, the Downtown Los Angeles Drupal events are an essential resource for Drupal professionals and hobbyists alike.

If you aren't already a member of Downtown Los Angeles Drupal, it's easy to join our community. Our community calendar is on our "Events" tab on our home page at http://groups.drupal.org/dtla

The Downtown Los Angeles Drupal group proudly participates in the California Drupal Travelers Program and can host businesses and community members who are visiting the area. Inquire within by contacting any of the Downtown Los Angeles Drupal organizers.