On Sept. 24./25. we participated in the OpenExpo Zurich, an Open Source Trade Show that is held twice per year in conjunction with TopSoft, a commercial Software Show. Since its start in 2006, OpenExpo has been growing steadily and is fast becoming the place where OpenSource and Business meet. It is certainly an interesting and sometimes funny experience to have both worlds so close together.
The core of our user group was there. It is really good to see that bonds between the people in the community are becoming stronger. That also means that a know-how pool is esatblishing itself here in Switzerland that can guide and support new or potential users in Drupal.
Many thanks to all members who took their time to be there!
We were also able to draw the attention of quite a number of people to Drupal and the user group. Not only could we present Drupal as a 'product' but also demonstrate the strenth of our small community. We should see the membership increasing over the coming weeks. Cool! (I am too old to say awesome....)
Hagen Graf was there as well and donated some books about Drupal 6 (http://drupal.cocoate.com/de/node/1. We sold them for a total of CHF 100.-- and will donate this amount to the Drupal Association. He also took some pics: http://flickr.com/photos/hagengraf/sets/72157607492968652/
There are lessons to be learned form this show. Next time in April 2009 some more time needs to be spent on preparation. It is hard to convey a message that has not been defined! In addition to that, some marketing material like posters and leaflets must be available to communicate the message. I will contact the Association to see what is exisitng. I will also try to get a speech into one of the tracks, either doing it myself or getting one of the Drupal cracks to give it.
The next OpenExpo will be in Bern on 1./2. April 2009. We will be there.
http://www.openexpo.ch/fileadmin/documents/2009Bern/OpenExpo_2009Bern_An...
Comments
Standing ovation
Many thanks to all participants and visitors, it was a great experience to meet you there.
And as always many thanks to Christophe for his leadership and especially for this simply perfect summary already covering everything important...
Edit:
The donation with a total of CHF 100 from the two sold Drupal 6 Books of Hagen Graf has just been put into place in EUR 62.75.
If you're looking for a valuable introduction into Drupal 6, take a look at his book. It covers not only core topics but also the most common and important modules like CCK and Views. It will give you an understanding of a real usage scenario as a perfect starting point.
Many thanks to his community support and the donation.
Stay tuned. The swiss Drupal community is strong and awaiting you to participate.
Looking forward to see you again!