We had a great first DrupalCamp Utah this last weekend. We were small in number but had a great opportunity to share what we've done and what we've learned. I wanted to once again thank WebWise and Western Governors University as our Gold sponsors and those who traveled from SanDiego, Las Vegas and Colorado to support our own here in Utah.
At the end of camp we had a discussion about what we could do to make camp better in the future. Two suggestions came out of that conversation that I wanted to emphasize.
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To create a DrupalCamp organization committee/group. This group would be in charge of organizing DrupalCamp and pick the chair(s) and other leadership of the camp. Though ideally this would be everyone in the Utah group I think there is value to a person having to choose to be involved and committed to planing and executing a successful camp. Jeremy is taking the lead on organizing this group and I imagine that we will hear more about it in the coming weeks (giving some time to relax after camp).
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We need more consistent meetups. I think it would be most valuable to have our meetups on a regular basis and at a consistent location. I know this could isolate some people but I also think there is value to looking at having more groups that just all of Utah, we know that historically we don't get Provo people to Salt Lake meetups and that it is hard to get Ogden people as well. I think we should encourage and support them in, where number permit, having their own meetups (still everyone being invited to all of them). It can all still be maintained and managed from the Utah group page but there is also St. George which I know nothing about but might also be able to support meetups. Would any organization be able to support an on going meetup every month?
Comments
Thanks to all that Tyler
Thanks to all that Tyler mentioned as well as a special thanks to Tyler for the great job he did organizing the event with the little support that he had. I thought it was a great meetup and I'll reiterate that both of our guests from Colorado (who I gave a ride back to their hotel after the camp) enjoyed the camp as well.
In terms of consistent meetups, I think that it should be possible to consistently meet in the Walker Center. If we set the meetups on the same day each month then this shouldn't be a problem. Between John, at Digitaria, and I, at The American Academy, both having conference rooms in the Walker Center, it should be possible to always have a room available. I guess John will have to speak for himself being willing to host meetups if I am not available for whatever reason.
Next question to answer is what day each month. I'm thinking that Tuesday or Thursday nights will be best, but I'm open to anything.
Monthly meetups
The Walker Center makes sense since we have two rooms there. The only problems we may run into with using our room are:
* We don't currently have regular access to a projector (one was brought in when we hosted in April).
* We could outgrow the space. When we hosted the meetup in April, the conference room was full. I think there were 12-15 people who attended. If the regular meetings help the attendance grow, it will be a tight squeeze.
Otherwise, we are happy to host. Thursday nights won't work for me right now. I'm good with Tuesdays. Here is the Utah Tech Events calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=hhhlln87p4icc8q3c2bndmbjok@gro...
I'll make sure our meetups get posted there once we decide on a regular time and place.
I am all for monthly meetups
I am all for monthly meetups at the Walker Center.
Thursdays don't work for me, but I could do Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
Picking a day
I'd love to have monthly meetups as well, but I think it'll be hard to find a single day that will be open for much more than half the people that want to go. Maybe it would be good to have it on one day of the week one month, and then another day of the week the next month, alternating so as to allow people with existing commitments to make it at least once every other month. For example, next month we could have it on a Tuesday, and the next month on a Thursday.
I guess we could also put it up on whenisgood.net or something of the like and see what peoples' schedules are really like.
-danrasband
That's not a bad idea
I think it might help get more people expressing their opinions. The real trick is getting people to actually put information into it. If it doesn't get a better response then the discussions then it looses a lot of its effectiveness. It's benefit is in displaying scheduling data for a large group in a visual display that makes it easier to see best scheduling times (way better display than a list of people saying this or that day). If you would like to create it, I will add my information and encourage others to do likewise and we will see if it adds any additional value to these discussions. Thanks.
Another trick is getting a venue available at the time that it says is best.
Tyler Smith
Developer
Meetup Time and Date
If you are interested in attending the Utah Drupal Users Group meeting in August 2011, please submit your availability at the following link:
http://whenisgood.net/dug/utah
I added Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and times 6pm - 9pm as available slots, as those seemed to make the most sense based on common sense and the previous comments.
*Note: this will only work if we get people to actually respond and if we can actually get a venue at the mutually agreed-upon time, as Tyler mentioned.
- danrasband
Have we officially decided on
Have we officially decided on a day? I have gotten approval to use the space but I need to make sure it doesn't conflict with an existing event.
Pick a tuesday.
We didn't settle on a single date but Tuesday was generally accepted as the most realistic date.
Are we okay to meet in the space even if you are not available? Could we get at least one other person with approval to enter in the case where you cannot be there?
Let's plan on meeting at your place in August and we can all discuss the benefits of each then. Any other opinions please speak up! I just want to get something scheduled and on the calendar as soon as possible. Thanks.
Tyler Smith
Developer
Tentative date
It looks like a tentative date is Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 7:00pm. That seems to be the best time for the people who responded on the whenisgood.net survey. You can see the results here:
http://whenisgood.net/dug/utah/results/dahyrw
If you haven't responded yet, please do so soon so that Jeremy can verify the availability of the room. The survey is here:
http://whenisgood.net/dug/utah
All you have to do is highlight which days/times you are available and then hit "Send Response."
It seems that I can't get the
It seems that I can't get the conference room the week of the 11th (8-12) but I can get it any day the first week.
If we stick to the 11th maybe one of the groups in the Walker Center can host?
I'll be around on the 11th
I'll be around on the 11th and we could host it then if we wanted in the Walker Center. Whatever people want.
Let's do it
Go ahead and plan it. Once you have the conference room reserved go ahead and create an event so that people can RSVP. I will take care of getting some food arranged. Do we have anyone that wants to present? Maybe the presentation on CiviCRM (that's one that we didn't get to at camp that I know Rob would be interested in, I'll have to see if he and dharmatech will be there but that is the first idea that comes to my mind).
Does any one else have something they would like to share? What are people interested in discussing at the meetup?
Tyler Smith
Developer
More notes from the day
Here are the rest of the notes I took at the event. I agree the above two are more foundational items.
Overall I want to say
1. Thanks to JC for the ride back to the hotel! :)
2. Thanks to everyone involved in hosting the camp and especially Tyler, of course.
This was a great event, especially considering it was your first and I hope it will help grow the community.
Without further ado, the notes...
What can be improved?
What worked well?
knaddison blog | Morris Animal Foundation
Possible Location
I have access to a location downtown also, there is plenty of (free) parking behind the building. There is space for about 20 to 25 people, a video projector, and wifi with all the necessary ports open. I would just have to clear it with the building to see if we could use it regularly.
Would you guys like me to get this arranged or are we okay with the Walker Center?
What's the address? Would you
The main reason that the Walker Center is intriguing is that we have two spaces in the building which would allow for flexibility if one of us can't come to the meetup. Of course parking is always an issue here, so the fact that there's parking at your place is great.
It's 525 East 100 South, Salt
It's 525 East 100 South, Salt Lake City, UT
I think we could meet there every month as long as we schedule it. Let me see if it's okay and then we can decide from there if we want to use that space or the Walker Center. I think both will be fine, this is just appealing to me since there is parking.
Thanks for the response
I agree there is something appealing about both situations. I like the idea of jeremyr's location in that it gives us some more space. I'm basing that on the conference rooms at the Walker center all being the same size (at least the ones we have access to). The Walker center does have parking, just not free. I think I paid about $4 at the last meet up. That's not bad but free is always nice.
As for the date, what about the first Tuesday of the month? I don't know where that calendar comes from but that is usually an open day.
I'm a little hesitant about the idea of alternating Tuesday and Thursday in that it requires people to think and therefore plan a little more in advance. That's not to say that it wouldn't be beneficial to get different people out because Thursday works better for them. I would almost prefer to have a second meetup that happens on Thursdays. It could then also have its own location and bill its own consistency.
Let's focus first on August. @Jeremyr - please let us know if your location is available. Also let us know if there would be a way to use it even if you were unable to attend. @WalkerCenterPeople - are all the conference rooms you have access to that same size or can we get anything larger?
Tyler Smith
Developer
I haven't seen the other
I haven't seen the other conference room that's in the Digitaria office. The one here is decent sized...
That being said, I'll be out of the country the first week in August, so if we are doing the first Tuesday or Thursday or whatever then I won't be able to make it.
Just an idea
We don't have to do it that week. That was based purely on that calendar that jtsnow posted earlier. I don't even know how much any of those event effect our Drupal users.
Going about date selection in a more democratic way try responding to danrasband's comment (above).
Tyler Smith
Developer