Hi all,
I have been approached by many Drupal users and people new to Drupal about holding more of a Learning Drupal meet-up for newbies and more aimed at less developer centric topics. Was wanting to get some feedback from people regarding this as I have access to some space in Sydney to hold the meet-ups and would be run in the same way the London Learning Drupal is run. This would not impact the Sydney Drupal User Group which does tend to be more developer centric.
When I was in London last year there was a distinct difference between the meet-ups and the people who attended the learning Drupal was very much more a focus on that learning Drupal and getting introduced to it rather then a deep dive which can lose some new people.
I see this as adding benefit to Sydney folk and also help people who might not feel that comfortable to raise questions at the normal meet-ups. Any feedback would be welcomed I have alot of people keen and feel that there is a definite need for two meet-ups as they hold in London? any thoughts welcome :)
Comments
Count me in!
Brilliant idea; and I had asked Ryan at the last meetup - love it and I would definitely attend!
Simillar to
The meet-up would be similar to http://www.meetup.com/Learning-Drupal-Meeup/ i have been thinking about it since i was in London and have had alot of people discuss it with me, would run on a different night to the user group meet-ups so people can attend both if needed, the aim would really be a non heavy end focus as in helping people getting started and getting there head around key concepts etc :)
have been speaking to some other people in the community about it and briefly mentioned to Acquia, just would like to set feelers out on Drupal Groups before we press ahead with anything concrete but I am really keen to facilitate this one :)
I'd be keen to get involved
I'd be keen to get involved and help out as I'm pretty experienced with Drupal (2 years of a constant 40 hour week of Drupal development :))
Drupal Learning and Mentoring in Sydney
Amaree
What a great idea! I support your suggestions for Drupal learning + mentoring in Sydney 98%!!!
As someone who designs and specifies applications to be built by Drupal professionals I would find some "get you started" training extremely beneficial. And I have clients for whom I am project managing the delivery of several Drupal based business systems who welcome some "get you started" training too.
Let me know if you need some help to publicise your proposed Drupal training and mentoring activities.
I think one of my clients would also be prepared to sponsor some space and wifi bandwidth for a couple of training sessions.
john.young@yindi.net
0407 940 943
John Young
Yindi Systems
web: www.yindi.net
twitter: @yindisystems
Learning Drupal
John, sounds good just working out room availability etc and will post a poll etc for day per month so it does not clash with other user groups.
I am really keen to have an environment that is more Designer/Business Manager/User/New Developer focused and also have an environment where people feel they can ask questions and add to the discussion. I really want it to be non developer heavy and also have a group of people who may be interested in mentoring new Drupal users :)
I think what Dries said about his recent Australia trip was spot on and something I have been discussing for awhile now we really are very developer centric and we need to open up a bit more to other areas within the community Designers, Business people, Users, someone just wanting a small blog and wants to know how to admin the backend.
We can leave the more heavy development to the main user group and we can discuss site configuration, theming, training, administration, what kind of server environment do people need, etc It really works great in London and the two meet-ups are very different and have different aims. If we do it on a different night people can attend both and hopefully come to the learning Drupal and feel more confident to ask questions at the main User Group :)
ops missed the first line
John, missed your first line re room :) i was speaking to one of the universities in Sydney about space but would be open to discuss options I have your email address as I have been meaning to email you re Drupal related :( me bad sorry :( Will send you an email to discuss room options etc
.
.
John Young
Yindi Systems
web: www.yindi.net
twitter: @yindisystems
Hi Amaree, I've discussed
Hi Amaree,
I've discussed something like this with Ryan in the past week, as we have access to Acquia's "Hello Drupal" course materials which we can start delivering any time from now. This runs for 1.5hrs and is a good general overview of all things Drupal, and Acquia have given the all clear to use it.
Rather than split meetups into two separate sessions, I'd recommend we run this type of mentoring/intro session as a side stream to the main meetup in a separate room or corner for anyone who's interested.
I've already volunteered to start running these, but the ideal would be for it to rotate each month amongst people interested in doing it.
We can either kick off at this month's meetup, or discuss how it can work in more detail to commence in August.
Owen
Owen
I have raised this for the last couple of years and discussed with Ryan re doing it like we do it for Sluglets however this was not wanted hence the discussions I have been having, running it like Learning Drupal London and also on a separate night?
I have been chatting for awhile i will DM you would been keen to have you onboard.
duplicate post
Removed duplicate post
Learning Drupal and User Group meet-up training
I support doing a specific training session at the user group meet-ups, however this really deserves its own user meet-up as they do it in London, I also think it needs a group of people specifically focused in that area. This is something we have discussed for awhile re with Ryan and the last consensus I had was to do something separate and also on a different date. I am really aiming to have something that is not a training specific thing. So this would be some training when needed but also this would be held in a place that was not limited to time frame as much re when people need to be in and also maybe not until as late as to facilitate with people with families etc . I have had some women talk to me about time and access issues and also that the user group as we know can get very competitive and i would like to facilitate a environment that would allow people who dont normally feel comfortable to ask questions to ask?
Would also be much more of a mentoring thing as well and I have some sponsorship for monthly training based prizes etc :) so I think we can do the side trainining at the user group and also have an on going mentoring/learning focused meet-up as they do in London :)
Sounds perfect as originally posted
The idea sounds perfect as originally posted: something to help beginners get their head around Drupal conceptually. Nobody wants to look stupid, so having an environment where people are encouraged to ask the most basic questions is very nurtive. Not sure that it needs a formal structure (like training), as there are courses available. Sometimes just having someone there who will answer question X is of great help. I would encourage people to bring their laptops to do stuff live!
some more thoughts
yep we could do some workshop styles like site administration etc Ivan and myself ran a great workshop on setting up Drupal calendar/date/cck/views modules to create a basic event listing site which you can do in a short time frame but gives people great exposure to key elements of Drupal. We could also do more adhoc training I have done alot of that in the past just more ok this is what im having problems with someone brings there laptop along and it is much more like ok to get X functionality we need to do XYZ in site configuration.
So no module development stuff as much as site configuration and theming then maybe we could use the main user group to do more module / developer stuff? It seems the be that way already and hence in the main user group we do not seem to have time to touch more on site configuration and theming as much as I feel is needed.
Another point is whilst some people with develop for Drupal not everyone will and not every site demands it? most sites these days are running on contributed community code based on the 10,000 modules out there so alot of whats needed is what modules do what how can i get x functionality occurring and how can i customize the look of drupal?
Camp?
The workshop you're mentioning here was at one of the DrupalCamp's we held. There has been some, but not much talk about a Sydney-based Camp/Workshop this year so I haven't pushed it very hard.
If there is enough demand, I'm sure we could run another event like this and I'm happy to help put it together.
Is that what people would like?
--Ryan
Ryan Cross
Drupal Development Services
ProjectPier project management and collaboration software
PHPCamp
Ryan re the PHPCamp I have been discussing with sponsors and mentioned to you in May not a Drupal specific one but that is another thread as they say lol :D
Guest Trainer?
It looks like I'll be in Sydney overnight from time to time for the rest of the year. If the timing is right I'd be happy to offer a session. Most of the stuff I've been offering has been around best practice site building - features, drush etc. Best to get the n00bs using the right tool from the start.
Unfortunately my trips aren't usually planned very much in advance.
would love to have you
would love to have yourself and other people come and discuss these issues, I was really impressed with the Learning Drupal meet-up in London when i was there and also know how much similar meet-ups helped Linux to flourish in the Sydney user base it is important to have people ask those silly little questions and have someone like yourself Dave who is not only knowledgeable but also can talk non dev speak lol : )
Happy to help
Yes, this has been on and off the radar for awhile. When we've run some of the more beginner material before, there has been lots of appreciation but not a high turn out.
We haven't announced an agenda for this month's meetup yet, so I'm happy to use this month as a trial for this if that is of interest. Alternatively, we can try running a side session just for beginners and still have some of the meatier presentations as usual.
I've also talked to a few people about doing other things like the saturday mentoring or support sessions or code sprints, which I'm happy to help organize or contribute to.
For anyone not aware, there is also a meetup group at http://www.meetup.com/drupalsydney/ where people can make suggestions for new events without having to lock something in by announcing it here.
I'll also email a few of you directly to see what we can organize.
--Ryan
Ryan Cross
Drupal Development Services
ProjectPier project management and collaboration software
Learning Drupal Sydney underway
Ryan,
Cool as we have discussed various times will be going ahead with this one as I have sooo many emails etc and people wanting it :) we have never done one yet re the turn out so not sure on the comments above as the emails and conversations that I have are to the contrary, also Ryan remember when we started Drupal Sydney user group meet-ups in 2008 at the pub with 5 people :) if we can help one person feel more comfortable to interact with Drupal.org and also Drupal user groups and DDU at a higher level then our work is done as they say :) Great to hear the code sprint idea as I was waiting back for a response from you on that as you know there are sponsors who are keen to help support I have been looking at doing it as a larger PHPCamp day so any mini sprints etc would be very good, however code sprints are great for developers but not so for Designers or site builders. It is to hard to cater for all people in one meet-up hence the need to have two aka like London Drupal meet-up and London Learning Drupal meet-up. I would like to get this event of the ground as people keep asking me and I am in a great position to help facilitate the Learning Drupal aspect and would love to see more people feel confident to get involved with the larger community or just to have somewhere to feel comfortable to ask silly questions where they wont feel intimidated to do so.
Doing the training thing this month will be good and is well needed at the user group to reach a broader audience, personally im not sure i can make the Drupal user group this month as Cloud Camp is on at the same time :( I plan to kick off learning Drupal next month once we get venue etc sorted out :) there is a definite need for the two groups and as we discussed they will both compliment each other :) the main aim of the Learning Drupal will be to help new people and more specifically non developer types as well ie site builders, systems administrators, designers, solution architects etc :) last time we discussed this Ryan you were all up for another venue and meet-up hence my start of the discussion and organization of sponsors etc
Time/location proximity with
Time/location proximity with the regular meetup would enable us to all meet at the pub afterwards and not keep the two polarized.
I've been working on
I've been working on developing Drupal for little over 6 months and have not been able to find any courses is Sydney. It is needed.
As for numbers it most probable needs to be formalized and promoted, bookings made numbers confirmed as with any training. It also needs some staged training from beginner/administrator through to advanced training. It's a long term strategy but without any structure and long term view it's bound to fail.
Let's me know when your doing it, I'll attend.
EDMEDiA Australia
Same here... been using
Same here... been using Drupal now for about 4 months.
I wouldn't say I was a complete beginner now, but saying that it would be good to know the basics, but I agree some more advanced training would be nice.
Let us know the dates.
happy to help
I run a Drupal training company (International Web Development Academy) and will be in Sydney every now and then - if the timing is right I would be happy to give a presentation or to mentor new users or developers.
Good initiative, amaree! I think a lot of people in the community will support you.
Web Academy
Sounds great would love to have you down here and doing some training and mentoring, thanks for your support appreciated :)
Learning Drupal
I have attended many meet-ups in Sydney, and I was a begainner of Drupal at the first meet-up. As a begainner, it was really hard to catch up with everyone rest in the room. Due to it was not really suit for me as a beginner, after trying study by myself about the basic of drupal and attended 3 times of the meet-up, i partyly understand some, but still struggling almost all the time.
I am really happy and thankful that we could have an another meet-up at the same time for begainners. I have been trying to study by myself and read many books about drupal, but still in a very low level. I hope the new meet-up in Sydney will be a good way for drupal newbies.
pls Count me in. I will attend next week.
see you guys there.
King's coffee
Learning Drupal Sydney :D
Alot of people around Sydney have mentioned the same as you mention above. The meet-up would in no way take away from what the main user group does just another place for people to discuss more entry level concepts and topics. I guess the main reason I was thinking to run it on a different night was just incase people wanted to attend both, however what Pierre said is also good as in we could do it on the same night and then have a more social meet-up afterwards between the two?
The main reason I would like to do this is really because I spent alot of time last year in the UK and was really impressed with what the two groups were doing. I also feel that to help build the community we need to have something were it is not developer centric re design, themeing, business management, site configuration, someone just wanting to build there own blog etc. As a developer though i also feel we need developer centric discussions and deep level chats which is what we cover very well at the current user group. I also like the idea that Melbourne are doing re the mentoring and it seems to be working very well. Also i guess with the numbers we have in Sydney i feel we could support both meet-ups?
We would definitely need a team of people who are willing to help and organise and mentor :D not just one or two I thinking more of a team as they run it in London Learning Drupal?
I have the cloud camp next week but i will cut it short to be at the user group and we can open up a further discussion there, I also think it would be good as Owen will be doing some Hello Drupal stuff, so this would be a great introductory space for the idea.
Learning Drupal
Hi Amaree
I see Melbourne have all day Saturday sessions for people such as myself. I have a project (3 actually) and I am itching to get going but don't seem to make headway with the terminology and really want to.
I would love any sort of a session where some step by step help is available. I would like to think I won't need a lot of sessions but you never know. I have heard you talk at the monthly Drupal Sydney meetings and it's clear you know a lot and are very experienced. Count me in, now I know very little Drupal stuff but I can organise things and maybe make myself helpful to you. Please contact me if you think I can be of help.
Gerard
Sounds great
Hi Aimee,
I think it's a great initiative. Some have suggested that it could be either incorporated into or held concurrently with the current group. But, as you mentioned, some newcomers could feel like they're out of their depth.
How about if we do a round-the-table with everyone each meeting, asking if they have any questions about Drupal? Help with modules, development, theming, etc...
That could give an indication of our level (apologies if that sounds like we are being evaluated) plus give everyone a chance to ask questions freely. Not that we are restricted in speaking freely, but if we don't do a round-the-table at every meeting, some of us simply won't speak up. Many times I don't have a question, but just want to confirm if I chose the right modules, etc.
No question is too stupid or simple. I'll start the first question at the next meeting :)
But a workshop sounds great!
Regards
Colin
Colin Paul Watson
round table
Colin,
Cool idea we have been doing this at the regular meetings however this can work and can not work for some, it seems to be doing ok but we never seem to have enough time to cover the round table plus the mentoring hence people asking to break it into two meet-ups, this month there will be a more formal Hello Drupal workshop. What Learning Drupal Sydney meet-ups would be more along the lines of if people want specific mentoring and going abit more into the theming and site configuration scenarios and yes what modules and also what tools to use, what hosting companies are good, how does someone who does not want to learn to code set-up and site and expand it etc? keen on your thoughts :)
Sounds great
Would welcome any of the training ideas, there are some great cheap meeting places in Sydney.
cheers,
Leon
Canberra newbie interested to attend
Hello all,
I'd love to participate in something like this and I'd be willing to travel up from Canberra if it was held on a day over the weekend.
Cheers,
Ben
Based on experience with existing workshops
The following comments are based on experience giving and attending workshops on software and technology.
I give free open workshops for beginners, Sydney, Australia, training (http://drupal.org/node/60470). There are at least three groups interested in learning about Drupal and the introductory session for each is different. If you mix the types, you need more time and fewer students.
Some are available mid week. Some on Saturday. If you can get four or more people into a room, I am happy to teach. CBD, North Shore, Parramatta, Canberra (on weekends (A room at a winery would be great!)).
The most popular time is Saturday, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. I can fit up to six people here. There is excellent caffeine within walking distance. Four hours with that size group allows lots of time for questions.
Running a workshop for beginners along side other training/conference sessions fails because most beginners have a specific interest that brings them to Drupal and they go off to the specific interest sessions. Do the beginner intro a week or two in advance so people can experiment for a few hours before tackling a conference or regular session.
If your training mentions the DOS/Unix command line, you fail to reach more than 90 percent of the people who would really like to know more about Drupal.
petermoulding.com/web_architect
Educational Instruction
HI Peter,
I am looking at a Learning Drupal Meet-up, this would be monthly and would be ad-hoc workshops style but more of a mentoring Drupal and also a place for Themers and site administrators to get together and discuss. Also re training methods I am a researcher in educational psychology and also Cognitive Load Theory and these teach us that the most important thing when delivering information is the design of the instruction. Another important area of my research is the difference that experts and novices need. There is a definite difference in how we need to approach things when first learning a topic to when we are an expert in that topic and hence my want to add the learning Drupal meet-up.
I think your idea of open training workshops is good and welcomed and would add to the environment and community in Sydney but does not take away from the need for a Learning Drupal Sydney meet-up but it could add to it and be a great place for people to raise subjects or ideas like that :D
Educational Instruction
removed duplicate post
Acquia Drupal Training in AU & NZ
Hi everyone,
This thread spurred us on to get our Acquia Drupal Training course details nailed down, which you can check out at http://www.learndrupal.com.au
This has been a few months in the works, and we've been working closely with Acquia to refine the Drupal 7 materials with some on-site courses before taking it public. This is now all ready, so we're going to dip our toe in the water with public training in Sydney and Melbourne, with other cities to follow if the demand's there. We can also run any of these courses on-site anywhere in Australia and New Zealand.
We've got a who's who of awesome Drupal trainers approved to run these courses, including Simon Hobbs, James Gollan, Bevan Rudge, Kim Pepper and David Peterson, and the curriculum covers everything from a general Drupal introduction through to advanced module development.
Just so I don't get overly flamed for a commercial posting - we totally support all of the efforts in getting a community driven learning/mentoring programs and envisage there'll be a good flow of people from Acquia's courses into the Drupal community and vice versa. Commercial training hopefully plugs the gap for people wanting a structured way to come up to speed quickly, with the community there to mentor and guide them once they're up and running.
We need a minimum of 8 people to run any of the public training courses each month, with the first ones scheduled for late August, so jump on the site and check out what's available at http://bit.ly/queu65 if you're interested.
We'd also welcome any feedback about the courses being offered, pricing approach etc. to training@previousnext.com.au
Cheers!
Free Learning Drupal Sydney Meet-up
Owen thats cool for formal training and those that have the money to spend in this economic climate, however what I have proposed above is a free user group meet-up in the same fashion as Learning Drupal London do, so whilst its cool to promote your training classes this thread is about a free community driven learning drupal meet-up that will cover both Drupal 6 and Drupal 7 and also be a mentoring place/space for newbies. Also as the regular meet-ups get very developer heavy I would like to see a space that facilitates designers and site administrators to feel they can discuss things that might not be so developer orientated or specific.
removed some comments below as I did not mean it as any negative feedback and just encase it was seen that way I do think it is fantastic with an increase in public training offers. Also it seems that the are a couple of different solutions on offer to suit various economic demographics which can only be a good thing and help grow the community xD
Training Resources
As there has been alot of discussion about training resources I would point people to the below if they would like a more formal training in their own time
http://acquia.com/resources/recorded_webinars are all free webinars, Acquia run them often and have a reserve of old ones recorded please note though Acquia Drupal is slightly different to drupal you download from drupal.org :)
Also http://drupalize.me/ is definitely the best in regards to formal training from core developers and also something you can access in your own time. Pricing can be found here http://drupalize.me/signup
If you like you can purchase the DVD's as well if you are concerned about bandwidth at the LullaBot shop http://store.lullabot.com/
I myself would vouch for Lullabot as I first started using the training materials in 2008 and attended there Deep Dive workshop in London 2010 and it was fantastic had WebChick, Addison Berry and Randy Fay as instructors which was great however as there is only so much you can get from face to face training I found the videos is where i did my main training and then the face to face is where i spent most of my time going ok what if this or i have this question and have you ever come across this lol :D
When it comes to training you need to find what fits and what suits you some people like and prefer the face to face method so something like what is offered above re the classroom style will work best, other people have hectic life and prefer the learn at your own pace style. Some silly people with no life (like me lol) like both :D
CMS Training Weekend proposal
I would love to talk to some people who mentioned public training and maybe we could organise a training bonanza in Sydney over a weekend? I was looking at doing a PHPCamp weekend however it sounds from above we may need a training weekend, ok leave that idea with me and ill come back to everyone and start a new thread on that level.
Also thanks for everyones comments, great to see so much debate and discussion and also so many trainers comming out of the wood work :) I dont think people realised there was so many so great to see the opportunities growing in this space and it seems like everyone have there own approach :)
Learning Drupal Sydney meet-up group started
I started a Learning Drupal Sydney meet-up group the other day http://www.meetup.com/Learning-Drupal-Sydney/
I will announce both here and on the group later this week a proposal for a first meet-up as always happy to hear on dates and days also we can change the dates/days and locations to help suit people. Also ideas for topics etc I will post on the meet-up group and get people to mention what they want. I will be in touch with the people who put there hand up to help with the group as I am not looking to do this myself.
I guess I just wanted to facilitate the start of the group but would like it run as a group where people can interchange so to speak as not all of us are available all the time :)
Peer study group idea
[ Just editing this post - I don't want my alternative suggestion to be seen as saying whatever Aimee is considering is a bad idea. It's a good idea and I am just showing this OTHER idea, which you can take or leave! Right now - just get out there and do eet! You need to form the group first and see who gathers around the flagpole. ]
"I learn by going where I need to go" - Roethke
Heya Aimee! That is great ;) the more learning opportunities- the better.
We need different formats, price points, locations, times of day, etc. I wouldn't worry about diluting the user group. You will be attracting more people and more diverse ppl who can join the main group.
Owen mentioned Hello Drupal- which I developed after observing patterns in meet up groups. I prepared it as a 1.5 or 3 hour session. 1.5 could be done as an "open night" at a meet up. The 3 hour session as a half-day at a Camp or the day before the camp.
http://training.Acquia.com/hellodrupal if anyone would like to see a special message from Dries about it.
I wanted to make a "welcome mat" for meet-ups with Hello Drupal, and make an easy "out of the box"/"just works" session for devs to run with little prep. I still need feedback to make it better. There are essential points based on a survey I did last year- "what I wish I knew" from 200+ Drupal ppl.
The only thing I would say about the London format is the potential for burnout and abuse.
There's no clear top and tail. You somehow have to get an influx of experienced devs to mentor... Keep in mind- London, a FT "director of training" from io1 set it up. And I see now, Fintan organises it, he is director of the same Drupal consultancy. And Sally, a Lullabot does many of the sessions. So essentially, Paula was "paid" to set it up and there's people who are paid FT to keep it ticking. I mean they may not have been specifically paid, but it fits in the context of their employment.
So if you run it fully volunteer driven, you'd need to find a way to refresh it.
I think another good model was developed by Lynn Bender at Geek Austin. 6 week peer-learning groups around a topic. He did theming.
You could have 3-6 week sessions each quarter. And the participants could organise a guest speaker possibly and share learning resources.
Check this out for more info- I can introduce you to Lynn if you like.
http://geekaustin.org/event/2010/07/11/geekaustin-drupal-theming-study-g...
I like this for a few reasons:
1) Clear beginnings can also help with the problem when new people join. I see that as the main problem when new people join an already existing club. That in itself can be intimidating. In this way - the beginning is the start for everyone joining, and the group gets time to form relationships. Then they can build on it and take that shared experience into the wider community.
2) Project based learning and learning experiences over time are effective. Good questions can be discovered and solved, and hopefully learner is doing that within some kind of authentic practice (a personal or professional project).
3) With peer learning groups, the participants are responsible for teaching themselves and others; sharing investigations and taking turns. This can make it easier than a top- down model, where the expectation is that a teacher or trainer has to do "all the work". It's a lot to ask that a mentor provide free, ongoing support and guidance for no remuneration.
4) You also want to avoid Help Vampires and find a way to make participants accountable- that they "pay" through returning the favour and making contributions/mentoring others. Where are you going to draw the line between mentoring and consulting? because there are people who will cross it. (Oh if I had a DIME!) Having an "end" can make it more clear- when it's over where they can go next.
I love me some volunteering, but I also like to consider sustainability.
If you've run other volunteer groups, and never experienced burnout, then ignore point #4!!
We have so much work to do - to get the variety and accessibility of Drupal learning opportunities out there. The more the better.
Anyway! Best way to answer these questions is to DO.
fantasic points to consider
Hi Heather :)
Thank you for the above comments, all very valid points and you are right about all four main points. I agree the burn-out way to much for one person to do on there own and a group would need to be able to rotate people and allow people to take time out when needed. I know Paula briefly and knew she started working with Lullabot last year when I was overseas however was unaware of the funding points something to consider.
I wont say to much as you have covered alot and there is alot for everyone to take in, thank you for your contribution appreciated. I will take on the above points and be contacting people over the next couple of weeks. I would like to see a first meet-up happen maybe last week of August or maybe even in September, nothing to soon or fast as there is alot to take on. Also I would not mind getting in a contact with Melbourne Mentoring group to hear how they are doing and also how we can look at incorporating something like that. Initally i was thinking 1.5hour sessions nothing to late as in Sydney alot of people travel and dont like to be on trains late especially in Winter with the cold. We could even do it every second month? re the meeting? anyways I will start a poll etc at the meet-up link posted above and continue a discussion for people to comments on time/ dates/ frequency and also content.
Re the 3to 6 week course funny you mention that as I was thinking and discussing with a Sydney educational institution about running it as an add-on (extra curriculum course) for external parties over a period of 6 or 8 weeks, one day per week. This I would love to discuss with Lynn and do a specifc theming one as there tends to be a lack of training and even themers around Sydney
Once again thanks for your comments, I will keep the post updated and also the meet-up page anyone keen on helping to organise please contact me through Drupal or give me a hola on twitter @aimee_maree
re training mentioned above
re the thememing training above was just an idea I was playing with, nothing planned for the moment and was also looking at it from a CMS theming perspective ie for Drupal/WordPress/Joomla/Moodle so nothing set in concrete there. Just incase people were wondering, looks really good what Lynn is doing. As most people know from Drupal Sydney I love my theming and Site configuration so really want to help push this aspect along. I hope this thread has not upset anyone or stepped on anyones toes. When i first started doing Drupal was back in 2008 and there was nothing like what is mentioned above on offer in Sydney I would look at posts from the USA and go wow if only :) Now we have a thriving community and so it seems above a very diverse community and also a very healthy community. I was thinking I should create another post where people can list training not just in Sydney but for the whole of Australia? This would also serve as a great landing/starting place for people who are new to Drupal or people looking to advance there skillset.
Once again thank you everyone for the flurry of comments and discussion. I will be at the Sydney User Group meet-up this month and hopefully have a brief discussion on what the aim might be for Learning Drupal Sydney and also who we can get involved from the community.
There has been some points raised above; i will try to capture some below;
Once again thanks everyone and feel free to keep adding thoughts and also to check us out on http://www.meetup.com/Learning-Drupal-Sydney
This evening I will be in touch will people re getting together a group of Senior Drupalistas (Developers, Themers, Site Builders) anyone else please feel free to contact me via drupal.org member contact form :)
Learning Drupal Sydney meet-up group started
Hi, I'd be grateful to get dates and address for the learning drupal meet-up. thanks for setting it up. i'll check out the site you mention above amaree.
Tentative dates for Sydney
Hi all I have put up some tentative dates on http://www.meetup.com/Learning-Drupal-Sydney/ let me know thoughts I will also once confirmed hopefully next week or so get them listed in the group as an event :)