Last night's DBUG Meetup in Denver was another packed house. At the end of the event we did a quick straw poll to gauge people's interested in a third event (in addition to the monthly meetup and Drupal Ladder). People overwhelmingly were interested in adding another event.
There seemed to be a lot of interest in a more informal event, such as an open office night, that would allow people to talk Drupal, but also socialize.
However, part of the point of having another meetup would be to accomodate people who currently don't attend either of the current events. So, this is also an opportunity for anyone to chime in here who didn't last night (though DBUG attendees are welcome to share their opinions too :).
Generally, it would be good to hear people's thoughts on: time, location, and format/focus.
e.g.: I am interested in an event that happened sometime Wed-Fri after 6pm where people could hang out and work on Drupal together.
So, what are people's thoughts?
Comments
One idea that was tossed out
One idea that was tossed out (rickmanelius initially IIRC?) was something that parallels the Linux User Groups "hackfest" and/or "installfest" of Drupal. This would be where people bring in a laptop and "project" (or "issue") that is Drupal related with some "Drupal guru's" chiming in. This seems to parallel the #drupal-colorado IRC to some degree, just "in person". There seemed to be some decent and positive feedback/response to such with more input on the logistics.
Other than Tuesday
I prefer Wed-Fri evenings. The interactive, bring a laptop and a project, format sounds great to me.
hand-on format
The hands on, bring a laptop and a project format is what I hope for. Just because of a long-term commitment, I would prefer the meetup not be on Thursdays.
What if we had a google
What if we had a google hangout at certain times on a weekly or bi-weekly basis? This would require less effort for people to attend and would give them a hybrid of a virtual and in person meeting. That way people can still do presentations by sharing their screen, but they won't be locationally challenged to attend. This also makes it very easy for anyone to ask questions and share their screen to show what they are struggling with, plus you can easily record these hangouts for anyone to view later. Just a thought, I could always start a hangout at a certain time and if anyone wants to attend they can jump in, otherwise I'll just keep doing my own work.
The main down side of this is that there will be no free beer and pizza, which I suspect helps draw people to these events. :P
sounds promising
I'd have to see how this works in practice, but it sounds promising.
South, weekend, informal
I would be interested in a meetup on the south side of Denver, maybe near University of Denver or the Denver Tech Center, on a weekend, and with the informal agenda-free focus.
South
I used to attend the meet-ups regularly, but it is a pain for me to get there. Now that the attendance is so much stronger than it was then, I don't feel quite as compelled to make the effort, especially when it snows.
Since I live in Parker, I would really like to see something on the south side. The Tech center area would be great!
In San Francisco, we have a
In San Francisco, we have a monthly meetup (in addition to the normal users group) called "Users helping users." It's very similar to the informal event that is being described - people of all levels come, some bring an issue they're struggling with, some just come to help out and offer advice/share their experience, and in general people just sit around and talk about Drupal for a couple of hours. I think it's a really nice addition to the standard presentation-followed-by-mingling format.
South Denver Drupal Group??
I work out of the Innovation Pavilion, a business incubator off I-25 and Dry Creek Road, near the Ikea. They'd love to host a regular Drupal meetup -- and I'd love to be more involved, but I, too, live out near "Kansas", so it's hard to make all the meetings.
Headcount: who's interested? Reply here ... if there's enough interest, I'll gladly help organize this.
I'm in
Sounds great to me.
I'd be up for a south denver
I'd be up for a south denver meetup
I'm 15 minutes away from
I'm 15 minutes away from there, so heck yeah!
south denver!
Hey all-I've been meaning to get to the Tuesday night downtown gatherings forEVAR, but logistically, it just doesn't work out! I would LOVE a south denver meet-up since I live/work near the Tech Center. Arapahoe Library District (my employer) also has public meeting rooms available at our Castlewood and Koelbel branches, which are just west of I-25/the Tech Center on Arapahoe/Orchard, respectively.
Nina McHale
@ninermac
Developer
Aten Design Group
I'm up for south meeting
I'm up for south meeting also. I don't mind the drive downtown but my issue is more around conflicting schedule every meeting lately...
South Denver Yes
I live in Castle Rock and would be much more inclined to participate.
mash
Did someone say South? Yee-ha!
Oh, wait. You said South DENVER...
Still good!
Looking at the schedules, a good balance would be either Mondays or Thursdays of the second week of each month.
South Denver Drupal Meetup Inaugural Meeting
Databoy: thanks for checking the various schedules!
I checked with the Innovation Pavilion, and the second Monday of the month works very well. I took the liberty of reserving the event center for Monday, March 11, at 6:30pm. See http://ipcentennial.com for location, etc. If that works, we can make the 2nd Monday a standing event.
I suggest we start with the same format as the Denver meeting. We should use some time to talk about organizational things; i.e., how do best serve each other? But does anyone want to offer a topic up to share with the group?
And, does anyone want to sponsor pizza/soda/beer?
How's this work for everyone? Reply with suggestions ...
meeting format
As for meeting format, the near consensus at last Tuesday's meeting was in favor of a hands-on, "bring a laptop and a project" meeting. I'm certainly looking for something more like that than just another meeting like the 4th Tuesday one.
As for a hands on meetup,
As for a hands on meetup, there is the Drupal Ladder sprints that happen on the third Thursday of every month at Aten Design Group in Denver and Applied Trust in Boulder. Those are hands on meetups. :)
South Denver Drupal Meetup Inaugural Meeting
Thanks for taking the initiative to start something in the south. Location and time sound great. I'd like forward to participating. IPCentennial.com looks neat. -Dave
Thanks Jono! I'll be able to
Thanks Jono!
I'll be able to make the first one. Then some prior commitments kick in, but that's okay. I'll be back soon after that.
It's scheduled!
See http://www.meetup.com/InnovationPavilion/events/106941572/ -- and I posted it as a suggested meetup in the Colorado Drupal Meetup group.
So ... let's meet!
groups.drupal.org event?
Great to see this coming together so quickly. Jono, can you post the event on groups.drupal.org too? There's a lot of people on here who aren't on meetup.
Posted ...
sreynen, I took the liberty of listing you as an organizer ... thanks!
Thanks Jono
This looks fantastic!
new beginning
I could never make it up north either, but always wanted to. Looking Forward to the first meeting.