Downtown Drupal Meetup at Droplabs on May 6, 2014: Drupal Show & Tell

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christefano's picture
Start: 
2014-05-06 19:00 - 21:00 America/Los_Angeles
Event type: 
User group meeting

The 1st Tuesday of the month is coming up again and it's time for another Downtown Drupal Meetup! Join us at Droplabs near Downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, May 6, 2014 between 7-9pm Pacific. This meetup is free and there will be food, drinks, and raffle prizes!

Are you new to Drupal or the Downtown Drupal meetup? Come learn about Drupal and how others like yourself are using it for their project, business or organization. We promise not to talk down to you.

At this meetup we're having Drupal Show & Tell. After some quick introductions and light news and announcements, we'll be going into 5-minute presentations (called lightning talks) on what each attendee is working on. Everyone who attends will be expected to present on something.

Did you recently attend a great Drupal or tech event that you want to tell us about? Are you currently having a problem that you need help with? Did you solve a problem recently and now have a solution to share with the group? You'll have up to 5 minutes to present and then up to 5 more minutes for Q&A with the other attendees. We'll be using a chess clock to make sure that everyone has enough time.

That's right, it's like Drupal speed chess! (The difference, of course, is that we're not really competing. We're here to teach and learn and not "smack down" anybody.)

Those interested in attending this meetup remotely are welcome to join the webcast. The same meeting format will apply to those who attend online. Be ready to present!

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Exaltation of Larks - Expert Drupal strategy, consulting, development and training Our technical sponsor and a raffle prize sponsor for this event is Exaltation of Larks, a Drupal design and engineering firm with a team of Drupal experts in Los Angeles. Visit us at www.larks.la and follow us at @LarksLA to learn more about our Drupal services and upcoming trainings.

Droplabs Los Angeles Our organizing sponsor is Droplabs (@Droplabs), a coworking space, classroom and computer lab in Downtown Los Angeles, California. We're the leading low-cost coworking space in the Greater Los Angeles Area and have services, programs and workspaces that are uniquely designed for entrepreneurs, freelancers, remote workers and lifelong learners.

What to Bring

Just bring your laptop, your business cards or whatever else you need. You're also welcome to bring some light food, sodas or beers to share with others at the meetup.

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

At this meetup we're having Drupal Show & Tell. After some quick introductions and light news and announcements, we'll be going into 5-minute presentations (called lightning talks) on what each attendee is working on. Everyone who attends will be expected to present on something.

Did you recently attend a great Drupal or tech event that you want to tell us about? Are you currently having a problem that you need help with? Did you solve a problem recently and now have a solution to share with the group? You'll have up to 5 minutes to present and then up to 5 more minutes for Q&A with the other attendees. We'll be using a chess clock to make sure that everyone has enough time.

That's right, it's like Drupal speed chess! (The difference, of course, is that we're not really competing. We're here to teach and learn and not "smack down" anybody.)

Due to this particular meetup's meeting format, the end time for this meeting is fairly fluid and is determined by the number of attendees. Once the meeting is over we'll finish off the night with more networking and a Drupal After Dark.

Our meeting starts promptly at 7pm, so if you're somewhere nearby for happy hour please be sure to request your check along with your food order.

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.

   6:55pm
   Projector and Tables / Chairs Setup
   Webcast Begins

   7:00pm
   Introductions
   News & Upcoming Events, including:
     Drupal Boot Camp at Droplabs, dates TBD
     Drupal Coworking Friday and Indie Code Sprints on May 9, 2014
     Quick review of our Drupal Organizers Meetup on April 22, 2014
     DrupalCamp LA, September 6-7, 2014;

   7:30pm
   Drupal Show-and-Tell   
Raffle Prizes!

   Wrap-up, Clean-up and Close-up
   Drupal After Dark and More Networking

Join us on Twitter and Webcast!

Webcast

The details for our webcast are found below. To use Zoom, first install the software for desktop or mobile: https://zoom.us/support/download

Join from dial-in phone line:

  • Dial: +1 (415) 762-9988 or +1 (646) 568-7788
  • Meeting ID: 314 665 870
  • Participant ID: Shown after joining the meeting
  • International numbers available: https://glad.zoom.us/zoomconference

Those interested in attending this meetup remotely are welcome to join the webcast. The same meeting format will apply to those who attend online. Be ready to present!

Twitter

During the meetup, the event organizers will be monitoring Twitter for feedback and questions that mention @GLADrupal.

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

Our raffle prizes at meetups 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 either before or during the meetup. Thank you!

Location & Directions

   Droplabs
   651 Clover St.
   Los Angeles, CA 90031

Droplabs Los Angeles Droplabs is in the Mission Junction neighborhood of Los Angeles at Big Art Labs, just 1 mile down Main St. from Union Station and Philippes (the first-ever venue for Drupal meetups in Southern California!). We're one block west of The Brewery, the largest live-and-work artists' colony in the world.

Free parking in our large parking lot is first-come, first-served. After parking in the lot, follow the yellow signs that point to Droplabs. (If our lot is full, you can park for free on Clover St.)

Droplabs is a brief walk from the Main St. / Lamar St. stop on the the Metro Local 76 bus line. This is also the Lincoln Heights / Chinatown DASH stop.

To carpool or catch the Droplabs shuttle from Union Station, post below in the comments.

About Greater Los Angeles Drupal

With several weekly and monthly events, the Greater Los Angeles Area is one the most active areas for Drupal in the world.

Formerly named Downtown Los Angeles Drupal, we've been meeting regularly in and around Downtown Los Angeles, California, since early 2010, and now organize a large number of events in the area. Our signature events include the Greater Los Angeles Drupal Camp (GLADCamp, the Drupal Job Fairs and the Downtown Drupal, San Gabriel Valley Drupal, Hollywood Drupal and High Performance Drupal meetups.

Our members and organizers have produced hundreds of Drupal events, including job fairs, meetups and workshops, conferences, paid trainings, coworking days, study group sessions, movie outings, FREE tutoring sessions from Drupal professionals, and website barnraisings to benefit non-profits and members of our community.

Attending Drupal events in the Greater Los Angeles Area 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 Greater Los Angeles Drupal events are an essential resource for Drupal professionals and hobbyists alike.

If you aren't already a member of Greater 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/node/219129  

We proudly participate in the California Drupal Travelers Program, which aims to connect businesses and community members who are visiting the area with our local community and events. Inquire within by contacting any of the Greater Los Angeles Drupal organizers, or by joining the global Drupal Hospitality Network.

Sign Up!

Sign up below to receive the meetup's date, time, location and webcast instructions by email. An automatic email reminder will also be sent 1 day before the event.

Comments

What's everyone presenting

christefano's picture

What's everyone presenting on? I'll be demoing the integration module for Network for Good that we're using at Friday5.org:

   https://www.friday5.org

I just rolled an official release for this a few days ago and invite everyone to check it out:

   http://drupal.org/project/nfg

Over on Meetup.com, Paul

christefano's picture

Over on Meetup.com, Paul wrote:

"I thought I would present on some trouble shooting techniques I have used in site building. What to do if you get an error message instead of your site."

See you tonight, everyone!

Meetup is from 7-9pm

christefano's picture

The time for this meetup is 7-9pm, not 5-7pm as it originally said. Sorry for the confusion and thanks to jmosmith for noticing!

Commerce Platform

christefano's picture

I just received permission to demo Commerce Platform, the hosting platform by Commerce Guys that's been in development for some time now. Here's the info page:

   https://marketplace.commerceguys.com/platform

Ryan Szrama has graciously agreed to answer our questions about Commerce Platform. I'll gladly collect everyone's questions tonight and forward them over to him.

Will there be a video

nodiac's picture

Will there be a video conference?

Kraken Digital Media & Technology
Founder
http://www.larks.la  
Droplabs
Robot Coordinator
http://droplabs.net  
Greater Los Angeles Drupal
Organizer, Dragonslayer
http://drupal.la &n

Those interested in attending

christefano's picture

Those interested in attending this meetup remotely are welcome to join the webcast. The same meeting format will apply to those who attend online. Be ready to present!

To use Zoom, first install the software for desktop or mobile: https://zoom.us/support/download

   Please click https://glad.zoom.us/j/314665870 to start or join
   Or, go to https://glad.zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID: 314 665 870

Join from dial-in phone line:

   Dial: +1 (415) 762-9988 or +1 (646) 568-7788
   Meeting ID: 314 665 870
   Participant ID: Shown after joining the meeting
   International numbers available: https://glad.zoom.us/zoomconference

Tonight's meetup was amazing!

christefano's picture

Tonight's meetup was amazing! Thanks to everyone who came.

Literally everyone who attended gave a presentation:

  • Michele, a newcomer to the group, asked us about Drupal fundamentals. We gladly described the project and open source in general.
  • Lee presented on user story maps and her modification to make it work with Drupal roles. (Lee, can you post a link?)
  • Paul walked us through Workbench Moderation and Rules and how he approached the situation when he encountered a conflict between them.
  • Stew presented on PHP arrays. (Stew, can you post your slides?)
  • Joe described his journey through Vegas Background jQuery Plugin, Backstretch and the background image slideshow module and how he ended up with the Photo theme. "We're going to get Vegas working."
  • Steve impressed us with ASARV.com, for autonomous search and rescue vehicles. A remote-controlled helicopter that has a flight time of 30 minutes and payload of 20 pounds and built on 100% open source software, including OpenCV.
  • Christefano (that's me) presented on Commerce Platform, the hosting service from Commerce Guys, which has a different approach to deployment using Drush make.
  • Bill Dawson show us the Drupal site his company, Motion Picture Space, uses to help people in the entertainment industry find jobs.
  • Jeff Nutting showed his work with the Sierra Club and how he's helping their content team get Drupal content ready to copy and paste for email newsletters.
  • Mike talked about his custom software that compares the output from various web services that provide third-party JavaScript files embedded on his sites.
  • James presented on communication problems between team members and how to improve transmission of information.

No Copy and Paste

fejn's picture

Correction: the point of my presentation was to set things up so that the Sierra Club does NOT have to copy and paste material for their newsletter: using Drupal's Print module, they should be able to click a button on the page, & send out that page formatted as a newsletter or PDF.Drupal manages all the messy details.

PHP Arrays