Stepping Down as Organizer

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Techivist's picture

Howdy fellow LA Drupaleros.

It's been an honor working with all the other Organizers in LA & throughout SoCal & in being in service to the community by bringing Drupal to the masses. I started in Drupal in '07 but not until I met Mike Stewart & Chris Charlton at SCALE in '08 did I even know that gdo existed (I owe them a cold beverage for warmly welcoming me into the community). I was excited about the meetups but thought we could be spreading more Drupal love by having meetups that were closer to where other folks lived/worked &, thus, more accessible. I wanted to do my little part, so my idea for DowntownDrupal was born (& in 2010 it officially launched). At our first official meetup, more than 1/2 the attendees said they'd never attended a Drupal meetup or DrupalCampLA so my hunch was accurate & it fueled me to keep going with more Drupal & community-building.

It's been so inspiring to see the sheer amount of work put in as folks took up the reigns to bring Drupal to their communities, as well- from Hollywood to Burbank to Long Beach to the SGV, to the IE all the way down to the OC & of course the OG (no, not Organic Groups hehe), the main Westside meetup. That's a LOT of Drupal! And it's a lot of folks who should be commended for their initial efforts and continued work. I have mad love & respect for them, their work & their community-building efforts.

I'm not going anywhere, I've just been focusing on other community initiatives- starting a Spanish-speaking Drupal/Open Source user group, helping out with various hackathons & am working on bringing more tech/hackathons to traditionally under-served communities & teens/youth. If anyone here ever needs any help with an event or wants to just talk community-building & Drupal, I'd be more than happy to help out or lend an ear.

Cheers & hope to cy'all this Summer!

Comments

Miguel, You were the first

philosurfer's picture

Miguel,

You were the first person I met at a Drupal meetup back in 2009 and showed me with Open arms how awesome this community really is.

I look forward to your efforts on the youth and spanish initiatives. I have personally seen an explosion of Drupal adoption by larger and larger organizations from here to Chile in the last year. I would much rather see work moving South instead of East my friend ;-)

And with the growing number of youth looking for a place to fit in, the Drupal community is a perfect place to expose the next generation to a market rapidly growing in demand. We need more Devs!

Please keep us all posted on these events so the rest of us can help align resources as needed.

And feel free to crosspost as needed :D

-mc


          "we are the cult of personality."

Thanks for the kind words,

Techivist's picture

Thanks for the kind words, Mariano.

Well, to me community-building is about being friendly, open & accessible to all. I've always felt that being welcoming to folks is what makes or breaks community so I would always seek out new faces to say hi. I still recall that conversation with you cuz I was enthralled by your history as a techie & your travels.

And I cross-posted cuz I wanted to thank some of the organizers in other local groups for also being welcoming & sharing some of their knowledge & experiences with me. Specifically, I think the team down in OC is great & really embodies community spirit. I've learned quite a bit just in observing you, William & John. I just wish I could make more of the OCDrupal/PHP meetups.

p.s. speaking of Chile, SO close from a monumental upset over Brasil in the World Cup just now. ;)

Miguel Hernandez - www.migshouse.com
Founder & CEO - The OpenMindz Group
Writer- Linux Journal & TechZulu

We've been thinking of you a

christefano's picture

We've been thinking of you a lot, Miguel, and we miss you.

Starting Downtown Drupal together was a high point for Drupal here in Los Angeles (we hit over 70 attendees at those meetups!) and I'll always think fondly of those times.

Hopefully we'll see each other at other events. I'll be at the Downtown Drupal meetup tomorrow and at the LA2050 event on Wednesday and hope to see you there.