Posted by steve hanson on August 9, 2014 at 6:16pm
Hi -
We're interested in the possibility of starting a Drupal group in the Chippewa Valley -- Menomonie, Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, etc.
We'd like to know if anyone would be interested in meeting up in, for example, Eau Claire? So - anyone in NW Wisconsin let me know if you'd be interested in meeting.
Comments
I would!
I keep telling everyone here at TCDC that I only know of one Drupal person in my area -- you! I would love it if there was a meetup within a reasonable driving distance. I could do Eau Claire if it's not scheduled too late in the evening.
Actually there are others -
Just trying to flush some of them out of the woodwork! Also trying to figure out if there is a way to "grow" more Drupalistas in the area.
Steve Hanson
Cruiskeen Consulting LLC - http://www.cruiskeenconsulting.com
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That would be wonderful if you could. I'm rather jealous of all the people that get to have regular Drupal meetups. Driving to the TC or Madison just isn't an option for me for a meetup, especially since they tend to be in the evenings.
So start something ;-)
I suggest you put out a Doodle Poll and see when people are available in the coming month(s) -- day of week, time, etc. I work at UWEC's McIntyre Library, and can 'sponsor' use of our computer lab for a meetup. I just can't spare the time to organize it.
Initial Drupal/Web meetup poll
I've stuck up a poll to try to pick a date in early September. It's on the web715 web site - please feel free to wander over and sign up for a time. The poll there is definitely an experiment, so let me know if you have trouble with it.
Hmm -- that's interesting. Seem to be some time zone bugs in the module I used - I think I've now patched them into oblivion, but am not completely convinced. Give it a whirl and let me know what you think.
http://web715.com/content/web715-meetup-poll
Steve Hanson
Cruiskeen Consulting LLC - http://www.cruiskeenconsulting.com
Survey says
So - the results from the survey on meeting times seems to indicate that Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 7 PM are the winners!
Steve Hanson
Cruiskeen Consulting LLC - http://www.cruiskeenconsulting.com
Ignored survey?
Here's hoping you get at least a few people!
Great! Let's do this!
Coincidentally, we have a meetup scheduled in Eau Claire for tomorrow. Hopefully you can all make it :-)))
Steve, I totally forgot to tell you about it at the TCDrupal Camp, but I am glad to see you are wrangling up the Drupallers on your own.
The meeting times, dates, and locations are totally flexible. I was planning on a social gathering at first to find interested people with the option of moving to the UWEC library, the computer lab sounds like a great bonus...even though there are mini group work-stations available on the first floor for the public.
Eau-Claire-Drupal
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I can't tomorrow. I just got home from TCDrupal yesterday. LOL! I'm definitely interested in future ones, though. It's farther than I realized... 1.5 hours. Still doable, though, as long as I don't stay too late.
Future gatherings
Unfortunately, I cannot make it either. When you are discussing future dates, I am available on Mon, Tue & Th evenings, and will 'sponsor' space in the McIntyre Library computer lab or another space, if that's helpful.
And if you create a user group on groups.drupal.org, please let me know so I can join it. When I lived in Salt Lake City, the Drupal Groups site was where I and others learned of the user group in our area.
Thanks!
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Oh, and as far as creating a group goes, I need to put my GDO site maintainer hat on a moment. :) I don't think creating yet another group just for Eau Claire makes sense at this point since we try to encourage larger, more active groups rather than a bunch of tiny ones.
Two options that would avoid creating another group:
Rename Rochester & La Crosse to match the description which would include Eau Claire already.
Use this Wisconsin group and set up taxonomy to separate the western Wisconsin stuff from the Madison/Milwaukee stuff.
For that matter, it might be worth seeing if anyone in the other group is from outside of Wisconsin and, if not, just roll that group into here as well as it never got much traction.
Yup
I agree with all of the above --- For the time being I think we should just leave this in the Wisconsin group - we might want to think about calling it something like Wisconsin715 or something like that if we want to rename the Rochester/LaCrosse group. But at the moment I think this is a good place to live - no point in continuing to fragment the namespace.
You might also want to take a look at http://web715.com -- I put that up more as an experiment than anything else a while back. It has not gotten a lot of traction. I'm willing to hear any and all ideas.
Steve Hanson
Cruiskeen Consulting LLC - http://www.cruiskeenconsulting.com
715?
I'm guessing that's the area code? If so, keep in mind that leaves out a good chunk of the area that the R/L group was aimed at. I realize groups usually accept people from outside the area but, if we end up creating a brand new group, it might be nice to name it something more inclusive from the start. :)
Names
How about a funny but memorable amalgamation of names, such as:
Or...?
Ha!
I like EauRocLa, personally, since it sounds kind of like "Eureka!" ;)
Not that I am anywhere near this user group's stomping grounds. ;)
Cripes Jess
Why not come up? I promise I won't try to take your picture :-)
Steve Hanson
Cruiskeen Consulting LLC - http://www.cruiskeenconsulting.com
Is Rochester a factor?
Might be worth finding out if there is anyone in Rochester that is interested in joining this group rather than doing something in Minnesota like TC. If we are all in Wisconsin, then Western Wisconsin would be sufficient to separate us from the Madison/Milwaukee/Green Bay folks. (Feel free to come up with a funnier one... I'm not that creative this early in the morning. ;) )
Since this thread has morphed into more than just Chippewa Valley, I added in the R/L group to the original post.
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I can't make the next one, either, looks like, as it's on the day of the open house at my kids' school. As far as coordinating, I have camera club the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays so would never be able to make it if they end up on those dates. I don't expect you to work the schedule around me, especially since I'm the farthest away and wouldn't make every meeting, but I thought I'd throw that out there just in case. :)