Tampa Bay Area Anyone?

Posted by drupalpanda on April 23, 2010 at 8:08pm

Are there any other Drupal people in the Tampa area? Anyone go to DrupalCon in San Fran? Looking to see if we have any locals out there - Sarasota/Bradenton/Brandon/Tampa/St. Pete...etc...

Comments

I am in Sarasota

Posted by joemoraca on April 23, 2010 at 8:26pm

I am in Sarasota but unfortunately was not able to attend DrupalCon. I would be happy to get together some time to discuss drupal stuff.

Anyone else? We know you are out there....

Joe Moraca
WebDevGeeks.com

I am in St. Petersburg

Posted by hferree on April 28, 2010 at 1:31pm

I didn't go to DrupalCon either, but would also be interested in discussing drupal stuff.

Holly Ferree

BTW

Posted by liberatr on May 10, 2010 at 9:18pm

Joe originally started the Florida Drupal Group - he's really serious, so just pick a time and place, and I'm sure some folks will show up.

If you're disappointed with the turnout, pick a consistent time and place, then make a lot of noise. Rinse and repeat. For some hints on starting a user group, this wiki page may help:
http://floridacreatives.com/wiki/help/starting-florida-creatives-your-city

Replace "Florida Creatives" with "Drupal User Group"

Ryan Price
DrupalEasy Podcast

Also in St. Petersburg

Posted by mew_fla on May 20, 2010 at 5:16pm

I didn't attend DrupalCon SF either, but would like to get together.

Sarasota

Posted by cephalopodcast on May 24, 2010 at 6:36pm

Raises hand. Very interested in something local. Expect to be doing more with Drupal in the next few months and could use the support.

In Riverview

Posted by chrisbudy on August 24, 2010 at 5:26pm

Hi All-

Looks like this thread has maybe died out, but I'm in the Tampa area and am interested in meeting up. I'm new to the area, so don't really know a place to suggest, otherwise I would.

-Chris

Chris Budy
Heavy Robot

I'm in Tampa

Posted by mercergirl (not verified) on August 24, 2010 at 7:33pm

I am an extreme newbie, but I do plan to get up to the Central Florida meet in September. I would be interested in attending, but not organizing Tampa Bay area events or meetups.

If all 6-7 of the people on

Posted by chrisbudy on August 24, 2010 at 7:51pm

If all 6-7 of the people on this thread are interested in meeting up, that sounds like a decent start. Just a matter of finding out if the previous posters are still interested now, and finding a location/time that works. The Central Florida meetup is a bit too far for my comfort, if we can't get anything started down here I guess I'll have to give it a go though.

-Chris

Chris Budy
Heavy Robot

momentum

Posted by ultimike on August 24, 2010 at 7:53pm

Sounds like there are at least a few Tampa-area people who want to get together for a meetup. All is takes is one person to post a meeting time and place - it can be anywhere.

A group in South Florida meets at a local Dunkin' Donuts. Public libraries work well, as do coffee shops and office conference rooms. A meetup doesn't have to be in a big room with a projector and lots of people. Start small, schedule regular monthly meetups, get some momentum, see what develops.

I know there are people who are willing to drive to Tampa to help out (mainly by presenting topics).

-mike

Thanks for the encouragement

Posted by chrisbudy on August 24, 2010 at 8:47pm

Thanks for the encouragement Mike. I agree, it doesn't take much to get something started and it doesn't have to be a big "to-do".

It's also great to hear that there are others will to drive and do some presentations and share their knowledge.

To start a discussion on where, I'm fine to drive 20-30 min to meetup. Again, I'm new to the area and haven't really gotten the full lay of the land yet (thank goodness for Google Maps and GPS!) So suggestions for general area from me:

Riverview (if noone cares where, I'm happy to have it close to me with less driving :)
Tampa
Brandon
Ruskin
Plan City
etc...

-Chris

Chris Budy
Heavy Robot

Tampa Bay area

Posted by mercergirl (not verified) on August 25, 2010 at 11:49am

BarCamp Tampa Bay is coming up on September 25 (http://barcamptampabay.org/). It would be great to see a Drupal presentation there if someone is willing to do that. We could also recruit and get in touch with others who are interested in Drupal.

The Westshore area of Tampa works good as a central location as it is right off the interstate and convenient to St Pete, Tampa and Clearwater, the three largest cities in the area. Panera bread has been a good place to meet, although I do not believe the Panera at Westshore has a breakout room. There is the Jan Platt library on S. Manhattan, in south Tampa. There is the downtown library (parking) in downtown Tampa. There is also a Panera on Ulmerton Road in Clearwater that is convenient to the triad of cities and has a bit more room.

Any of those locations sound

Posted by chrisbudy on August 25, 2010 at 2:22pm

Any of those locations sound fine to me. I think I'd prefer the ones in Tampa myself, but the Clearwater location makes sense and isn't that much farther. Do you have a preference mercergirl?

Chris Budy
Heavy Robot

Count me in

Posted by mew_fla on August 25, 2010 at 2:57pm

I would prefer the St. Pete area, but am willing to travel if necessary. There is also a Panera of 4th Street in St Pete and another on So Howard in Tampa. Panera's usually close around 8 PM and if you reserve the meeting room there is usually a $50 charge, but we can informally meet without issue (usually).