Hi all,
I'm fairly new to Drupal, and maintain a Drupal site for the NFP organisation I work for. I'm also currently in the process of configuring CiviCRM to replace our ancient Access database, and would really like to have a chat to someone who has (preferably successfully) set up CiviCRM. I figured it was better posting here than on the CiviCRM forums, as there don't seem to be a lot of CiviCRM developers around Australia yet.
I mainly want to know about how others decided to handle contact types, relationships and custom data, and perhaps workshop a few roadblocks I've been encountering in my own configuration. I'd anticipate it would be a 30 min - 1 hour discussion, and although I could hang out in the CiviCRM IRC channel there's definitely something to be said for a bit of proper human contact and conversation!
I work in the Melbourne CBD, so if someone local is willing I'd happily buy them a coffee, and I can also travel to somewhere close to where you work/live if CBD isn't convenient. Otherwise Skype is an option, or an IRC discussion.
If you are willing to lend a little of your time, or can recommend me someone else who might be helpful, you can email me on erica.bramham@gmail.com. And if you can think of somewhere better I should be posting this request direct me and I'll creep off there with my tail between my legs.
Cheers,
Erica.
Comments
(and I've updated my avatar
(and I've updated my avatar so you can all see I'm a real person)
Oz-CiviCRM
G'day Erica,
I'm in an NGO and just getting started in CiviCRM too. I'm Brisbane based, but down in Sydney about once a month but not so often in Melbourne. As a starter I won't yet be much help to you with solutions but your questions (and solutions) will likely soon be my questions.
One of the excellent features of the recent one-day DrupalCamp in Brisbane was a time-slot built into the program for people on the day to add topics to a pass around list for other people to then initial if this topic interested them too. I suggested CiviCRM and we had a half-dozen people come along for a half-hour slot comparing notes - some wanting to learn more but at least three who I connected with are already implementing Civi - so it was excellent - two here in Brisbane and one in Sydney.
One of the Australia-specific questions I'm currently looking at is what experience and solutions people have with how best to interface or sync CiviCRM data (on Drupal) with MYOB - given MYOB isn't that common outside of Australia/NZ. What problems have arisen and what work-a-rounds have worked best for these. Also what experiences are there with keeping costs down with payment / donations gateways.
Would seem to me reason to start a stand-alone group here in GDO on use of CiviCRM in Australia (& NZ??). Open to suggestions as to whether this is best to be an Australian sub-group of CiviCRM or a CiviCRM subgroup of Australia (or is both possible?) My preference is probably the latter - as "Oz-CiviCRM".
Cheers,
Sean
Accounts integration
Hi Sean
We are doing some specific work around getting CiviCRM to a point where it can start to do more meaningful accounts integration. Happy to discuss offline or you can check out the early stage requirements documentation over on the CiviCRM wiki. It seems that Oz and NZ are leading the charge on this requirement!
Andrew
Andrew Perry | Director
Community Builders Australia | www.communitybuilders.com.au
Hey Andrew That looks really
Hey Andrew
That looks really interesting, and something that some of our clients might be interested in. Perhaps we could help out with it's development (either with man hours or financially).
Grant
ps. long time no see!
Cool
Hi Grant
Thanks for the interest.
I'll touch base after my teleconference with the core team about the Roadmap next week.
Andrew
PS - trust you're well!
Andrew Perry | Director
Community Builders Australia | www.communitybuilders.com.au
Sean - there is likely to be
Sean - there is likely to be an Aus Group set up on civicrm soon - so may be a better place for such discussions. I will post back here with details.
Erica - We have been doing civicrm solutions for a dozen or so non-profits in NZ, Aus, US and UK. Based in NZ so the time zone issue wouldn't be huge if a skype/screenshare would help. Happy to provide a 30+ minute guided tour if that can help - it has done for others in your situation, and it is one of our ways of giving back to the CiviCRM community.
pete davis : fuzion : connect + campaign + communicate
I would join a local CiviCRM group
Hi Sean and Erica
I am in Brisbane and I attended the recent Drupal Camp and met Sean there- we are one of the organisations using CiviCRM, but we are in our early days, so I am not sure if I can see all of the possibilities of the system yet. One helpful resource is the Floss Manual:
http://en.flossmanuals.net/CiviCRM
I am impressed with the system, and I can also see value Sean's idea of having an Oz group.
Are you on Drupal 6, with CiviCRM 3.1.5?
Cheers
Simon
Welcome to the Oz CiviCRM Community!
Hi Erica, Sean and Simon
Welcome to the Oz CiviCRM Community!
I have sent you an invite to join the group that Pete referred to over at http://civicrm.org/groups/australia/
I am based in Sydney, so it seems we have the seeds planted across the East Coast! I have also invited some clients in other states to join so hopefully we can sprout some discussion and local meetups across the country.
Erica, feel free to call me on 1300 468 228 to have a chat.
Regards
Andrew
Andrew Perry | Director
Community Builders Australia | www.communitybuilders.com.au
Hi Andrew, Sean and
Hi Andrew, Sean and Simon,
Good to see there is some interest in CiviCRM down under! It all gets a bit American-centric at times. Andrew, happy to see an Australia group on the CiviCRM site now, and I look forward to hearing about what's going on with CiviCRM in our part of the world.
Simon, I've found the Floss Manual to be useful for some things but also unhelpful a lot of the time, particularly in comparison with Drupal documentation. It's great for overviews of how things work, database planning, etc, but it's steered me in the wrong direction more than once because of outdated information and lack of detail. But perhaps that's a sign I should start adding updates to the manual when I figure something out that it couldn't tell me! I wouldn't recommend relying solely on the manual for information, as the system seems to be developing much faster than the documentation. And yes, I am on Drupal 6 with CiviCRM 3.1.5. Looking forward to the stable release of 3.2 as well.
Sean, I'd be really interested to hear what comes of your research into payments/donations. We aren't looking at implementing online payments just yet, but it's definitely a future goal. I'd also be interested to hear about MYOB integration, because even though we use Quickbooks good integration between MYOB and CiviCRM would be a valid reason to consider switching over. I'm keeping an eye on the Quickbooks/CiviCRM integration work going on, but would be concerned about issues with currency and other localised quirks that might not be easily adaptible to Australian finance practices.
Andrew, I might just take you up on your offer of a chat over the phone. Is there a good time for me to call?
Cheers,
Erica.
Feel free to call any time this afternoon
I look forward to "meeting you".
Andrew
Andrew Perry | Director
Community Builders Australia | www.communitybuilders.com.au
CiviCRM noob
Hey guys,
I've also recently commenced a project for an organisation using CiviCRM and would be interested in participating in a Melbourne (where I'm based) or Australia user group or tagging along to any meetings! Please feel free to email me at danny.rosenkranz@gmail.com .
Cheers,
Danny
I have 2 years experience with civicrm
Folks,
My organisation, (see www.citybibleforum.org) went live with CiviCRM in October 2008. We are currently running on Joomla but are in the process of moving to Drupal. I'm happy to chat about CiviCRM, but I would prefer to do that on the CiviCRM forums, as I'm committed to that community (I am 'ken' on that forum). Also, I'd love to get together for a coffee with any Sydney-siders!
Ken