LA Drupal meetup in Downtown Los Angeles on February 15, 2011

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christefano's picture
Start: 
2011-02-15 19:30 - 21:30 America/Los_Angeles
Event type: 
User group meeting

Join us for a meetup to talk Drupal at the offices of at Oversee.net on February 15, 2011 in Downtown Los Angeles. There will be several presentations as well as open discussions, job announcements and time for networking. Several of us may be going to a local restaurant or bar for a Drupal After Dark afterward.

The meetup begins at 7:30pm but the doors open a little earlier at 7pm for Users Helping Users, which is a chance for members of the community to help and be helped by others with whatever questions and problems they're having with Drupal.

This event is free and no RSVP is required. To breeze through security and get free or discounted parking, however, you can sign up by logging in and clicking the Sign up button below.

The first 15 people to sign up will get free parking and anyone who signs up after that can get discounted parking. Preference is given to those who carpool. All who sign up will also have instructions and last-minute details (if there are any) sent to them before the meeting.

Be sure to update your profile with your full name so that a name badge will be ready for you at the front desk. To do this, log in and click My Account → Edit → Personal and fill in the "Real name" field. This is optional, but it makes things much easier for the event organizers and our venue sponsor. In any case, please be prepared to show a valid photo ID at the front desk.

When: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 from 7:30-9:30pm
Where: Oversee.net in Downtown Los Angeles at 515 S. Flower St. (Suite 4400), Los Angeles, CA 90071

Agenda

If you'd like to give a presentation, announce a job position or ask any questions of the group, please come a few minutes early or leave a comment below. If presenting, be sure to bring your laptop (and power and display cables) and whatever else you need.

   Job announcements and open Q&A

Everyone has a problem every now and then and the open Q&A session is a chance for attendees to divine answers from the collective wisdom of the group. This is also an opportunity for local businesses to make job announcements and ask for referrals and recommendations.

   Presentations

Presentations will be announced in the comments below.

   Lightning talks

We have time as well for lightning talks, which are 5-10 minute presentations from attendees who would like to share something with the group. If you'd like to give a lightning talk, be sure to come a few minutes early and bring your laptop (and power and display cables) and whatever else you need.

As always, please feel welcome to leave a comment below and let others know what you'd like to present ahead of time.

Location

Google MapWe're meeting at the offices of Oversee.net in Downtown Los Angeles. Oversee.net owns a large portfolio of online properties, including Moniker, SnapNames, DomainSponsor, AboutAirportParking.com and LowFares.com, to name a few, and is using Drupal extensively for their emerging businesses division.

Oversee.net is hiring a Senior PHP/Drupal Developer to join them in Downtown Los Angeles. To learn more about Oversee.net and their open positions, come to the meetup or visit Oversee.net/careers.

Travel

Our venue is easily accessible by bus (see mta.net for bus lines) and by commuter rail (the Red Line connection is Pershing Square and the Blue Line connection is 7th and Wilshire).

Parking

There is almost no on-street parking in the area but free parking is being provided to us by Oversee.net in the A level of the John Hastings Tower at 515 S. Flower St. The parking entrance is a very quick right turn heading underground, immediately after 5th St. To qualify for free parking, you must sign up by logging in and clicking the Sign up button below. Those who sign up will also have instructions and last-minute details (if there are any) sent to them before the meeting.

Comments

Double booked

BTMash's picture

Just realized that I am double booked on that evening so I can't make it out. Sorry fellas :(

Would you be up for doing

christefano's picture

Would you be up for doing your presentation on Rules at the meetup on February 22nd instead?

No idea!

BTMash's picture

I'll propose it in that meetup's comment space and see if people are up for that - I haven't even started on writing it up and was trying to figure out an approach on how to present it (otherwise, I was also planning on writing up a case study for our photo website that just launched in D6 w/ solr and memcache with some batch api magic thrown in).

Coder Upgrade still on

wizonesolutions's picture

I'm still planning to do my Coder Upgrade one. Dunno how well I'll be able to prepare it, but I'll try. I've already gone through the process with Fill PDF, though, so I've got a couple things to say about it.

So be prepared for Coder Upgrade to upgrade your modules + impromptu rundowns of a few Drupal 7 API changes (whichever ones CU winds up applying)!

I'll share a couple other changes that threw me off too. Looking forward to it.

WizOne Solutions - https://wizone.solutions - Drupal module development, theme implementation, and more
FillPDF Service - https://fillpdf.io - Hosted solution for FillPDF

Sounds good!

christefano's picture

Sounds good!

I can do an abbreviated

erikwebb's picture

I can do an abbreviated version of the Drupal Design Patterns presentation I just gave this morning (went over well). Definitely the same crowd level as Coder Upgrade, so it'd probably be a good combination, especially if you might not have time for a full presentation.

If anyone reading this hasn't

christefano's picture

If anyone reading this hasn't been to Oversee yet, I enthusiastically suggest attending this meetup (and checking out Oversee's available Drupal jobs at http://oversee.net/careers). Oversee has been a great venue, food and parking sponsor for us but this and next month's meetups will likely be the last times we meet at Oversee.

The majority of LA Drupal managers recently voted to reduce the number of LA Drupal meetups to just one a month, and while anyone is welcome to organize "Drupal meetups" anywhere they'd like, the "LA Drupal meetups" are now on the Westside at our current venue at Media Temple.

Hmm. The westside is kind of

wizonesolutions's picture

Hmm. The westside is kind of far for monthly, and Pasadena conflicts w/ something. This might motivate me to gauge interest in a San Gabriel Valley meetup, sort of between Pasadena and Ontario...maybe like Pomona for example, or the west SGV instead. I'll think about it. This isn't the right outlet for this. But if anyone does have interest and sees this...use my contact form. Thanks!

WizOne Solutions - https://wizone.solutions - Drupal module development, theme implementation, and more
FillPDF Service - https://fillpdf.io - Hosted solution for FillPDF

Downtown LA Drupal is continuing

Techivist's picture

While Christefano is right about Oversee pulling back a bit, this doesn't mean the Downtown LA Drupal meetup is going away. Quite the contrary. I've already got a short list for potential venues & have already put out feelers on those. I just didn't want folks thinking that this meetup was going away if Oversee stops being our venue sponsor.

I've said it before but will repeat my thoughts on this. When I first heard that there was an LA Drupal group several years ago at SCALE, I thought it was great. I asked if there were plans to add meetups in other parts of LA but seemed like the Westside was the focus. All fine & good. Having grown up in LA all my life, I knew there were lots of other folks in LA who were probably Drupal enthusiasts who just weren't going to even attempt that commute. Due to LA's widespread dispersal of land, this is a unique city & provides unique challenges for group leaders like the LA Drupal Managers who, while very dedicated, have lives, families & jobs.

Still, I've always believed that for the LA Drupal group to be "covered geographically" you'd need groups in Downtown LA, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, Inland Empire & South Bay. As you can imagine, while that'd be great for the LA Drupal community, & Drupal as a whole, it'd be a TON of work to manage all of those sub-groups. So when Christefano contacted me about co-starting a Downtown LA group 1yr. ago, I was excited. Sure enough, we started seeing lots of attendees who'd never attended an LA Drupal meetup before or even gone to any LA Drupal event (like DrupalCamp LA). Why? Because they live/work in areas like Baldwin Park, Pasadena, etc. & never cared to make the commute all the way to the beach on a weekday in rush hour traffic. The LA Drupal community started growing very rapidly.

We, the folks who love Drupal & want to spread it's wonderful awesomesauce around, have to come to the people. Since the Downtown LA group started, we've seen other, local groups pop up & begin to thrive like Pasadena & Inland Empire (& others who seem on the brink of doing so like Hollywood & Long Beach). I think it's an opportunity for local folks that see a need & want to fill it to get involved. I understand the time constraints on the LA Drupal Managers & their need to want to scale back & focus on the "main" Westside meetup. That's ok. Other Angelenos who can't make it out there & want to geek out now have other places to do so (even if they won't be "managed" by the LA Drupal Managers or fall under the "LA Drupal" umbrella). That's a good thing!!!

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

It's two-fold. Both Oversee

christefano's picture

It's two-fold. Both Oversee and the LA Drupal management are pulling back at the same time. These two factors put together will pretty much kill the meetups in Downtown Los Angeles as we know them.

There can and will always be Drupal events and activities in Downtown Los Angeles and beyond, but the managers decided by majority vote that only the Westside meetups are the "LA Drupal meetups" and that any other Drupal event is independent and cannot use the "LA Drupal" name.

When these things were brought up for a vote amongst the managers, I abstained from voting and therefore feel it is inappropriate to say what I think or feel about it. I do feel it's important, however, to clearly communicate what happened so that there's a minimum of confusion.

So would downtown be called

wizonesolutions's picture

So would downtown be called "Downtown LA Drupal meetup" or something? Just wondering what the use of the "LA Drupal name" meant. There aren't many ways to describe Drupal meetups happening in LA. Also, what gives the Westside meetup official status (so to speak), and can other meetups still achieve it?

WizOne Solutions - https://wizone.solutions - Drupal module development, theme implementation, and more
FillPDF Service - https://fillpdf.io - Hosted solution for FillPDF

The meetups in Downtown Los Angeles

christefano's picture

The meetups in Downtown Los Angeles were actually called "Downtown LA Drupal meetups" until recently (check the revision log for this post, for instance) so future meetups in Downtown LA would have to be called something else.

While I'm trying to clear things up, I'm just one person and don't want this announcement to appear one-sided. Maybe the managers who voted to consoliate and control the LA Drupal name will comment here or at the next "main" or "official" LA Drupal meetup.

Seems a bit disingenuous for

tomboone's picture

Seems a bit disingenuous for a group that holds its only official meetups in Culver City and its camp in Irvine to be restricting usage of the phrase "LA Drupal."

I agree

jromine's picture

I agree! And please fix the whole "LA Angels" thing too! :)

John Romine

Perl Monger groups restricts to 50 mile radius

bvirtual's picture

LA is huge and has an unique problem, that many other international open source hubs refuse to even listen, and make an exception for. Perl Monger groups must be located at least 50 miles from each other. That's really hammered visibility for every other LA/OC county perl group. So much so they do not even get any attendance, and never form.

I've been confused many times by the name. I'm sure other members have as well. And potential members especially. To hear of the LA meeting having 40-60 attendees and hour long presentations and 2-3 Lightning sessions, and 3-5 job announcements... and get to a LA Cafe meeting with just 10 or 20 attendees. Driving 2 hours to get there. Paying $15 parking fee. That's just bad planning on the part of the managers. I'm glad some resolution has been decided.

I'm absolutely positive that the LA Drupal managers have handled this with much discussion, over several months, and tried and tried to reach a good resolution, that would preserve the 5 year effort of many volunteers in creating what LA Drupal User Group is today.

In fact, I know all those volunteers. I'm one of them. I'm not a manager, having formed and run 3 groups myself, and helped 9+ others form, I've got a lot of knowledge and know how on tap to create and sustain a successful group.

Distinct names is one of them. I'm sure all 5 of the LA Drupal USER GROUP managers struggled hard, and long, on this decision, and I know they typically reach a consensus, without a vote. To hear they had to vote... wow. Must have been one brain aching, heart wrenching decision making process. And they are all volunteers. To go through such emotionally loaded issue like this.

I've seen the IICS with 16 meetings a month go through hard decisions, but not like this one. IICS is now gone, with CD authoring free with CD burners. Ah, the good old days when a CD burner was 5 grand, and CD burning software was 3 grand.

My hat is off to the to the LA Drupal Managers. Thank you guys and gals for your extreme effort in consolidating the LA Drupal User Group's many meeting locations, and encouraging rapid growth of new Cafes, After Dark, Camps, D4D, all over the Southern California area. All that labor and time spent away from personal pursuits must be applauded.

Happy Valentines Day. Love all around.

Pete

Peter

LA's Open Source User Group Advocate - Volunteer at DrupalCamp LA and SCALE

When did you pay $15 for parking

christefano's picture

When did you pay $15 for parking at a Drupal Cafe?

10-20 attendees is a pretty high turnout considering that Drupal Cafes are intended to be smaller.

Update: What's with the downvoting? Pete's comment has good points and offers insight that not many people have shared.

bvirtual's picture

You're right. I was posting about the Downtown Drupal Meet Up.

When Westside Drupal meeting was announced, I thought cool, another Drupal meeting to go to each month. Not. Why? It was just a new name, a rebranding, of the LA Drupal User Group Monthly Meeting. I thought, oh, bad. Why? Rebranding an user group does not bode well for attendance levels. Some people wait for the original name to meet again. I did. Others go to the new name group meeting, and get surprised... it's the same old group meeting.

Then, the Downtown LA Meeting was announced, and I thought oh bummer, they moved from Santa Monica area to downtown and I will never get to another meeting due to 2 hours of rush hour traffic.

Rebranding is confusing. Westside Drupal? Blah. My vote would have been keep it the same.

So, my real opinion, withheld for many months, is name changes are bad. New names should have no chance of confusion with existing names.

I like

Drupal Downtown

better. Or even

LA Downtown Drupal Meetup

Or

LA Central Drupal

I could not have any confusion about those. But the vote is in. And I'm going to be a happy camper. Blah! Again, smacks myself with a spoon in the mouth.

Peter

LA's Open Source User Group Advocate - Volunteer at DrupalCamp LA and SCALE

Let me clarify for all...

Chris Charlton's picture
  1. Drupal meetups in Downtown LA are not off the table nor was there any decision to close additional meetups outside of the main monthly LA DRUPAL meetup. The LA DRUPAL management team together is just no longer organizing additional meetups outside of the monthly event we're promoting as the "Main Meetup." Were focusing on many things, one major item being quality... but almost as important: organizer fatigue. At this time we have not sought a volunteer to organize and run the Downtown LA meetups but since I work at Oversee.net, and sit only a few feet from the meetup room, its been easy for me to be one of the point persons for this meetup. Someone can volunteer to pick up the organization of this meetup, but that outreach just hasn't been done yet. We have not shut down any meetups and are not limiting who can schedule a meetup. We are just asking members not confuse other members by calling their meetups/after-darks/drupal-cafe/etc. an "LA Drupal" event. If you're posting an event in the LA Drupal group then its for LA Drupal members, our community, so there should be no questions there and whatever is in the name or title shouldn't be important but we ask members to refrain using "LA DRUPAL" in its title or name. Now, to help others here are some examples of how an event name can be effective without using the phrase "LA Drupal" in it:

- Drupal meetup in LBC (Long Beach)
- Drupal meetup in Downtown L.A. (or) Downtown Drupal meetup
- Drupal After Dark
- Drupal Study Group in Downtown L.A. (or) Downtown Drupal Study Group (or just) Drupal study group meetup on MM/DD/YYYY

  1. "LA DRUPAL" has name recognition, just like "Drupal" and we've always have been aware of this but did not have the large number of people interested in organizing external meetups or doing outside promotion for us, so now we have to ask people not to slap the name "LA DRUPAL" on anything without a majority consent from the LA DRUPAL Managers. This is no different than how people are allowed to use the word "Drupal"; there are limits and while we don't know what all of those since we're not lawyers we see this as a way to ensure the "brand" and its associated expectations/qualities are being take care of.

  2. We want to stay on top and remain one of the best Drupal user groups worldwide. To do this we need to make sure members are not confused and are continually getting involved (with Drupal and LA Drupal). This means there will be a period (now) of minor confusion but over the longterm there will be a more unified LA Drupal voice to better keep you updated of our community and its activities.

  3. We want to hear from you! Please always feel free to provide us feedback (good or bad) and keep in touch. We rely on feedback from you all to make everything we output valuable.

Chris Charlton, Author & Drupal Community Leader, Enterprise Level Consultant

I teach you how to build Drupal Themes http://tinyurl.com/theme-drupal and provide add-on software at http://xtnd.us

To be fair to Chris, Miguel and I

christefano's picture

To be fair to Chris, Miguel and I secured this venue before Chris joined Oversee. He ended up becoming a "default" point person with his employer because Chris is also one of the LA Drupal managers. In other words, this created additional work for him that he didn't see coming.

This is an example of the "organizer fatigue" that Chris talks about. In 2010, LA Drupal had tremendous growth and seemingly had too many events for the existing power structure to manage. This is why the LA Drupal management voted to rally behind one "main" meetup a month. The issue of quality can be debated, but the truth is that good work and burned out organizers do not go hand in hand.

To be fair to everyone else, I think it's highly unlikely that anyone will actually be reaching out to volunteers to maintain this venue. Oversee is pulling back from sponsoring LA Drupal anyway. So long as the meetups in Downtown Los Angeles aren't "LA Drupal meetups" anymore, they will lack a certain appeal to some companies who would otherwise offer venue, parking and food sponsorship.

Main User Groups versus SIGs

crablouis's picture

Groups like ACM and many others keep down the confusion between main and tertiary groups by calling the main group the User Group, and the smaller regional or otherwise subordinate groups, Special Interest Groups; AKA, SIGs.

Sounds like while the main LA Drupal user group meetings are going to this west LA venue, a Downtown LA Drupal SIG may or may not continue to meet, as a Long Beach / North OC LA Drupal SIG met on Saturday, etc etc.

SIGs can take subordinate regional meaning, or special subject interest meaning. They allow for subdivision of organizing labor, putting the onus on those directly involved in the SIG.

Of course, the LA Drupal leaders have probably already discussed this kind of naming convention. If so, this is redundant.

SIGs are Special Interest Groups

pcher1bw's picture

in IEEE and ACM SIGs are more like a Bird of a Feather group than a location group. ACM and IEEE SIGS are multi national groups.

How IEEE and ACM operate is first at International level, then National Level, then Regional level (multiple states), then at the local levels. In ACM and IEEE Los Angeles is part of the South West Region. The Los IEEE Angels Computer Scociety meets in Long Beach, too far for me to drive.

Paul Chernick
CEO
Chernick Consulting
(310) 569-2517

I'm suggesting some

crablouis's picture

I'm suggesting some cannonical subdivision on the local level based on the sub-group paradigm, not cloning ACM et al.

Drupal already has 'names' for subdivisions, but...

bvirtual's picture

Two years ago I suggested SIGs at the Long Beach Cafe. A year ago I resuggested it.

Today, 'meetup' was the labeled used for a 'larger' than Cafe.

LA is huge. We have a special problem, that other cities will start to face in the coming years.

We, LA, have an opportunity to be a leader on this issue.

There exists a list of what each existing Drupal 'meeting' is. Christofeno made it, I hazily recall.

The first decision, I think, is should we 'add' to it? Well, I think that has happened already.

"Meetup" is close to 'being.'

I think there is confusion in that term. But I can live with it. Why confusion? LA Drupal has a meetup page. It has meetup reservations.

The IICS had a 'general monthly meeting.' And 16 SIGs meeting each month. And a 16 page mailed newsletter. 800 members. The large meetings were 400 attendees, for Marketing SIG and Finance SIG. The small SIG meetings were 15 to 20.

So, I'm putting out there the suggestion of 'general monthly' or just 'general' to distinguish the main meeting. And "main" term, too.

Aside: I have a lot to say about focus on the main meeting, with more volunteer help, and to watch for leadership burn out. The IICS determined that 2 years was the longest a leader could go with out experiencing symptoms of burn out. They were non profit (internationally there were 32 chapters, LA was just one), and so each chapter had to follow the bylaws and have yearly president elections. Burn out was avoided that way. The outgoing president would start the nominations 2 months before the election. It was a fun 6 years of my life. Lots of terrific friends made, who I still see today.

However, I can type all night long. It's input to the 5 managers, who I think may have a lot more to say than me. And I would not mind hearing from them. But... it's really not something I expect these busy volunteers to have time for, nor do I think they have 'holes' to fill in the existing meeting locations, that have not been filled already.

Perhaps all that is needed, is to use the current names another 6 months, and see if we can make the literature match people's expectation, and resolve any confusion with documentation (web pages that already exist), by adding to them, updating them, etc. It will take 1-2 months to find all the pages, and finish this job.

I vote for supporting the current methods, and focusing on having more meetings, and more advocacy.

I've moved my home and office 10 miles south, and almost over the hiccups that entailed. My plan to host a Drupal event half way between Santa Monica and Long Beach will start in 2-3 months. It's been postponed too long, I feel.

So, I will spend on my energy on creating this 'Cafe,' whose focus will be near exclusively PHP and coding modules and adding to existing Drupal database tables, module tables, and custom tables (legacy and new) with the links to integrate into Drupal, to take advantage of Views, template overrides, hooks, and let other modules play nice with new modules' data our members create.

Oh, I'll suggest the "LA Module Drupal SIG", (LAMDS? nah ... ;-) as it will be larger than a Cafe. I hope. Why? I've been a member of 5 other programming groups, and they have always been small, under 20. I have a feeling about Drupal's adoption curve... it's about to take off. Wordpress watch out!

Pete

PS. Those wanting to name a meeting, can help me name mine. Oh, it's got to have the "location" in the name? Not?

Peter

LA's Open Source User Group Advocate - Volunteer at DrupalCamp LA and SCALE

Name Recognition

pcher1bw's picture

I agree, LA Drupal has name recognition, now that it is an official entity, why can't it be a parent organization other groups like
* LA-SGV Drupal - San Gabriel Valley
* LA-SFV Driupal - San Fernando Valley
* LA-Central Drupal - Downtown LA
* LA-West Drupal - West LA
* LA-LB Drupal - Long Beach
* LA-SB Drupal - South Bay

Each sub-group should have a manager, possibly elected by the members of the sub-group.
Each sub-group has an official meetup that doesn't conflict with the LA Drupal main meetup
Each manager of a sub-group is part of the LA Drupal Managers
How does LA Drupal represent all the drupalers in Los Angeles?
Since LA Drupal is now a recognized entity, does it have a Charter, where can we look at the charter, and what are the rules for amending the charter.

I don't think we are the first to run into this problem, how is New York City handling it, does anyone know? How does San Francisco handle it with all the other cities in the Bay Area?

Paul Chernick
CEO
Chernick Consulting
(310) 569-2517

Whoops missed an area

pcher1bw's picture

LA-Inland - Inland Empire

Paul Chernick
CEO
Chernick Consulting
(310) 569-2517

Captain Nemo's picture

If the managers are fatigued, and only want to manage one meetup a month, I can understand that. Burnout sucks.

LA encompasses a huge area.

Restricting the name "LA Drupal" to the Westside meetup feels a little disingenuous - especially since what the managers are basically saying is that LA Drupal no longer represents the Drupal community in the greater LA area, just their meetup on the Westside, delegitimatizing all the other meetups and impairing their ability to attract sponsors.

I can understand wanting to call one meetup a month the 'Main' meetup, and labeling it that way. It's also fine to have it be the Westside meetup. This seems reasonable.

Do the managers of the Westside meetup have the right to keep the 'LA Drupal' name to themselves and not let other Drupal meetups in LA use it? Can there be another entity that can be the umbrella for all those who want to have meetups within the LA area? Perhaps all of the organizers can get together once a year and have beers.

I suggest a vote at the next meetup of whether 'LA Drupal' can only be applied to the Westside meetup or whether it encompasses entire LA community of Drupal users.

  Give love.

Vote Seconded

pcher1bw's picture

I agree completely, let's have a vote on the subject, but I will say that we need people to step up and help the LA Drupal Mangers.

Perhaps we should have a code spurt to allow the ladrupal.org to handle subgroups.

Paul Chernick
CEO
Chernick Consulting
(310) 569-2517

It seems that this should be

wizonesolutions's picture

It seems that this should be taken to a new thread. Since I'm not likely to be an integral part of this (e.g., I'm interested in participating but time-limited as to what I can contribute), I shouldn't be the one to start it. Paul, maybe you could. I'll keep an eye on my g.d.o notifications for it and pitch in when I see it.

I think the names you suggested might be a step in the right direction. They're a little hard to say verbally. What about just dropping the LA-? If people in those regions are looking for a meetup, they aren't going to append it anyway. "IE Drupal" would work better for the Inland Empire one as well if it is not already taken.

WizOne Solutions - https://wizone.solutions - Drupal module development, theme implementation, and more
FillPDF Service - https://fillpdf.io - Hosted solution for FillPDF

Yes, this should be its own thread

Techivist's picture

I agree, Kevin. This whole new naming issue of what smaller groups can & can't use here in Los Angeles, what meetups are official, what things should be expected, etc. should be its own thread initiated by the LA Drupal managers to avoid confusion & have all the info available at one place.

Going forward, it would make everything much easier.

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

Having this discussion in a

christefano's picture

Having this discussion in a new thread would help make some things easier, especially since old event announcements are a little hard to find (see #1007966 for the feature request to resolve this), but I abstained from the vote to consolidate and control the "LA Drupal" meetups and the "LA Drupal" name and don't feel comfortable initiating that thread.

Have posted a continuation here:

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

ya, 30min after I did here:

mike stewart's picture

ya, 30min after I did here: http://groups.drupal.org/node/128909.

--
mike stewart { twitter: @MediaDoneRight | IRC nick: mike stewart }

Was editing my post. I didn't

nodiac's picture

Was editing my post. I didn't know you had posted.

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

It was brought up with me

christefano's picture

It was brought up with me tonight that my abstention from the vote to consolidate the "LA Drupal" meetups and control the "LA Drupal" name has been interpreted as dissent or disagreement with the other managers. This couldn't be further from the truth.

I abstained because I wanted everyone involved to spend more time to consider what was being voted on and the repercussions. Regardless of my personal views and perceptions, I do support the result of the vote, and more importantly, the process by which that result was achieved.

The truth is I've pushed consistently for the past 12 months to form a consensus decision-making model in LA Drupal, and in the absence of that I have always wanted majority voting for major decisions. Far be it for me to complain now that the LA Drupal management is actually using the system of majority voting.

Link Fail in Meetup Announcement

crablouis's picture

Hey there,

Just thought I ought to report a little link glitch in the intro description for this meetup. I'm logged in here, at groups.drupal.org, and the Full Name field in my drupal.org profile is populated, but for some reason the while my username appears on the Signup list, my full name does not.

I was hoping to get properly badged, and figure out the parking discount..

Clinking on the link in "To do this, log in and click My Account → Edit → Personal and fill in the "Real name" field," yields:
"Access denied
You are not authorized to access this page."

fwiw, I recently changed my username to "crablouis" from "Craig Louis". The username value seems to have propagated through the *.drupal.org. This is the first time I've experienced a glitch. I'm sure I'll figure out the parking and admittance etc, but I figured I should report the interaction glitch anyway.

Sign Up Link Is Bad

Stew-bee's picture

The "sign up" link in the in the OP in the sentence that starts "This event is free and no RSVP is required" points to the January 18 meet-up. Some members have clicked the link and then see that the sign up is closed without realizing it is the January 18th meet up that is closed and not the February 15th meetup, which is still open. The sign up button at the bottom of the post works fine.

Links fixed

christefano's picture

Thanks for pointing this out. The links have been fixed.

Do Anything Special to Get Parking Discount?

crablouis's picture

thanks for the immediate link fixage, christefano.

I'm gonna have to drive a car to this. Is there anything special I need to do to get the parking discount?

The 15 parking vouchers

christefano's picture

The 15 parking vouchers offered by our venue sponsor are first-come, first-served. By now we have way more than 15 people signed up, so this month we're doing something new: for those who do sign up, preference is given to those who carpool.

Yay carpool, but the thing says discount for all..

crablouis's picture

I love the carpools. I'm driving from the LA Harbor area, and will be happy to pick up anyone along the way.

But, the reason I was asking about the parking discount is because it says, above, "The first 15 people to sign up will get free parking and anyone who signs up after that can get discounted parking."

I'll live without the discount, but the thing says one's available, so I figured I'd ask.

You can get validated parking

christefano's picture

You can get validated parking at several restaurants that are nearby, including Chaya and Drago Centro. You can ask the staff at the reception desk in the lobby.

I think the price goes down from $37 to $15.

Parking $15.00 after 5:00

Stew-bee's picture

Parking $15.00 after 5:00 p.m.. I paid $15.00 last meet up with no discount or validation. Here is the web site for parking http://www.cnp-la.com/building/parking.htm that confirms $15.00.

Thanks Stew-bee.

crablouis's picture

Thanks Stew-bee.

Parked for $8 across the street..

crablouis's picture

FYI, after hours parking for this maxed out at $8, in the public parking under the park across the street, one door north of the old California Club.

Anyone near Santa Monica want

jsorgen's picture

Anyone near Santa Monica want that free parking deal? I'm looking for a ride.
~ Jeff

Hooray4Carpools

Techivist's picture

Considering the recent changes & constraints, I really like the carpool idea & glad we came up with it. It really does turn lemons into lemonade, if ya ask me, as it fosters folks getting to know each other more all while helping the environment. Ok, ok, the idealist in me is showing again ;)

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

Carpooling from Mid-City/Miracle Mile area?

rgon's picture

Anyone want to carpool from Mid-City or Miracle Mile or someplace close? I'm willing to either drive or ride.

I have room for one more.

christefano's picture

I have room for one more. Give me a shout later this afternoon.

2/15 link fixed, 2/22 link still points to 1/18 meetup

pcher1bw's picture

Hi Christo,

Thw 2/22 sign up link is still pointing to the 1/18 meet up, but the 2/15 link has been corrected and I have signed up.

Paul

Paul Chernick
CEO
Chernick Consulting
(310) 569-2517

Sorry I was wrong, both links work

pcher1bw's picture

Opps I am signed up for the 2/22 meet up, sorry for the error.

Paul Chernick
CEO
Chernick Consulting
(310) 569-2517

Thanks, the link has been

christefano's picture

Thanks, the link has been fixed. These event announcements sure do have a lot of links in them...

Ride coming from LA Harbor area

crablouis's picture

I'm planning on driving a car up the 110 from the San Pedro area.
If I can pick up anyone along the way, let me know.

Driving from Covina.

wizonesolutions's picture

Driving from Covina.

WizOne Solutions - https://wizone.solutions - Drupal module development, theme implementation, and more
FillPDF Service - https://fillpdf.io - Hosted solution for FillPDF

I'll contact you

Techivist's picture

I'll contact you off-list, Kevin.

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

Drupal Camp at Irvine

DocNatural's picture

Anyone here know the dates for the 2011 Irvine Drupal Camp? Thanks

Early August

jromine's picture

We're thinking first weekend in August, but I can't confirm for sure until we've booked space.

John Romine

im sick. no need for my parking pass

DjCharlieHood's picture

thx. hv fun

im sick. no need for my parking pass

DjCharlieHood's picture

thx. hv fun

Hate to interrupt the discussion

BTMash's picture

Even though I can't make it out there tonight, I was curious to know what is on the agenda, presentation wise.

Both presentations (Drupal

christefano's picture

Both presentations (Drupal Design Patterns by Erik Webb and Coder Upgrade by Kevin Kaland) were recorded. Stay tuned to http://ladrupal.blip.tv for videos.

There were a few other developments:

  • Chris Charlton (an Oversee employee and LA Drupal co-manager) said at the meetup that Oversee can host Drupal meetups for the rest of the year!
  • Acquia and Oversee are hiring
  • Lee from Exaltation of Larks announced Drupal in a Day (for Drupal 7), a $200 training from Exaltation of Larks and Chapter Three, to be held on March 3rd
  • Scott Knight and Matt Campbell are teaming up to host meetups in Pasadena on a regular basis, starting on Monday, March 7th
  • Santa Barbara Drupal is meeting at RightScale on February 23rd

Did I miss anything? Go ahead and post a comment below.

Thanks to everyone who attended tonight. The next Drupal meetup in LA County is at Media Temple on February 22nd in Culver City. If anyone wants to present, ask questions or make any announcements, see the event announcement at http://groups.drupal.org/node/112604

Recordings available

jromine's picture

The presentations are available for viewing from http://replay.uci.edu/clients/drupal/

Coder Upgrade and Drupal 7 Gotchas
Duration: 0:17:24

Drupal Design Patterns
Duration: 0:34:24

John Romine

Thanks, John! These are now

christefano's picture

Thanks, John! These are now up on http://ladrupal.blip.tv as well.

Nice work, you all. These are

burt.lo's picture

Nice work, you all. These are great resources!!!

Project Management: http://www.sagetree.net
Coaching Services: http://burtlo.info

Kevin (WizOne Solutions) just

christefano's picture

Kevin (WizOne Solutions) just posted an update to his Coder Upgrade presentation:

http://www.wizonesolutions.com/2011/02/17/my-first-l-a-drupal-presentati...

Thanks, Kevin!

Downtown LA Drupal meetup

LittleLion's picture

Another awesome event, thanks everyone who worked to make this happen. Thanks especially to our host Oversee.net for venue, parking and pizza; way beyond the call of duty and very much appreciated.

Thanks also to the LA Drupal managers who make this happen month-in, month-out. You are all really appreciated for what you give to the Drupal community.

Matt