April 2009

So what’s the deal with Drupal? (an evening of Drinks and Drupal)

Submitted by Lynn Bender on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 11:00pm
in

Ever since we announced the Introduction to Drupal workshop as part of the GeekAustin Free Classes, we've been getting emails asking: "So what's the big deal with Drupal?", "Why should I use Drupal instead of Word Press", "Isn't Drupal really hard?", and the occasion comment from some moron in Canada asking: "Why don't you use Plone?"

Sounds like an excuse for a party? Yes!

We've reserved our home base, Union Park Austin, for Wednesday, May 20. We'll have drinks out front and panels in back. Panels? Yep. We'll be bringing in local experts to discuss and debate topics such as: "Why should I use Drupal instead of Wordpress?", "Isn't theming hard with Drupal?", and "Why would the City of Austin use Plone instead of Drupal?". Ok, well maybe not the last panel.

I've been sending personal invites to every Austin Drupal user I know, as well as quite a few throughout Texas. So, if you have any unanswered Drupal questions, drop by.

-Lynn

What's the deal with Drupal? (an evening of Drinks and Drupal)
Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Time: 6:30pm - 10:30pm
Location: Union Park Austin
Street: 612 W Sixth St. Austin, Texas 78701
RSVP on Facebook

The Drupal Texas LinkedIn group:
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1812268
The Austin Drupal Users facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=92094071680

Who wants to learn Drupal?

Submitted by Lynn Bender on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 11:00pm
in

Daniel and I already have a pretty full schedule for the spring GeekAustin free classes. However, following the kerfuffle surrounding the City of Austin's website design, quite a few folks came to us asking if there were any local resources for learning Drupal. There is at least one Austin Drupal user group, but it's members are mostly folks who already have some facility with Drupal.

So, following some conversations with those who expressed interest, we have decided to host a (free) Introduction to Drupal workshop. This group will be halfway between a class and a study group. The group will meet once a week for 8 weeks. We will start from the very beginning -- installing Drupal on a Linux machine. Over the following weeks we will cover several mini projects including: setting up a job board, an event calendar, and a wiki. We will also cover the basics of theming. We will have guest speakers at several of the classes.

The two books from which we will draw material for the class are: 1) Using Drupal, by Jeff Robbins, and 2) Pro Drupal Development, by John K. VanDyk. If you don't already have a Linux-based computer, we are making arrangements with local computer shops to supply them for about 50-65 dollars.

Tentatively, the first session is set for the last week of May. For more details, or to reserve a space, send a note to linearb@gmail.com.

Let's make Austin a Drupal town! - Lynn
Austin Drupal users Facebook group

calendars.com seeks SMO/SEO focused Director of Marketing

Submitted by Lynn Bender on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 11:00pm

Normally I don't post jobs on GA. However, 1) quite a few SEO folks come to the GA parties and follow the blog, and 2) this is calendars.com. They've been around since the days when I was still in the book biz.

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GeekAustin tidbits - Rails, Ruby, Agile, Interaction Design and Linux galore

Submitted by Lynn Bender on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 11:00pm

I've been overwhelmed putting things in motion for Linux Against Poverty. Meanwhile, all sorts of other cool things are going on in Austin's tech community:

Damon and friends just published a directory of Austin on Rails members.

Austin IxDA has been gathering steam recently. They have a panel on effective prototyping coming up on April 21 at Frog Design offices on Congress. RSVP here.

The Agile Executive just posted a history of Agile Austin (The Agile Austin Blueprint for Building a Community). Scott Killen and colleagues have done a great job building a local "community of practice" surrounding Agile methodologies.

Jim Freeze and friends have been bringing the Ruby community together. They have been holding evening meetings and weekday luncheons. You can find out more at the Austin Ruby Google group.

Austin Linux Group just updated their list of Austin area Linux User Groups.