This year, I had the privilege of working with the volunteers for the JoomlaDay Chicago event held August 9th at the Microsoft Technology Center in the AON Center building in downtown Chicago. It was also my first time attending. Going into the event I didn’t know what to expect and I have to admit I was a little awestruck. I have been using Joomla for many years and a lot of the speakers and guests were names I’ve seen over and over on whitepapers, articles, extensions, etc. To see them in-person was a little surreal.
So, how did I get involved? You may recall that back in April, I had the honor of stepping in as group manager of the JoomlaChicago User Group that meets at Durty Nellie’s in Palatine on the second Wednesday of each month. When I volunteered to help schedule speakers and keep our community up to date, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
I’d been attending the meetings for awhile and I knew that the group was filled a lot of enthusiastic Joomla users, developers and advocates. They were also really nice to boot. When I threw caution to the wind and raised my hand, I thought it would be a good way increase my Joomla! knowledge, have an avenue for getting help and brainstorming on solutions for my clients. I had no idea how much MORE I would gain.
Attending JoomlaDay Chicago was an incredible experience. The amazing presenters, Duke Speer, Michael Babker, Mike Carson, Randy Carey, Matt Simonsen, and James Friesen, just to name a few, brought everyone into the conversation. It was an awesome day of learning, sharing and connecting. A full list of the presenters and a bit about them can be found on the
JoomlaDayChicago.com website
The day began with
Michael Babker, of the Production Leadership Team, who discussed
The Success of Joomla 3 and reminded us that Joomla is not dead, but “It’s a Fight to the Death”. There were a minimum of three (3) sessions going at once while I was not able to all of them, I bounced around between the Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced tracks. Each one of the tracks was filled with great tips that could be put into use immediately. One of the many sessions I enjoyed was
The Business of Development by Steven Pignataro, CEO of
'corePHP' where he not only provided great tool recommendations and workflow ideas, but reminded us to “Never Stop Improving”. The day was capped off with closing keynote,
Be Legendary, from Community Development Manager,
David Hurley, who inspired participants to be be leaders for social good.
Aside from the tips (did I mention they were awesome?) just being surrounded by a real-life version of the supportive community I’ve grown fond of was amazing. Yes, I know I keep saying that, but it’s true! It’s worth going to
JoomlaDayChicago.com, checking out the speaker list, the sponsors and everyone that was involved.
The date has been set for next year. Mark your calendar for Saturday, September 19, 2015! The planning has already started, if you want to help, drop a line to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Copyright
© Image is not the official 2015 logo but an homage to it
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