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Abstract: 

Video not available

As fresh Drupal talent and more Drupal development shops enter the picture it is important to foster and raise supportive training operations as well. Speakers will share experiences on student knowledge assessments, curricula building, training theory, and evaluation techniques all based on familiar training scenarios. You'll walk away with a direction for implementing your own in-house training programs.

Presenters: 

Sean Effel
Allie Micka
Lee Hunter
Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg

Agenda

To read followup blog entries from the presenters, look here:

Speakers

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  • Sean Effel talked about Drupaltherapy's beginner training.
  • Abstract: 

    Discover how to build a thriving Drupal-focused web development business with a limited (or non-existent) marketing budget. In this session, Neil Giarratana will reveal his company's approach to marketing (and selling) their Drupal-based services without a budget.

    Presenters: 

    Neil Giarratana

    Agenda

    • The Secret to What You're Really Selling - Drupal? Your Expertise?
    • PROFITABLY Pricing Your Services
    • Drupal vs. the World - Key Differentiators of Your Product
    • The Real Drupal Advantages
    • Step-By-Step Guide to Making the Sale (and how to make sure you get to the end)
    • Top Five (Hard) Lessons Learned In Growing A Business (400% in 12 Months)
    Abstract: 

    This panel discussion will review the crowded and convoluted world of
    Drupal hosting. We will address the various hosting options for Drupal
    that now exist—from shared to cloud to virtual to dedicated hosting—and
    we discuss what options will be available in the future.

    Presenters: 

    Eric Mandel
    Frank Febrraro

    Goals

    For the attendees to learn about the different hosting options currently
    available and understand the pros and cons of each so that they can make
    an educated decision about which hosting option is best for them.

    Resources

    Drupal.org/hosting

    Speakers

    Eric Mandel, BlackMesh
    Frank Febbraro, Phase2 Technology
    TBD
    TBD
    TBD

    Abstract: 

    Lullabot's Managing Partner, Liza Kindred, will deftly apply the technical tenants of Open Source philosophy into realistic ways for businesses to become more open and successful.

    Presenters: 

    Liza Kindred

    Agenda

    • Quick intro to Open Source
    • Overview of the tenants of Open Source
    • Ways each individual tenant is applicable to business
    • Examples of Open Source Business Models
    • Q&A
    Abstract: 

    Drupal's modular nature can be a double-edged sword. With so much possible, part of the challenge is to stay focused on what is appropriate.
    What process will give your team the opportunity to make the best choices, stay on target, and deliver the best possible results? This session will cover best practices in managing your next Drupal project and the process developed and refined by Gorton Studios to build great Drupal websites.

    Presenters: 

    Drew Gorton

    Agenda

    • Managing an Effective Process
    • Plan, Design, Develop, Verify, Train, Support - how do they fit together?
    • Plan - what constitutes a solid plan?
    • Design - how do you keep it grounded in business goals and not boxed-in by systems?
    • Development - how and when do you start building?
    • Verify - what does it take to keep quality high?
    Abstract: 

    Making world class Drupal sites takes more than savvy design and good programming; it takes planning and great project management. We'll discuss general project management methodologies and tools as well as the Drupal-related specifics to help you scope, architect, and deliver beautifully built sites that make the most of Drupal.

    Presenters: 

    Crystal Williams

    Agenda

    General
    * Why is Project Management Important?
    * Adding Project Management to your Workflow (or improving what you have now)
    * Overview of Tools

    Drupal Specifics
    * Scoping and Planning Drupal Projects
    * Information Architecture for Drupal Sites
    * Navigating the Open Source Community

    Getting it Done

    Abstract: 

    Creating Flex applications is a lot of fun. Media clients just love them, but what happens when a client continually asks you to change stuff and you constantly have to upload new Flash SWFs? The solution is to use the power of Drupal as a backend for Flex. Give users a drupal site they can go to update the content on their media site, or create completely dynamic applications that accomplish all tasks without the user ever knowing there is a Drupal backend.

    Presenters: 

    Jonathan Rowny

    Goals
    We're going to start with a basic Drupal site and then walk through creating a basic Flex application, show a few real-world examples, and explain why this solution is better than all the rest.

    We'll cover:

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  • Installing Services and the AMFPHP module
  • Creating Content Types to be used with Flex
  • Abstract: 

    There are nearly 3,000,000 search results from Google for the phrase "Open Source CMS Comparison." So, what are the important features people want? How do Drupal, Joomla!, and WordPress stack up? How does "community" factor into powering innovation and deployment and what governance, work processes, and cultural differences exist? How is a competitive spirit helpful and where might strengthening collaboration between projects result in better software?

    Presenters: 

    Hagen Graf
    Christine Graf

    Agenda

    The presentation will begin with a discussion of who is using OSCMS solutions and what they are looking for.

    A matrix of desirable features and an evaluation of how Drupal, Joomla!, and WordPress measure up will be shared, along with an overall critique of the strengths and areas for growth for each project.

    Abstract: 

    It's the worst-kept dirty little secret of Drupal...large entities are still wary of using it for critical sites. Stability, security and scalability fears drive them to more expensive proprietary systems. But are these fears founded? And what is sacrificed by using proprietary platforms? Most importantly, how do you know if Drupal is right for you?

    Mike Caccavano and Matt Westgate look at the pros & cons of Drupal for enterprise-level sites and address some of the most common concerns.

    Presenters: 

    Michael Caccavano

    As Drupal "grows up," it has become an extremely powerful platform for developing versatile, feature-packed sites. While a number of well-known enterprise-level organizations have chosen Drupal as their platform, much of the corporate world still views Drupal as a young, high-risk technology. Our experience, and that of many other agencies and agency clients, shows otherwise.

    Agenda