When: January 27th, 11am - 1:45pm
Where: DePaul University Conference Center - 1 East Jackson St, 8th Floor, Chicago
Cost: Complimentary
Lunch: Included (care of Arc Technology Group)

Quarterly CMS Connection meetings are geared toward business owners and managers, interested in using Content Management Systems like Joomla! to achieve successful business results.

Tech-discussion at the quarterly CMS Connection meetings will be relevant to project leaders, discussing business subjects such as ECommerce, SEO and Web-based Marketing, Analytics, Social & Instant Media, Business Strategy and more. Attending the CMS Connection is a great opportunity for business-tech leaders to network with others - live - here in Chicagoland.

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What's the Difference Between JoomlaChicago and The CMS Connection?

Both initiatives are community-powered and organized by the CMS Association. The CMSA's mission is to support Content professionals in the technical, creative and businessworld. Here are the differences:

JoomlaChicago meetings are monthly, in Palatine.
CMS Connection meetings are quarterly, in the Loop.

JoomlaChicago monthly meetings focus on technical training for Joomla! users. CMS Connection meetings focus on business-related subjects for business decision-makers.

JoomlaChicago focuses on Joomla! CMS Connection centers on technology tools such as Joomla! to help business flourish.

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Thank you to many folks coming together to foster the qualtiy growth of tech-business here in Chicago: All presenters have generously offered up their time and talents; facilities are underwritten by DePaul University; a delicious lunch is sponsored by Arc Technology Group, and the quarterly meetings are organized by the CMS Association, host of the annual CMS Expo.

Special thanks to Danny Mittleman and DePaul University for providing Chicago location. We hope to see you on January 27th, to come together to promote and strengthen your business through the strategic use of one of the best CMSes on the planet: Joomla!

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Keeping It Personal Keeps It Real.

The #1 over-arching goal at the beginning of the year was to provide excellent LIVE meetings for all members. While online efforts will always be part of the package, to help share information and insights, the purpose for any online efforts will continue to be to support the premise of providing excellent quality person-to-person meetings.

There's nothing like that personal contact, not only for quality learning purposes, but also to forge trusted relationships that webinars, emails and Skype just can't touch.

We presented a full slate of learning and business networking sessions in 2010, including new sessions on Joomla frameworks, audio and video for Joomla, Joomla 1.6, plus a "3-minute dating" format to enable everyone to get to know eachother better.

New Online Capabilities

We performed a major re-design to the site, all done by JoomlaChicago members. The new design is clean, it's stylish, and it's "Chicago!" We added quite a bit of functionality to our website, including a social networking element, using JomSocial, complete with Discussion Groups and apps, ProjectFork for project management, new online presentations, expanded Joomla Showcase section,  rather official "Terms and Conditions" legal documentation and more. We also expanded our blogging area to enable all members to blog on JoomlaChicago.com.

New Location In Chicagoland

After three-plus years at the swanky-swank headquarters of the Acquity Group, we finally outgrew each other. It was time to give a new location a shot, so we shifted to Durty Nellie's in suburban Palatine. Meeting attendance ranges from 35 to 45 participants, which is slightly down from the 45 - 55 downtown, but so far, so good!

Connections With Joomla.org

This year, Joomla.org continues to grow and expand. The parent organization, Open Source Matters Inc (NY based non-profit), has helped fund and foster Joomla's growth as well. Their working groups have implemented several new programs to assist user groups, and JoomlaChicago has been a benefactor of all that work. We participate on Joomla.org's JUG working group, and in 2010, earned its "official Registered User Group" status.

Looking Forward

We're very thankful for several new presenters who stepped up this year to present on a myriad of topics, including VirtueMart, CSS tips and tricks, E-Commerce solutions, Joomla Security and admin, and much more. This group is all about the members themselves, and their own willingness to give of themselves to share their insights with others.

We look forward to another growth year in 2011, helping our members meet their wide array of challenges when it comes to getting familiar with Joomla, ramping up their Joomla-powered sites, and pushing this amazing CMS to its limits.  Our annual planning meeting was today, in which we mapped out a tentative schedule for each and every meeting in 2011. We'll be posting that soon, and taking your feedback and insights over the coming month, in order to finalize, lock-and-load the schedule, and line up capable speakers to present! By the way, if you're a JoomlaChicago member, and you're interested in presenting, please contact us.

Thank you all again for a great year of working together in Chicago to help each other up to speed on the software, the trends, the techniques, the business strategies, and especially all the people who are at the helm, powering their sites using Joomla!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Linda and John Coonen
Co-Hosts, JoomlaChicago