At our December core team meeting, we discussed altering the JoomlaChicago Kickstart training sessions.  This will be about the 4th iteration of the KickStart for Joomla 1.5.  Every iteration built upon the previous and has become better and better as time progressed.  This one will be no exception.  The new format will be 5 parts instead of 4 and will include 1 new session run one time per year.

Here's the new cycle information:

Part 1 - Joomla Overview and Installation
Part 2 - Content is King
Part 3 - Content Layouts and Navigation
Part 4 - Templates and Extensions
Part 5 - Kickstart Roundtable Q&A

The new session we will run 1 time per year will be a take on a previous format we've used in our Must Have Extensions main event session.  Only, this time, we are gearing it towards a 101 theme and calling it Kickstart Toolbox: What every site should have.

In 2011, we are restarting the cycle at Part 1 in January to accommodate our new schedule. If you are interested in Part 4 of the current cycle, all 4 parts will be online in the month of January for your review.  We'll start with Part 4 since it is the latest one and get that published for you.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Here is the schedule for the Kickstart sessions for 2011:

January - Part 1: Joomla Overview and Installation
February - Part 2: Content is King
March - Part 3: Content Layouts and Navigation
April - Part 4: Templates and Extensions
May - No Kickstart due to CMS Expo
June - Part 5: Kickstart Roundtable Q&A
July - Kickstart Toolbox: What every site should have
August - Part 1: Joomla Overview and Installation
September - Part 2: Content is King
October - Content Layouts and Navigation
November - Templates and Extensions
December - Kickstart Roundtable Q&A

If you have any questions about our new setup for JoomlaChicago Kickstart, please contact myself or Linda Coonen.

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

The November 11 Joomla Chicago meeting promises to be a sell-out - the presentation will provide a preview of Joomla 1.6.

I've seen a couple of previews so far, and it looks like 1.6 is going to have some powerful features, especially with respect to Access Control Levels (ACL). I can't wait to start developing in 1.6!

As for existing sites . . . what will the path to upgrade look like?  One of the important topics we covered in Joomla Chicago meetings during 2009 was the 1.0 > 1.5 pathway.  Presentations included hands-on programming steps, as well as decision model for site managers about if and when to make the migration.

What do people think?  Should we get some similar events on the calendar for 2010 with respect to the 1.5 > 1.6 upgrade path?

As of today, it's good to see we're just three people from another "sell-out" for the 2009 JoomlaChicago Meetings - so sign up today for the August 2009 JoomlaChicago Meeting if you haven't yet! We've been at max capacity (50 seats) for five out of our seven meetings this year. There's definitely strong need for knowledge on Joomla! web design, development and admin here in Chicagoland...but are we doing enough?

Please let me know what we can do to make JoomlaChicago even better via email, our Community Area (join the Meeting Group) and/or comment on the JoomlaChicago Blog, called "The Loop."

August JoomlaChicago Meeting Agenda:

11am - 11:45: CMS KickStart: Joomla! Basic Training for Beginners (Linda Coonen)
11:40 - Noon: Five-Minute Site Showcases, Featuring the Oak Lawn Children's Museum (Glen Kato) & Parker Guitars (Patrick Szczypinski).
Noon - 1pm: Joomla! Template Design, Using Artisteer (Phil DeKoker & Robert Nowak)
1pm - 1:30: After Half Hour (Networking)

Linda and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Important Links:

Register for August Meeting
Register for September Meeting
Full 2009 Schedule