Archive for the 'Helping Out' Category

Michael-James Pennie & Tweet to Remember

I first met Michael-James Pennie at a Tazzu networking even a few years back. I know him as a remarkable, upbeat and positive man.

I read for the first time today that his family has been coping with a debilitating disease which has afflicted his father, Jim, over the past several years… in 2003 he was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Pennie writes: “Our personal lives have never been the same. I never wanted to burden those close to me with my challenges, although there was a nagging instinct inside of me that refused to go away. I had to do something. I became inspired to share my story. I became inspired to be proactive to help not only my father, but those other families affected. “

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Fraser Valley WordCamp coming up!

WordCamp Fraser Valley

After the great success of WordCamp Vancouver, a friend of ours Gary Jones of BlueFur is going to host WordCamp Fraser Valley for all the WordPress bloggers out that way – very cool!

This event is for anyone that has an interest in blogging and WordPress in general. Beginner’s will learn more about what blogging is and what WordPress software can do. Expert WordPress users will be able to network and learn from other expert bloggers.

WordCamp Fraser Vally Details

When is the event happening?
Date: Wednesday – July 16, 2008
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Where is it happening?
The Cascades Casino
20393 Fraser Hwy – Langley BC

Registration
Register here or via BlueFur.

Speakers/Schedule
For Speakers, Topics & Schedule click here!

We wish everyone at BlueFur and all the attendees a very successful event. Happy blogging everyone! :)

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Are you ready? Here it comes … the SteakCamp !!!

Well we had the Joomla Camp (here and here) and then the WordCamp and if you ever had a chance to meet Raul (aka hummingbird604 ) he is planning to do a SteakCamp.

If you have been following Raul’s blog, you probably know that he writes reviews about Vancouver’s restaurants, and apparently he has accepted the challenge of writing a review for this little restaurant in East Vancouver called the Brave Bull which sells steak for 8.95 and according to the www.BuzzBishop.com blog “it’s serving food. And people are leaving the place alive.”

I’ve offered to make a few blog posts and create a facebook event for the SteakCamp so many of us could arrange to show up at the Brave Bull on Monday evening. You know when it gets to Food and Friends I am there, so bring in your cameras and appetite so we can have a joly good time together.

SteakCamp details

WHEN – Monday June 23rd, 2008 at 6:00pm
WHERE – The Brave Bull

The Brave Bull’s House of Steaks
1298 E Hastings St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-253-4728

WHY – To answer Buzz Bishop’s challenge to Raul (www.hummingbird604.com), Karen (www.tinybites.ca) and restaurant reviewers in Vancouver.

If you are on Facebook you can RSVP here and invite your friends too!

SteakCamp 2008 at the Brave Bull
Made by PageBadge

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Announcing the Vancouver Joomla! Day

Vancouver Joomla! Day
We would like to invite you to join us for Canada’s largest Joomla event: Joomla! Day Vancouver. It will be hosted at the Vancouver Public Library located in downtown Vancouver, beautiful British Columbia. This whole day event is held on Saturday June 14th 2008 from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM.

Vancouver Joomla Day 2008

Joomla! CMS is one of the most powerful Open Source content management systems (CMS) on the planet. Joomla! is easy to install, simple to manage, and reliable to use.

The new version of Joomla (version 1.5) is an ideal platform for building Corporate websites, Intranets, Social Networks, and Web Applications in general.

Joomla! CMS has been inspired, developed and maintained by groups of volunteers from different countries around the world. It is a true evidence of what a crowd of inspired people can accomplish through an open source project. There are currently about 30 volunteers responsible for development and maintenance of Joomla CMS including a community of more than 180,000 users and 3rd party developers, all who have gathered around this project during the past couple of years.

In this event you will get to meet and listen to some of the people who are the original creators and maintainers of the Joomla! CMS framework. You also get to meet other Joomla developers and enthusiasts who live either in the greater Vancouver area or have flown in to attend this great community driven and inspired event!

So please remember…

The Date: June 14th 2008 from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM
The Location: Alice McKay room at the Library Square Conference Centre in the Central Vancouver Public Library Building
350 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, Beautiful British Columbia, Canada
»» view map

Central Vancouver Public Library
[ Vancouver Public Library ]

How can we register for this event:

The tickets are 25$ each and for that price you will be getting a Vancouver Joomla Day! T-Shirt and a coupon which buys you a free coffee and baked goodies.

You can register online here:

Who are the Presenters?

Chris Adams – CEO of Rochen Limited

Chris Adams

Chris Adams is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rochen Limited, a web hosting provider that specializes in performance hosting solutions allowing dynamic scripts like Joomla! to realize their full potential running right out of the box with fast load times and fantastic uptime. Rochen has certified support engineers based throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and United Kingdom, not outsourcing any part of their operations, and maintains their own servers and infrastructure in Dallas, TX, United States.

Rochen is a major sponsor of Joomla! and Chris has been involved with providing the infrastructure to the project since before the name “Joomla!” was even decided or publicly announced. Chris has previously spoken at Joomla! Days in Leeds, United Kingdom in 2006 and at the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA, United States in 2007. He has also attended the LinuxWorld Open Source Awards in London, UK with members of the Joomla! Core Team in 2005 and 2006 where Rochen was nominated as a finalist in the category of “Best Open Source Web Host” both years running.

Brad Baker – Joomla! Core Team Member

Brad Baker

It all started in October 2003, when Brad stumbled upon Mambo in his quest for an easy to use CMS. By 2004 he was on the Core Team looking after forum administration. Since moving to Joomla, and seeing the community and team expand even further, his responsibilities have broadened to encompass looking after all the Joomla! websites and infrastructure.

Brad has years of experience in the web hosting industry. As well as running his own local Webhosting and design business he also works for Rochen and has done so for a number of yrs. He had been associated with Mambo since 2003, and brings his good humor and expertise to the ever growing Joomla! fold.

Levis Bisson – Joomla! Core Team Member

Levis Bisson

Levis is an analyste-programmer (B.Sc.A.). After many years in the job market, Levis decided to go the Laval University to study computer programming in 1997. Graduating in 2000, he started along with Michelle Bisson, a Web programming business. Their primary clientele is the Quebec government offering customized programming solutions. He had been involved in the Mambo community since July 2003 and it now actively involved in developing Joomla!. With much anticipation, he looks forward to the next phase of the Joomla! project.

Michelle Bisson – Joomla! Core Team Member

Michelle Bisson

Michelle Bisson is one of the founding members of Joomla! Before that she was invited onto the Mambo Core Team in early 2004 after being active in the Mambo community since mid 2003. She partners with Lévis Bisson in a web development company, Jazzisoft International Inc. which specializes in custom programming to the Quebec government and developing Joomla! based sites to the municipal government, businesses and non-profits. Their company is also know as POPcliQ in Québec, Canada. They are fluently bilingual: English and French. They have started to offer their services internationally.

Her involvement in the past was coordinating the User Documentation Team. Currently, she is leading the Fundraising Team, representing Joomla! at various Joomla! events and involved in organizing Joomla! events in Canada

Steve Burge – CEO of Alledia

Steve Burge

Steve Burge is the CEO of Alledia (www.alledia.com), one of the leading Joomla development companies in the world, having built over 200 Joomla websites. He is the author of he Joomla SEO Book and writes a daily blog about Joomla! and Search Engine Optimization at www.alledia.com/blog.

Originally from England, he now lives and works close to Atlanta, Georgia.

Louis Landry – Joomla! Core Team Member

Louis Landry

Louis of New Orleans, Louisiana, works in web development and holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science from Louisiana Tech University. His first experience with computers was playing on a 286 with Basic at his father’s office. Louis has programmed in many languages, ranging from low level x86 assembly to managed languages like Java and scripting languages like PHP.

Jennifer Marriott – Joomla! Working Group Member

Jennifer Marriott

Jennifer Marriott started designing print media in the mid 90’s and progressed into freelance web development from there. Her private web design work for herself and her clients has mad her an expert in taking artist websites to the next level using Joomla!.

Jennifer is a renowned blues singer and guitarist with the band Jennifer Marriott & Odd Sheep Out, and her experience as an artist gives her a unique perspective on the communication needs of artists.

As a Joomla! supporter, Jennifer has contributed to the project in the Sites and Infrastructure working group since 2005 and is currently diving into Q&T.

www.jennifermarriott.com

Toni Marie Swats – Joomla! Working Group Member

Toni Marie Swats

Toni has been an all-around web and database consultant for six years,working from home to be closer to her family.

Toni discovered Joomla two years ago and has since focused her entire consultancy on Joomla. With partner David Prestia, she owns MyDynamicSite.com, a custom Joomla design consultancy.

Toni has been a part of the Joomla Forum Workgroup for more than a year, and is currently one of the Joomla Extensions Directory editors.

Event Organizers

Wendy Robinson – Vancouver Joomla! Day Coordinator & Joomla Community Forum Administrator
Vancouver Joomla! Day

Tazzu Business & Technology Community – www.Tazzu.com
Tazzu Business & Technology Community

Rastin Mehr rmd Studio Inc. – Former Joomla Development Workgroup member and Google Summer of Code Mentor
rmd Studio Inc. - Custom CMS & Social Media Technology Solutions

Jeannette Duguay – JenTekk Web Solutions www.JenTekk.ca
JenTekk Web Solutions

Ash Sanieyan – PeerGlobe Technology Inc. www.PeerGlobe.com
PeerGlobe Technologies

Event Sponsors:

Open Source Matters (home of Joomla) – www.OpenSourceMatters.org
Open Source Matters

Rochen Engineered Hosting – www.Rochen.com
Rochen Engineered Hosting

FatPort Secure Broadband Wireless
FatPort Secure Broadband

Baratta Design – www.dvbaratta.com
Baratta Design

Media Sponsors:

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How can we improve the next Tazzu Wordcamp?


Vancouver Tazzu Wordcamp

Photography by Stephen Rees

Please give us a feedback! This was our first Wordcamp event that we’ve ever organized and decided to sort of go with the flow until we learn what the community really wants. I know the first issue that comes to mind was the lack of space and having to sit on the hardwood floors during the presentations (myself included). Perhaps a larger venue with room for more chairs? or how about using BeanBags at the NetworkHub next time?

Let’s put our minds together and find ways to improve the next Wordcamp event. We either do it by posting comments here or join the discussion on the Tazzu forum

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Any more sponsors interested?

Update: within minutes after posting this announcement we were contacted by you guys and raised enough to cover all the costs and even more. We think we are good to go now, and thank you so much for all of you who have made your financial and word of mouth contributions. Looking forward to seeing you all tonight! 

Turns out that close to 90 people have RSVPed on the facebook which is a greater number than what we were originally expecting. Tazzu WordPress Camp is a community inspired and supported event. If you are interested to be one of our paid sponsors please feel free to contact me (rastin [at] tazzu.com or 778 885 0807 ), and then the blogging community will love you forever for helping us make this event possible.

Thank you :)

Vancouver Joomla Demo Camp review

DSC_0072

Here is a follow-up to the Vancouver Joomla 1.5 Demo Camp. I apologize that it is somewhat late, but hey… better late than never!

The Joomla 1.5 Demo Camp was held by Rastin, Arash, and myself at the Network Hub in Vancouver. Turn out was really good with over 20 people in attendance.

Vancouver Joomla DemoCamp - 02/2008

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