The original idea behind this group was to establish a Joomla! community presence in the Northern Virginia area to include Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties at the very minimum. Frankly, we were all surprised this group didn't already exist. So when we discovered it didn't we decided to start it up.
We had our kickoff meeting in mid-May 2009 and have had regular monthly meetings since then. We have two regular meeting venues, one in Reston, Virginia, and one in Washington DC. Two of our founding members are from Loudoun, one is from Arlington, and two are from Fairfax County. Plus, we've got Ryan Ozimek, President of Open Source Matters, and Joomla! professionals Joe LeBlanc, Brian Sullivan, and Dorothy Firsching serving on our Executive Committee. See the map below for an approximation (zip code resolution) of the distribution of our membership over the Greater Washington DC Area.
The map shows approximately where our 54 members live.
Our group consists of site and code developers, some of whom have been using Joomla! for years and others who are just getting starting with it. So we'll cover the gamut of topics at our meetings; everything from getting your first Joomla! site up and running to serious topics such as security and customization. Membership is NOT RESTRICTED to the Northern Virginia and DC areas. We've got members from as far away as INDIA!
Please don't overlook the fact that we also have a Google Group that we use to communicate amongst ourselves.
We hope to see you soon!
The founding body:
- Bruce Scherzinger
- Joe LeBlanc
- Dorothy Firsching
- Monique Watkins
JUG Northern Virginia is hosting the first ever Joomla! Day DC on October 16, 2010. Early registration is now open through the end of August, after which time the cost will increase by $20. We think you'll agree we've assembled a speaker line-up that will make serious Joomla! enthusiasts drool. Please register soon so you don't miss out!
