Northern Virginia Joomla! Users Group
June 17, 2010 Executive Council Meeting
Minutes
Meeting Objective
The objective of the June 17, 2010 Northern Virginia Joomla! Users Group meeting was to plan the first JoomlaDay DC.
Participants
- Donald Cranford
- Joe LeBlanc
- Bruce Scherzinger
- Brian Sullivan (via phone)
- Ryan Ozimek (via phone)
- Dorothy Firsching
Nova JUG Organization
Establishing a bank account in the organization’s name requires organizational documents. We reviewed draft bylaws, made some changes online, and adopted the bylaws as organizational documents. Initial officers were elected as follows:
- Chair, Bruce Scherzinger
- Vice Chair, Joe LeBlanc
- Secretary, Dorothy Firsching
- Treasurer, Don Cranford
Subsequent to the meeting. Brian Sullivan was designated Publicity Director and this office was added to the Executive Council. He would be pleased to share treasurer duties with Don as well.
Dorothy has obtained a federal EIN and has begun application for Federal 501(c)(6) tax exempt status. State requirements will also need to be met. At this point, we have not yet decided that incorporation is necessary. She will also look into getting a check card and/or Visa card for the organization.
Venue
The Silver Spring Civic Center now seems to be our best option. The application fee is $250, with a $500 security deposit. See the Google Groups spreadsheet for the detailed costs and budget. This facility maxes out at 400, more than we need.
It still may be possible that Microsoft may donate space, however, their facility in Friendship Heights may be too small, accommodating about 60 people. Bruce and Joe will continue to explore this option. We will proceed with the Silver Spring option and forfeit the deposit if Microsoft comes though with free space that is suitable. Joe says that there is a wing of Microsoft trying to make it easier to support php on a Microsoft server platform, and willing to embrace Joomla. Maybe they would become a lunch sponsor?
Sponsors
Sponsors have committed about $5000 to date. Additional sponsors are still needed. Bruce will contact Chris Walker for a $500 - $1000 sponsorship. We will also pursue a “lunch sponsor” for $2500, to include stuffing materials in the box lunch. (Is this Sully’s contact, or was that just for the lunch boxes?)
Sponsors will receive tickets with their sponsorships:
- $500 sponsors receive 1 ticket
- $1000 sponsors receive 2 tickets
- $1500 sponsors receive 3 tickets
- $2500 sponsors receive up to 5 ticket
Speakers
We have an impressive slate of speakers lined up, including:
- Louis Landry
- Rob Schley
- Ryan Ozimek
- Joe LeBlanc
- Mitch Pirtle
- Jen Kramer
- Elin Waring
- Steve Burge
- Rafael Diaz-Tushman
- Steve Gorney
- Chad Windnagle
- Amy Stephen
- Neri Valentin-Macias
- Ken Crowder
- Cory Webb
This will enable us to offer several tracks and levels of presentation.
Kim Bruehler (sp?) was proposed as an excellent speaker on usability and interaction but with the abundance of Joomla speakers he was not selected.
Speaker stipends were discussed but not resolved. Typical stipends might be about $400 but DC expenses could be greater. Group hotel rates will also be investigated.
JoomlaDay Date
It was pointed out that the September 18, 2010 date we had planned was Yom Kippur, a Jewish High Holy Day. September 25 and October 2 were considered as options.
- Dorothy will contact speakers to ask them whether they would be able to speak on the alternate dates.
- Sully will contact the Silver Spring Civic Center to determine its availability on the alternate dates.
- Sully will contact hotels in the area for group rates for speakers and attendees.
Registration
It was decided that using EventBrite with Paypal would be the most effective approach even though it would cost about 5% of our registration fees.
- We had planned to offer an early-bird rate of $49 and a regular rate of $69.
- We may adjust rates depending on facility costs and sponsor funding.
- We should ask experience level on the registration form, and possibly initial session choices, to help target and schedule the sessions. E.g., developer, professional, site administrator, hobby, years of experience with Joomla
- We may ask T-shirt size on the registration form if we provide T-shirts.
Publicity – Web Site
Work needs to be started on the JoomlaDay website. Don offered his graphics artist and was willing to do the development, however, Free Range Studios has been proposed as an approach to create a really hot site. The site will include:
- Speakers, including photos, topics, and bios
- Link to Eventbrite registration
- Sponsor Names and levels
- Visuals of Silver Spring as well as DC
- Hotel accommodations
- Things to do, including Silver Theater, Discovery Communication exhibit
- Connections to other events, e.g., Sully teaching a class the next day on Joomla and Social Networking
- Publicity via multiple lists, Joomla site, our clients
- Banners and signage for venue, including registration, podium, breakout rooms
- Need a JoomlaDay DC Logo
Program
- We will have multiple concurrent tracks; probably two.
- Opening and closing keynote presentations.
- We may have an “unconference” facilitated section in which participants can propose topics on a sticky wall, people can dot-poll to vote for topics, and participants and speakers may discuss those topics.
- We may have a “genius bar” or “help desk” to answer individual questions.
- Dorothy will obtain topics from speakers.
Food
- Bagels and coffee with registration
- Box lunch with a sponsor
- Afternoon snack
Give-Away Ideas (not finalized)
- T-shirts
- Bags
- Mouse Pads
- Buttons
- Thumb Drives
Next Meeting
- Third Thursday of July, July 15, 2010, at PICNet.
Minutes submitted on June 20, 2010, by Dorothy Firsching, Secretary.
Minutes, June 17, 2010 1