Will Strohl's Blog

It’s been a LONG time since I began and last updated the “participate” blog series. A lot of things have changed since then. I am at a new company. Shaun Walker moved on too. Joe Brinkman is now leading community. Charles Nurse took over as the Chief Architect. The DNN core is now much more open for contributions, and so many more changes. Regardless to your personal opinions, there is a bright future for DNN. Part of this is the introduction of working groups, one of which is the Training working group that I am leading – and I need your help. Nay… The COMMUNITY needs your help!

The most common issues and questions that I come across on a daily basis are very often a result of not knowing the DNN Platform as well as it could be known.  Like with any tool, the better you know it, how to manipulate it, the best techniques behind it, and so on… The better that you will be at using that tool.  The faster you will be at accomplishing tasks with the right solution.  Every solution is only as good as the people that run it.  This is your opportunity to walk away with the critical knowledge that is foundational to you being the best DNN resource that you can be – and have a blast with others in the DNN community at the same time.

This is the second post in a series of blog posts that will focus on ways that you can participate in DNN in some way.  Participation is incredibly important.  Without it, any community will suffer, and an open source community like ours knows this all too well if you look at the history of open source.  After all, what good is any project if no one is using it.  Luckily, we have had the luxury of millions of users, nearly a million production sites, over a thousand eco-system vendors & system integrators, and more.  We have thrived more than most.  However, like I stated before, there are a ton of ways for you to participate.  If you’re new to DNN, this post will help you help others by answering questions.

You should already be aware, but there is an incredibly active and vibrant user group in Charlotte, North Carolina called Queen City DotNetNuke User Group or QCDUG.  These folks were also the masterminds behind the Day of DotNetNuke Charlotte last year.  When they agreed to do another event this year, I couldn’t even tell you how excited I was because last year was so awesome!  These gentlemen sure did not disappoint when they organized and held their second event, this time branded in a fun way as Southern Fried DNN!  What a great way to participate in our community!

First of all, if you haven’t already heard, there was a contest.  The annual DotNetNuke SUPER Fan contest.  There was voting.  There were shenanigans.  There was all kinds of friendly competition.  And in the end, there was a winner.  That winner was awarded at DNN World 2012 in Orlando, Florida.  Not only was the contest a bunch of fun as usual, but the awards ceremony continues to be a blast since it’s held at the most prestigious and informative event about open source CMS in the world… 

This blog post isn’t about another one of my presentations.  Actually, I just wanted to let you know about a .Net user group that is having a DotNetNuke presentation given in the New York area on October 4, 2012.  DNN is rampant across the east coast of the US, but it’s not often I hear about a DNN presentation in the New York area.

The deadline for DotNetNuke SUPER Fan Contest entries was this past Friday.  However, over the weekend, I received several requests to extend the deadline.  There were enough of you asking, that it is definitely worth the wait. 

I’ve been to and spoken at every code camp in the state of Florida.  Each one has it’s own unique touch.  Some are known for their sheer size, others for their night time events, and more.  They are all really incredible.  We have some great leaders in the Florida .Net community.  However, only one code camp in the state has John Dunagan leading the charge.  No disrespect to anyone else, but John really is a community machine! 

When I announced this years DotNetNuke SUPER Fan contest, I promised that I would let you know what the prizes would look like.  If you don’t remember, we are taking the Awesome Cycles branding from our default installation template a step further and providing an AWESOME cycle and cycling gear to the top 3 places in the DotNetNuke SUPER Fan contest.  Winning is simple.  Do something amazing to prove that you are the world’s most passionate fan of DotNetNuke, and if the community agrees through voting, you win!

If you’ve never been there, you should know that Tampa Bay is an incredible city.  It may not look large depending on where you’re from, but it’s home to Busch Gardens, New York Yankees spring training, former Super Bowl Champion Buccaneers, NHL champion Lightning, the Rays, and it’s also where the best Punisher movie was filmed (in my opinion).  This city was also home to the first ever Day of DotNetNuke in 2009, which has since spread to Orlando, France, Canada, Chicago, and Charlotte.  I am very happy to be able to say that I am once again bringing DotNetNuke back to this great city in a meeting on August 23, 2012.