Verbosity 2.0 ~ Talking about life on Drupal

I finally made it out to a real Drupal event!  Not just a local meetup... so much more than that.

The two-day educational networking event took place at North Studio - a Victoria web development firm which also does a lot of work in the computer training department.  Our schedule started with a focus on the basics: installation of Drupal, SEO techniques, a dash of Information Architecture and more.  That was all really valuable stuff, but for me it was a bit redundant.  If you've been following my threads for the past year you will probably understand what I mean.

What I Learned

The presentation on Actions, Triggers and Rules by Dave Tarc was insightful.  I have worked with Actions and Triggers on Drupal 6 and the Workflow-NG module for Drupal 5.  Rules takes over where Workflow-NG left off.  Essentially this module just lets you add some rudimentary logic to your Triggers so you can automate things on the site.  What could be better than automating things?  In my world: not much.

Great news today.  I have an office!

Since November 2008 I have been working with Geist Magazine helping to build out new functionality on the website and relaunch the site after upgrading it from Drupal 5 to Drupal 6.  For nearly all of this work I have been coding from my home in East Van and/or nearby cafés.  I love cafés, a lot, but after awhile you just feel like you need your own space.  So here I am.

Geist occupies a shared office space with other arts groups at 341 Water Street.  There is at least one book publisher, a performing arts group and others.  My desk fits into the web corner, bounded by archives of the magazine and a window from which you can see the sun adorn the red brick of the building next door.

Just a quick note about the fun activities around Vancouver in the summer time.  This is the ideal place to spend your time on a beach if you are wanting to waste the summer away.  I'll be working for much of this summer.  Crazy busy right now.  I still make time to dragonboat.  Teams are a good way to stay focused and motivated when the beach is always trying to lure you away from your busy life.  That's me in the back.

The coldness stood still. Vancouver is covered in another blanket of snow. Let's all stay indoors tonight.