Come meet the MariaDB Server and MariaDB MaxScale developers in Berlin (April 12 2016), talk about new upcoming things in MariaDB Server 10.2, as well as the next MariaDB MaxScale releases. Let’s not forget the talks about the upcoming developments with the Connectors.
It will be a fun-filled, information-packed night. Food & drink will be provided.
For more information and the opportunity to RSVP check-out our meetup page. RSVP soon as we only have 99 spaces available.
Last week we had the MySQL Meetup with MariaDB Developers in Amsterdam, which went on easily for about 3.5 hours. Thanks to all for listening (these were lightning talks, not with a strict 5 minute clock with Q&A thrown in), and Daniël van Eeden for organising this at the eBay offices (whom kindly provided pizza, beer and soft drinks as well). We had many talks, and I’ve managed to put up most of the slides into a Google Drive folder, so feel free to access the bucket.
Georg Richter had prepared a presentation but decided not to give it, since we already had quite a lot of talks and discussion throughout the sessions. If you’re interested in MariaDB Connectors, the presentation is worth a read.
Thanks again to Daniël van Eeden and Jean-François Gagné whom really helped get this stuff going.
P/S: for some pictures, I live tweeted them:
Standing room only for @mysql NL meetup group with #mariadb developers talking today @mariadb pic.twitter.com/Hwnu1HxrDY
— Colin Charles (@bytebot) October 12, 2015
The @MySQL NL meetup with #mariadb folk – yes it's a lot of learning today @mariadb pic.twitter.com/UD9gWnly64
— Colin Charles (@bytebot) October 12, 2015
When the questions get serious, we see @mariadb @montywi talk too — @mysql NL meetup #mariadb pic.twitter.com/Qv4k84XZ0S
— Colin Charles (@bytebot) October 12, 2015
Next week, all the MariaDB Server developers will descend to Amsterdam for the developer’s meeting. As you know the meeting is open to all interested parties, so we hope to see you in Amsterdam Tuesday Oct 13 – Thursday Oct 15. The schedule is now online as well.
In addition to that, Monday Oct 12 2015, there is also a meetup planned with the MySQL User Group NL. As the organiser Daniël van Eeden wrote, this is a one of a kind meetup: “This is a very unique event, it is not often possible to find so many MariaDB developers together and speaking about what they work on.”
Yes, we’re doing it lightning talk style (ok, not strictly, 5 minutes), but everyone will talk about something they’re working on or passionate about that you don’t find in MySQL. I understand that there will be pizza and beverages too.
All in, a packed week in Amsterdam, and here’s to focusing on the MariaDB Server 10.2 release cycle.
May is quickly shaping up to be a month filled with activity in the MySQL/MariaDB space. Just a quick note to talk about where I’ll be; looking forward to meet folk to talk shop.
We’ve had MySQL meetup’s organised thanks to mysql.meetup.com for years now, and its sad to see the relationship end in about a fortnight. Never fret, because it seems that Facebook can do all that, and more.
If you’re the meetup organiser, and you checked the Members list, or even attempted to download it, you’ll be disappointed. You get a CSV file, with the name of the person, some other metadata, if they’re on the mailing list (chances is yes to all), and the URL of the member profile. What’s missing? An email address.
So while its nice to have a CSV copy of the member list, it will not assist you in any migration, whatsoever. Totally data lock in :-(
Keep in mind that you’ve got mailing lists and message boards on meetup.com. You’ll want to make use of this, to tell people to join your new Facebook group. Mailing lists are of the form: mysql-GROUPNUM@meetup.com, and you can find out more from mysql.meetup.com/GROUPNUM/messages/archive.
In case you’ve had people unsubscribe from the mailing list, better make things redundant, to announce the move to Facebook, and also post to the message board.
As the owner of the meetup group, you can also edit the description of your meetup group – do so, pointing to the new Facebook address of the group.
Look at the bottom of your screen, and you’ll notice a little toolbar, and its not too hard to spot groups. Once you see the groups page, you will be able to “Create a New Group”. The exact link to creating a new group will work, as long as you’re logged into Facebook. Once you’re done, don’t hesitate to enter some relevant group information:
It’s probably worth noting that naming nomenclatures might be useful. Like I liberally used: The Malaysian MySQL User Group (Kuala Lumpur), but if you’re in a country like the United States, and you’re doing this in San Francisco, a name such as: The San Francisco MySQL User Group would make sense. Used similarly, like “The New York City User Group”, or if you’re in Australia, something like “The Melbourne MySQL User Group” will make sense. In that sense, I should really be calling the Malaysian one that I organise, “The Kuala Lumpur MySQL User Group”, and I have a feeling that once there are more meetups in the states around here, I will do just that.
Next up, you’re asked to upload a picture. Go ahead, make one up, or leave it blank. Something with your city in it, might be a good one. If the meetup group has a website, then enter its URL. The default settings on “Step 2: Customize” are all accurate, so just leave it be.
Once that is done, and you click “Save”, you’re asked to publish it on your wall. This is what I call publicity to those closest in your social network — you should go for it! You want all the help you can get, to spread the word, to make your meetup even more successful!
Now comes the fun part — you can invite your friends, or invite people via email — the choice is yours.
And that’s it, now you have a Facebook group, with an appropriate URL to point people to. In my case, the Malaysian MySQL User Group is at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=82091206683. Yes, the URL’s are not friendly, so maybe you want to make use of a URL shortener (Something like bit.ly, powered by MySQL).
The Facebook group you just created is useful. It displays the members, it has a discussion board facility, it has a wall (which may not be so useful, when it comes to actual discussion). It allows for members to post photos, links, videos, and more. In short, as long as all attendees are members of Facebook and the group, you’ve just created your own little virtual community!
Now, one thing that shone with Meetup.com was the ability to have a meetup once every month, and details go out to all members about topics, et al. Facebook allows this too. Select “Create Related Event”. In fact if you scroll down a little more, below Group Type, and Admins, you can also Create Events, as there is a nice Events tab, right before the Related Groups one.
Once you’ve selected Create an Event, you’re told to enter some event information, as follows:
That’s just basically filling up relevant information, the time, the location, and some contact details of the meetup organiser. Click Create Event, and magically, you now have a new event! Again, the defaults under customisation are perfectly safe, except, for the bottom, where you should scroll down, and under the “Publicize:” option, you definitely want to tick it, and say “Show this event in search results“. The more publicity, the better.
Click Save, and again, you’re asked to publish this to your wall, like above. If I were you, I’d go for it, so that even your friends who aren’t in the meetup group, might want to come depending on the topic being addressed in that particular month.
Like earlier, you can now invite guests (even via email) to the event, and once you’re done, you should have a similar page (looks so familiar to your group page, huh?) for the event in particular. Go forth and publish that URL on Twitter and other social networks, so more people show up :-)
Remember, that if anything changes, go back to the same event page, and select: “Message Guests”. This will allow them to all receive a Facebook message with the relevant information, changes, and so forth.
That’s basically it.
I can think of one more thing that Facebook has, that you don’t have on Meetup.com – that’s chat within the browser. You can chat with your friends, and meetup attendees potentially might want to confirm some last minute details, and the chat is a great feature.
One thing I find lacking is that you don’t have mailing lists. I’m an email type of guy, and if you want mailing lists, don’t hesitate to ask for one, at lists.mysql.com. We’ll be happy to provide yet another avenue to keep your meetups going strong.
Another strong point? You can be a member of multiple meetup groups, without having to leave your own. As someone who travels somewhat frequently, I love attending other user groups just to meet the community and see what they’re doing with MySQL. I can now, as events are open ;-)
Have questions? Leave a comment and I’ll get back to you. Otherwise, happy meeting users in your own areas and areas you’re travelling to!
I’m fielding thoughts/comments. What do you think if we had events like Social Media Breakfast in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia? Would you go? How would you contribute? What do you think you will get out of it?
Our neighbours down in Singapore have their own SMB.sg, and they seem to have a very rah rah styled event, that includes sponsors, venues, and when things start involving money/expenses, it takes a little more time for something like this to be organised (especially, in this dud economy). Just take a look at their public ledger.
Not far off, there is the Social Media Coffee Mornings in Sydney, and Melbourne. These happen on a Friday morning, which probably won’t fly in Malaysia, as people need to go to work :-)
My proposal
We have a similar event, held once every two weeks initially, on a Saturday morning, at a coffee joint that we wish to take over. There is potential for fun at Starbucks, in the Gardens, but better yet, you’ll find that the Coffee Bean in Mont Kiara has got a lot more space, parking, and is a bit more secluded (so its easy to move tables around, et al).
No projector/screen, bring your own laptops. There should be WiFi, which makes having it at a Starbucks better than a Coffee Bean, as the WiFi would then be free (and not provided via Airzed). One would need plenty of power sockets too, but if we keep it breakfast styled, let the event fizzle out in 2-3 hours, so that you can go and get lunch with your loved ones (or hook up the next great business with someone you met!).
Would you find value, talking to Web-types, into social media, entrepreneurship, technology, or even just making extra income via the Internet, every fortnight, all for the price of a coffee? Is 9am on a Saturday, too early for this sort of thing?
I envision this being a mashup of Social Media Breakfast, Social Media Coffee Mornings, and even OpenCoffee Club.
If you’re into Twitter, Facebook, blogging, building up web services that benefit others, and create a conversation, FriendFeed, community, entrepreneurship, making money via the online world, new media, advertising, and more, this is the kind of event for you. Field thoughts via comments, or a Twitter message :-)
Colin Charles Agenda by Colin Charles is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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