BOF: Promoting ColdFusion to non-ColdFusion Developers

Here is the strategy that the non-ColdFusion developers group came up with during the Birds of a Feather I hosted at MAX called "Promoting ColdFusion Outside of the ColdFusion Community".

  • Build demo apps
    • look at Yahoo! UI stuff, integration with Amazon.com web services, etc.--anything that shows how you do things in Java, PHP, .NET, etc.--we should duplicate this in CF
      • we as a community should take this on
      • put this on RIAForge
    • show CF integration capabilities
      • ease of integration with Java, .NET, Exchange
        • be aware of holes in this area
    • promote popular application types (blogging, bulletin boards, etc.) written in CF
    • promote CF 8 code snippet server running on Adobe's servers
    • place to host demo apps--free hosting from HostMySite.com?
  • Need single place to point people to get going with CF
    • gotcfm.com
    • promote blog aggregators--MXNA, FeedSquirrel, cfbloggers.org
    • promote user groups
  • Create place that responds to common objections and myths
    • ties in with #2
Thanks to the group that came up with this strategy! The team included, among others, fellow CFUG managers Charlie Arehart, Matt Woodward and Rob Munn. I didn't keep notes on who was in what group, so if you participated in this group or any of the others, thank you so much!!!

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Comments
Brian, was gotcfm.com mentioned in the meeting? If so, how so? I'd be glad to help.
# Posted By Rey Bango | 10/7/07 12:04 PM
Excellent work on the BOF Brian! I would have come if MAX made it to my schedule this year also. I would not have expected what you came up with... truly sounds better than expected.

I don't think just one web site is the key... but the better web sites should work together by linking each other. I like the German attitude that products shouldn't "compare" to each other. If a product is good then it doesn't need to dump on alternatives to show it's significance. That approach shows a lack of confidence in one's own product. Each product ought to be able to sell itself on it's advantages.
# Posted By John Farrar | 10/7/07 2:05 PM
I believe the non-ColdFusion developer group mentioned you by name.
# Posted By Brian Meloche | 10/7/07 9:09 PM
@Rey: Sorry about that, from the last comment. Yes, I believe gotcfm.com was mentioned by name in the non-ColdFusion developers group by name.
# Posted By Brian Meloche | 10/7/07 9:11 PM
I've only got one point to make here and thats about RIAForge. If we are looking to improve the visibility of CF, surely it would make sense to do this on one of the sites out there that is not just visited by people already familiar with the Adobe community, but with another larger community (Sourceforge for instance).

My only gripe with RIAforge has even been that exact point - ie. by creating a forge site for the adobe community - and thus making that the site of choice, we are insulating CF from the rest of the world somewhat.
# Posted By Neil Middleton | 10/8/07 1:38 AM
There are ColdFusion resources for OpenID (though listed last on the page)
http://wiki.openid.net/Libraries

Where is the ColdFusion resource for oAuth?
http://oauth.net/code/
# Posted By Fred B | 10/10/07 4:45 AM
Folks, I'd like to add a comment here, since I was a member of the team Brian's referring to. First, with respect to the option on building demo apps, while there's a point there saying "put this on RIAForge", that was not the intent. At least not mine, and it was my idea. The key bullet said "look at Yahoo! UI stuff, integration with Amazon.com web services, etc.--anything that shows how you do things in Java, PHP, .NET, etc.--we should duplicate this in CF".

I meant very definitely that we should build those apps ON THOSE SITES so that folks seeing them there would see them being done in CFML. Everyone in the group agreed with the value of that approach. I think Matt (who was taking notes) may have added the RIAFORGE point as someone else spoke it. He was having to type pretty furiously.

That leads to a second important point about the list: these points were not "a strategy" but rather they were a summation of the brainstorming that the team did. I mean, yes, Brian had asked each group to come up with a strategy (picking the top 2 ideas as voted by each group), but again Matt went ahead and wrote more (nothing wrong with that, as long as the intent is understood.)
# Posted By Charlie Arehart | 10/21/07 1:07 PM
Thanks for the explanation, Charlie.

I am overdue for more posts on the Promoting CF BOF, and I plan to get to it ASAP. Right now, my focus is on a couple of projects at work, and that leaves little bandwidth for much else, but I WILL get back to it in the next week or so.
# Posted By Brian Meloche | 10/24/07 6:36 AM
# Posted By palm tree lamp | 8/19/08 3:05 PM
# Posted By Justin | 8/21/08 6:11 AM
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