Brian Meloche's Blog - Cleveland AUG

The ColdFusion and Flex Tours come to Cleveland this Wednesday!

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:56:00 -0400

On Wednesday, June 17th, join us for what will be the biggest Adobe user group event in Cleveland history! All of the official Adobe groups: The Cleveland ColdFusion User Group, the Cleveland Flex User Group, the Cleveland Adobe User Group and the Cleveland InDesign User Group join forces for this big, big, BIG... SOOOOO BIGGG event that you'll want to be there! The ColdFusion 9 and Flex 4 tours are here! Adam Lehman of Adobe, who was featured on CFConversations this week, will be our speaker for this event. If you're in or near the Cleveland area, join us! It's at 6pm, and at the offices of: Dealer Tire, LLC 3711 Chester Avenue Cleveland, OH 44114 There will be food, beverages, and prizes, along with swag! If you are planning to attend, it's imperative that you RSVP on the Cleveland CFUG website. If you're not in the area, check out your user group website for more information about a tour date in your area.

A new Cleveland CFUG and AUG site is underway...

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:18:00 -0400

I'm finally taking some time to work on the Cleveland CFUG website, so we can finally make some needed changes. I'm working on an all new site... and I'll blog more about that in upcoming posts, but I'm also doing something I haven't done much of in the last two years: Design work. It turns out, I can STILL design! I was a developer, back in the day, but I went back to school in the mid nineties to learn design, and started my web career as a designer, before I eventually gravitated to my developer tendancies. Back then, when I had a little one-man shop, I'd subcontract development to other guys, and it turned out I was a lot better at it than they were. Anyway, showing some of my design skills, here is the header for the site... I am working on a design that's going to be a significantly modified version of the Vertigo Wordpress theme, with several changes I've thrown in. More on the new site to come.

Cleveland CFUG Meeting Thursday...

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:10:00 -0400

For those of you in the Cleveland area, we're doing a combined Cleveland CFUG/AUG meeting Thursday night at 6:30pm. It's our semi-annual software giveaway! More details can be found at http://www.clevelandcfug.org.

Flex/AIR pre-release tour event in Cleveland Tuesday 1:00pm

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:17:00 -0400

We'll be having our big Flex/AIR user group meeting in Cleveland Tuesday, February 5th at 1pm. The location details can be found at http://www.clevelandcfug.org. Kevin Hoyt, Platform Evangelist with Adobe Systems, Inc., is tomorrow's speaker. This is part of the big Flex/AIR pre-release tour going on right now, and you can see us shown at http://flex.org/tour/. If you are planning to attend, PLEASE RSVP. Our RSVP count MUST BE ACCURATE. If you have RSVP'd and are still planning to attend... there's no need to do it again. But, if you have not RSVP'd, and ARE planning to attend, or have RSVP'd but are NOT planning to attend, please add/update your RSVP here: http://www.clevelandmmug.org/index.cfm?group=mmug&dsp=RSVPSpecial&date=2008-02-05%2013:00:00 As previously stated, this will be the biggest giveaway we've ever had for a single meeting. We have Flex Builder, CS3, books, magazines, shirts galore, and assorted schwag. Everyone who attends will get at LEAST one thing, perhaps more. Snacks will be provided at tomorrow's meeting: We'll have a Decorated Cheese Tray (includes imported cheeses, fresh fruits, vegetables, dips and crackers) with a cookie tray and an assortment of chips, pretzels, and of course an assortment of drinks.. There won't be any wraps this time around, as not very many people went for those for the Forta/Lehman meeting last month. Snacks are courtesy of Adobe and our host (details on the website). Also, there will be a second February user group meeting of our three groups. This will be a special RIA meeting event on Monday, Feb 25th back at Lodestone. If you are planning to attend that event, please RSVP here: http://www.clevelandmmug.org/index.cfm?group=mmug&dsp=RSVPSpecial&date=2008-02-25%2018:30:00 If you have any questions, please email me at brianmeloche (at) gmail (dot) com. See you tomorrow afternoon!

Thanks to Ben and Adam for coming to Cleveland...

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 08:18:00 -0400

If you didn't see it, Ben Forta and Adam Wayne Lehman presented "Lesser Known ColdFusion 8 Goodies" to a combined audience of the Cleveland CFUG, AUG and the new Flex User's Group last Thursday. It was a big success! We had good weather for the winter meeting, and had a good turnout for the afternoon meeting. And Ben and Adam did not disappoint. They talked about some new features that weren't talked about much in Ben's Scorpio tour, like CFTHREAD, attribute collections and results attributes, to name a few. They also asked us for feedback on what we'd like to see for the next version of ColdFusion. This brought a lively discussion on new features, what we'd want in an IDE (if they developed one) and things that would help increase the market, including education and training. My CFUG co-manager, Dan Vega, already blogged about winning a pass to CFUNITED, thanks to the nice gesture of fellow user group member Kelly Green. Thanks to Nafisa, Liz and Michael at Teratech for donating the pass for this meeting, as well as a lot of other swag! Matt Hintze of Universal Mind, who was visiting Cleveland on business last week and came out to the meeting, won the entire CF 8 WACK book collection. Thanks to Jackie at Peachpit for donating the books. Last but not least, Joe Winans won a copy of CF8, and I'd like to thank Ed Sullivan from Adobe for making that happen. Lastly, I'd like to thank Pam, Dave and Jessica for being such gracious hosts! They provided the venue, as well as food, drink and USB thumb drives for the event! We'll be doing it all over again on February 5th! Kevin Hoyt of Adobe will be presenting to us as part of the Adobe Flex and Adobe AIR Pre-Release Tour. If you are planning to attend, please RSVP here.

Great turnout at last Cleveland CFUG meeting

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 11:31:00 -0400

It's a little late in blogging about it, but I wanted to mention it anyway. We had our annual social last week at the Winking Lizard in Independence, and had a great turnout. Every year, the CFUG and AUG have a combined meeting. Everyone went home with something, and a couple of people went home with software. James Heath on the AUG side, and Chris Lucas on the CFUG. This brings up the momentum as we prepare for the next two big CFUG meetings. We have Ben Forta presenting to us IN PERSON January 10th, and Kevin Hoyt presenting to us IN PERSON on February 5th. More information can be found at www.clevelandcfug.org. I am a little late saying it, but Happy Holidays!

Two BIG Meeting Announcements - Forta in January (ColdFusion), Kevin Hoyt in February (Flex/AIR)!

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 05:37:00 -0400

This morning, I would like to announce two BIG meetings we have coming up in 2008! First, on Thursday, January 10th, Adobe's Senior Product Evangelist, Ben Forta, has agreed to return to Cleveland to do a special meeting for Cleveland attendees only! He's not on a tour or anything... he just wants to come and present to us after our last meeting went so well! He'll be presenting on ColdFusion, although the particulars are not known yet... nevertheless, it should be a great presentation as always. Second, on Tuesday, February 5th, Adobe's Evangelist Kevin Hoyt will be returning to Cleveland to present to us as part of the next leg of the Flex 3 and AIR tour! Both meetings are joint meetings with the Cleveland CFUG, Cleveland AUG AND the Cleveland Flex User's Group! Both meetings are at a special time and location. They will be daytime meetings... 1:00pm - and will be located at a new location, Dealer Tire, LLC, which is located at 3711 Chester Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44114. Seating is limited at both events, so Mike, JD, Dealer Tire and I kindly ask for you to RSVP to both meetings if you plan to attend... and to update your RSVP if it changes. To RSVP for Ben Forta, go here: http://www.clevelandmmug.org/index.cfm?group=cfug&dsp=RSVPSpecial&date=2008-01-10%2013:00:00 To RSVP for Kevin Hoyt, go here: http://www.clevelandmmug.org/index.cfm?group=aug&dsp=RSVPSpecial&date=2008-02-05%2013:00:00 These meetings are not limited to user group members, so PLEASE pass this onto anyone you might know that would be interested in either of these events! Blog about it, and let's make these events BIG!!! See you then... and at our social meeting on December 20th at Winking Lizard!

I've stepped down as manager of the Cleveland AUG

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:38:00 -0400

At tonight's Cleveland Adobe Users Group meeting, I announced that I am stepping down as manager of the group. Mike Cooper, who's been my co-manager since last year, has officially taken over as the group's manager. If you go to adobe.com's user group listing, you will notice he is now listed as the manager of the Cleveland AUG. http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/usergroups/search_results.cfm?findType=1&country_id=D6D8274E-1954-4FEA-87FD8F85B651B29A&state_id=3C393EF7-9B3B-43A1-B8456A862C39B70B I started the Cleveland Macromedia Users Group in May, 2004 and have served as its manager throughout its history. Since then, we've gone from 12 members the first meeting, to 191 members today. We've seen the Macromedia acquisition by Adobe, the branching off of the ColdFusion and RIA User Groups, a few website catastrophes, a name change, and several location changes. We've had some great meetings and great speakers. It's been a blast!!! And now, it's time for me to step down. Over the last several months, I have been managing both the Cleveland AUG and the Cleveland CFUG. It's too much, and both groups are suffering. The AUG needs someone who can focus more time on it, and so does the CFUG. Three years+ is a long time to run a group voluntarily, and I have been doing less and less design work and more development and supervisory work at the office. As the new manager, Mike will invigorate the group and help it continue to grow. He's got some great ideas, and I think he's going to be an awesome manager. I will stay on as Mike's co-manager, help him get up to speed with everything that goes into running an Adobe Users Group, advise and help as needed. I hope to be able to present to the group once in a while, too. I'll still be attending meetings most months, too. I will also continue on as the Cleveland CFUG manager for the foreseeable future. This change allows me to focus more of my time on the CFUG. Anyone that knows me knows that ColdFusion is my passion, and I intend on continuing to instill that passion into the Cleveland ColdFusion Users Group. Dan Vega, my co-manager, and I will continue to work on making the Cleveland CFUG everything it can be.

Ben Forta at Cleveland CFUG Thursday night!!!!

Wed, 09 May 2007 20:44:00 -0400

Well, the event we've been waiting for has finally come! This is a reminder that the very special Cleveland CFUG/AUG meeting with Ben Forta of Adobe is scheduled for Thursday at 6:30pm at the offices of Lodestone Digital, LLC, located at 4500 Rockside Road, Suite 150, in Independence (zip 44131). Learn all about ColdFusion 8 at this meeting!!! Ben is the man in ColdFusion land... and see why we've wanted him to come to Cleveland for years!!! Earlier today, our RSVPs reached the 100 mark!!! If you cannot attend, PLEASE update your RSVP at the following link: http://www.clevelandmmug.org/index.cfm?group=cfug&dsp=RSVPSpecial We have BIG giveaways... ColdFusion... and Ben!!! What more could you ask for??? Seating IS limited in the main training room where Ben will be presenting. Show up EARLY to make sure you get a seat. If needed, we'll be having a second room where you can watch the presentation... but I am hoping we'll be able to fit everyone in the main room. If someone you know is coming but has not RSVP'd, either get them to RSVP, or add them to your RSVP by adding to the "number of attending" field. See you Thursday night!!! Brian Manager, Cleveland CFUG and AUG

Not too long before Forta!

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:11:00 -0400

The Scorpio tour is getting underway, and I wanted to remind Northeast Ohio and surrounding area people that the Cleveland CFUG (and AUG) will be hosting Ben Forta on Thursday, May 10th at 6:30pm at the Cleveland offices of Lodestone Digital. For details and RSVP info, go to www.clevelandcfug.org. For a CFUG near you hosting a Scorpio event, go to: http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/events/.

Ben Forta Cleveland RSVP link correction...

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 05:40:00 -0400

Oops!!! Here's the correct link: http://www.clevelandmmug.org/index.cfm?group=cfug&dsp=RSVPSpecial

Ben Forta is coming to Cleveland!!!

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 22:54:00 -0400

I am PLEASED to announce that we will have Ben Forta, Senior Technical Evangelist for Adobe, speaking to a special joint meeting of the Cleveland CFUG, AUG and RIA user groups on Thursday, May 10th!!! That's right!!! It's official!!! I got the official word on Tuesday from Adobe. Cleveland's been added as a stop on the ColdFusion World User Group Tour! I am tentatively setting the meeting for our usual time for 6:30pm. I don't officially have the location set, but I am hoping to nail this down within the next week. If you have not already RSVP'd for Ben, or want to change your RSVP, please go to: http://www.clevelandmmug.org/index.cfm?group=cfug&dsp=RSVPSpecial Tell your co-workers, friends and colleagues!!! THIS IS BIG!!! I have been trying to get Ben Forta speak for almost three years, and more if you consider WVMUG before I moved back to Cleveland. I am very pleased that we are able to have him stop here on his ColdFusion world tour!

Ben Forta Update...

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 16:55:00 -0400

I built a little "yes, I'm interested in attending an appearance of Ben Forta" mini-app on the Cleveland AUG and CFUG websites. Just go to: http://www.clevelandmmug.org?group=cfug&dsp=RSVPSpecial
As of today, we've got 59 people who have responded! That's only 41 away from our magic number of 100! Respond NOW to get us closer to our 100 person goal!
IF we don't get Ben Forta, we'll get someone else from Adobe. I have a verbal commitment from another employee of Adobe. He'll come, but only if we can't get Ben for one reason or another

Help us bring Ben Forta to Cleveland...

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 15:52:00 -0400

For those of you within driving distance of Cleveland... Many of you know that I manage the Cleveland Adobe Users Group (AUG, formerly the Cleveland MMUG), and have recently taken over the Cleveland ColdFusion Users Group (CFUG), a group that I co-founded with the previous manager, Mick Keily. I heard from Adobe today that it MIGHT be possible to get Ben Forta to come to Cleveland to speak to the Cleveland area user groups. For the few of you that don't recognize the name, Ben is the Senior Product Evangelist at Adobe, and is probably the most well known speaker and author in the ColdFusion world. If we can secure him, he'd speak in Cleveland during his upcoming ColdFusion 8 (Scorpio) world tour. I've been working on having Ben speak here for nearly THREE years!!! It might finally be a possibility to have him come one night this spring. This is NOT a reality yet... it will take a BIG effort to secure him. To get him, we NEED to show we could have a big attendance mark... really BIG. We need help from anyone out there who lives close enough to Cleveland to come out. In order to have Adobe commit to bring Ben Forta here, we need to have 100 people say, "yes, I would like to attend". If there's NO WAY for you to attend a Cleveland meeting IN PERSON, please DO NOT respond. If you're in driving distance of Cleveland, and interested in attending, please email me at brianmeloche at gmail dot com, or leave a comment on this thread. Just by sending messages to the two user groups, I've already got 16 people after a few hours... only 84 more!!! I'm now expanding it to the blog... I will create a poll on the user group websites in the next day or two, but, until then, I want to gather numbers through old fashioned email and blog comments. Please pass this on to ANYONE who might be interested in attending this meeting. Friends, co-workers, students, family, colleagues... whatever... able to attend a Cleveland appearance by Ben Forta IN PERSON. We need 100 people. Contest: If we get Ben, the member of either the AUG or CFUG that either recruits the most new members and/or brings the most people to the meet will win a prize. I'll announce the prize at a later date, once he's been secured. If we get him, one attendee will win a copy of ColdFusion 8, once it has been released. To RSVP, please give me your name, and how many people you could bring. YOU MUST REPLY to RSVP. For every person to be counted, I must have it documented. I'll keep you up to date on the totals. Let's prove that we can draw big numbers for Ben!!!

Last night's combined Cleveland CFUG/AUG Meeting... ColdFusion 101

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 05:22:00 -0400

I presented at the Cleveland CFUG and AUG meeting last night. Due to the fact that our regular AUG night would be the night before Thanksgiving, and we didn't have a presentation ready yet, and the subject matter was good for the AUG, I decided to make it a combined meeting. I did a "ColdFusion 101" topic. This is definitely a topic I'd like to do an Adobe Connect recording on in the future, but I didn't have a lot of time to prepare for the meeting, so I was working completely unscripted, and... we were at a new location last night, so I didn't want to risk it. I thought it went pretty well. My goal was to build something dynamic from scratch within the two hour time limit. What I was able to do was build a website with a login, logout, different roles, and display all records and edit an individual record in a database... In fact, one of the slowest parts of the presentation was just getting the HTML and CSS right! I also put both the Login and the Logout menu items in a table with other menu items, which in retrospect, made it a little more difficult, and was probably a mistake. I didn't use a framework, and my goal wasn't to produce perfect code. I just wanted to show people what's possible, and I think I did that effectively. I can see myself presenting this content again in the future, and record it next time. However, it probably won't be until the new year. I do encourage other user groups to contact me to do this presentation, especially those that are not ColdFusion groups.