I'm paying homage to 2008; the year that will go down in history as the most incredible year of my web development career. When 2008 started I had no idea that EVERYTHING was going to change. On the last day of 2007 I created my Drupal.org account http://drupal.org/user/222746 and days before that I downloaded & installed Drupal; a file that was barely 1Meg in size. For those of you who don't know... Drupal is a funny named but POTENT piece of software that doesn't run on your computer. It runs on a web-server allowing you to create amazing [OH SO AMAZING] websites. Check out this 16 page list of 100+ sites built with Drupal. http://buytaert.net/tag/drupal-sites Anyway... Back to my awesome year.
Rather than write a series of sentences about 2008 I'll break it down in a bulleted list. ----> 2008
- January - Portland OR for 5 days of Drupal 5 Module Development
- February - Los Angeles CA for 5 days of Drupal 5 Theme Development http://flickr.com/photos/vannfam/sets/72157603897742636/
- March - Boston MA for my first Drupalcon. http://flickr.com/photos/vannfam/sets/72157604057624941/ On Thursday night I preformed The Drupal Song http://flickr.com/photos/vannfam/2316397639/
- May - Minneapolis MN 2 days of Drupal6 Theme Development + 3 days of Drupal6 Module Development
- June - Toronto Canada 5 days of Drupa6 Intensive Training http://flickr.com/photos/vannfam/sets/72157605574858017/
- July - Chicago IL 2 days of www.hostingcon2008.com manning the Acquia-Drupal both
- October - DrupalCamp Chicago This time I was the one teaching others about Drupal http://flickr.com/photos/vannfam/sets/72157608434802923/
In short... I spent A LOT of time learning how to use Drupal to deliver not only websites, but feature rich Web Applications. I started the Local Drupal users group http://groups.drupal.org/indiana which had 16 attendees at out final meeting Dec 08. Now in 2009 I am starting a new job as a full time PHP programmer at http://www.slingshotseo.com/ a company who, in tough global economic times, is moving onward and upward; delivering quality sites while also delivering tremendous SEO services. Additionally I will continue to work on the Drupal Development contracts I have now while seeking more along the way. I believe that 2009 will be an awesome year. I look VERY forward to sharpening my PHP skills at the new gig while continuing my marketability in delivering Drupal solutions. Here's to am AwEsOmE 2009! - Doug Vann - www.twitter.com/dougvann - http://www.facebook.com/people/Doug-Vann/561894870 - http://www.linkedin.com/in/dougvann