What a Joomla! Week

This past week has been just amazing for me, and a real reminder of how incredible, huge and diverse the Joomla! community is.

Last Saturday, I was at the Joomla! Day New England organized by the Joomla! Users Group New England. The setting was beautiful and the group enthusiastic. I heard great talks by Ryan, Joe LeBlanc and Ken Crowder. I also got to lead my own discussion of how to get involved in various parts of the Joomla! project. Here's a link to my slides, though I'm more of a discussion person than a slide person. What we talked about is how so much of getting involved is just "showing up." This has been my experience in many different volunteer efforts, whether a neighbourhood group, a congregation, a school or an open source project: taking a deep breath, overcoming the fears that go with entering a group where everyone seems to know each other, and rolling up your selves is what it takes. It is, indeed scary, and it's true that in most things like this, there is no instruction book beyond "come in and grab a broom."