lauramba's blog

Internet ERP Competitive Forces 

Competitive Forces

When customers seek providers of iTechnology they need to commit to providers that will be able to sustain industry pressures for the next 10-30 years.  Given that history has consistently demonstrated that most industries are dominated by a few participants, it is important to correctly identify the few organizations that will be around for the long-term. 

One of the most useful, important, and enduring business strategic models was developed by Harvard professor Michael Porter in the 1970's. Michael Porter's five forces model provides organizations with a framework for

Huff, Puff, and Webonomics 

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Organizations are spending millions of dollars everyday in the development of online collateral. Much of that investment will be spent on puffery and hype by organizations that are targeting markets. However, some organizations will create environments where an exchange of value takes place.  

A couple of years ago I read an article in USA Today about the daily closing of newspapers. I remember being perplexed when the author said of newspaper readers "they'll have to figure out how to keep up.... without a 170-year-old staple of daily life: a local newspaper".   It seemed obvious to me the readers had already "figured" out how to keep up and it was the 170-year-old newspaper that had not.

Huff

Small Business Day With Congressmember Karen Bass 

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Los Angeles Small Business Day With Congressmember Karen Bass - July 21st, 2011

Get ready for the Los Angeles Small Business Day With Congressmember Karen Bass - July 21st, 2011. The event is sponsored by the Federal Department of Transportation and the purpose of this event is to "connect small businesses with federal, state, and local government contracting opportunities, while educating small business owners on the resources available to help their business grow".  There are two workshops which include "Access to Capital" and "How to Contract with the Government".

Web 2.0 Expo Best Sport 

Bundle

Had a great time at Web 2.0 Expo S.F. and loved the booths.

Thank you to this year's exhibitors at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. I enjoyed meeting and talking to a variety of companies and want to acknowledge the representative at Bundle. As I walked up and down the rows of exhibitors I noticed a woman at a very empty booth. In spite of that I saw folks talking to her and became curious why the booth was empty.

Drupad App and Module 

Drupad App and Module

Great pair of tools that give site owners greater control and flexibility. They are definitely worth researching and testing.

I recently downloaded the Drupad module and purchased the Drupad App from the iTunes store. The two have changed the speed at which I can monitor, control, and promote my, and my client's Drupal sites.

Web 2.0 Conference 

Web 2.0 Conference

Web 2.0 Expo is scheduled for March 28-31, 2011 at Moscone West in San Francisco, CA. This premier event is one of the most important conferences for professionals who are defining the next generation Internet.

Theme Forest 

Theme Forest City Magazine

I recently purchased a theme for Drupal® from themesmania (username) at ThemeForest.Net and I am completely satisfied with the theme, especially considering the modest amount of money that I spent.

In a word ... wow! The theme was effortless to purchase and a snap to install. Plus, since I used the City Magazine installation profile it literally took minutes to have a fully-functioning attractive Website. There are so many positive things to say about this theme it is hard to know where to begin. The theme is built on the base theme Fusion, which means you can control some important design and layout elements from the back-end.

 

Joomla Day West 2010 

Joomla! Day West

Looking forward to the upcoming Joomla! Day West at Ebay in San Jose.

Spring Drupal Training 2010 

Spring Drupal TrainingThanks for the favorable feedback. I really appreciated the database experience of Mr. A.K.. As part of the training I've included follow-up notes. Remember you can call with questions and the Sandbox site will be supported for 30 days after training.

WordCamp SF 2010 

WordCampJust got back from my first WordCamp and was inspired by my experience.

Joomla Book Review 

Book ReviewI am excited to announce that I have been selected by Packt Publishing® to serve as a technical reviewer on an upcoming book on Joomla Extensions.

Top of the Line 

I have been dreading this theme review for months. Let me explain. As a fan of the amazing and powerful CMS program Drupal®, I believe that ALL theme solutions are important. For Drupal to continue to develop into a world class publishing tool for EVERYONE, it should be easily made into an attractive publication.

Free Drupal® Themes 

Free ThemeAvalon MIS is excited about our Free Drupal® Themes at DrupalTrainer.com Kryha.com.

Here's the Skinny 

Theme SnapIt is obvious to those who know me that I have a mild addiction to themes.

Fishin' for a Reliable Drupal Theme? 

Fishin' for a Reliable Drupal Theme?

Swim on down to the shark tank and check out these themes.

CCK at the Zoo 

CCK at the Zoo

Over the last year I've posted a couple of articles comparing Drupal, Joomla, and Moodle. One of my criticisms of Joomla has been the lack of CCK and the ability to create and define content types. If you've worked with Joomla you know that the program provides one content type called "Articles".

Beautiful Drupal Website 

Arlington Heights Memorial Library

Right before Christmas I flew to Chicago and provided Drupal training to a regional library. When they recently released their newly designed Drupal site, I was amazed.

Ingrid, Mike, Doug, and Chris are members of a well-balanced development team that created a stimulating, functional, and beautiful Drupal site. Let me walk you through some of the attributes of the AHML development.

Monster Problems 

Template Monster

Who would think a monster could be so alluring?

One day while searching for a Drupal® theme solution I stumbled upon the Drupal® themes at Template Monster. I was so excited at the thought of a quick and attractive theme, I immediately downloaded the free Drupal® theme.

Yeah Drupal Theme Clubs 

Drupal Theme Club

What are theme clubs and are they safe investments?

Have you seen the Drupal® purchased theme providers (aka clubs) that are starting to emerge on the horizon? I am delighted to see growth in this under-developed segment of the Drupal® landscape. As we all know, Drupal® is known for it's brains and brawn and not for it's good looks. Great! Looks are much less important to the core of the program than aesthetics.

Module Madness Slideshow 

Was asked by a few folks to provide my SAND Camp slide show at my blog. Here it is!

Thanks again to the volunteers who worked hard to create another great Drupal Camp. If you have questions about Drupal Modules in response to this slide show, don't hesitate to ask.

San Diego Drupal Camp 

San Diego Drupal Camp

Thank you to the hardworking volunteers and sponsors who produced the first ever San Diego Drupal Camp.

San Diego Drupal Camp 2009 attracted some amazing talent including: Andrew Root, Mike Stewart, Christoph Weber, and Karl Scheirer just to name a few.

Module Madness 

Module Madness

The first San Diego Drupal Camp is just around the corner and I am preparing for Module Madness.

Module Madness is my way of getting Drupal users involved in some exciting modules that add tremendous value to Drupal core. At Drupal Camp I will demonstrate and discuss 10 modules, followed by user demonstrations of their favorite "must have" modules.

Here are my favs:
1. Admin Menu
2. CAPTCHA
3. CCK and Date and Link
4. Events
5. FAQs
6. Image and Image Assist
7. Pathauto

Upcoming Drupal Training 

Upcoming Drupal Training

Interested in Drupal training in Santa Barbara California and Reno Nevada? Great because we are offering two sets of training for beginning - intermediate users and administrators of Drupal software.

Drupal Training will be provided in Santa Barbara and Reno during the months of March and April, 2009. There are five training sessions that will be offered between the two cities.

What is a blog? 

Blog

This is a simple question that is asked around the world everyday.

I am often asked "What is a blog? How is it different than a Web page?"

Blog, blogs, blogging, and bloggers.
Finding a definition of a blog is easy. Defining it in a way that is understandable, is not easy.
1) Blog = Web Log
2) Articles or information = A collect of writings that are typically in chronological order.
3) Think = printing press + radio station + television station + store + freedom of speech + millions of readers

Web pages and Web sites

Which CMS should I use? 

What type of site should I use to create a site that is searchable and easily updated?

I recently received a question from a professional in Long Beach California who asks "Can I use a CMS like Joomla or Drupla to make a site searchable and easily updatable? Any suggestions?" My answer is YES! Drupal and Joomla are clearly great programs that make a site easy to update and search.

Here are some thoughts.

Drupal, Joomla, and Moodle 

Which CMS program is right for your project, Drupal, Joomla, or Moodle?

If you are considering a new Web site and are looking for a way to make your site interactive and media rich, you may have heard of Drupal, Joomla, and Moodle. These are a few of the open source programs that can help you create and manage your Web site at an affordable price.

 

Drupal, Joomla, and Moodle 

Which CMS program is right for your project, Drupal, Joomla, or Moodle?

If you are considering a new Web site and are looking for a way to make your site interactive and media rich, you may have heard of Drupal, Joomla, and Moodle. These are a few of the open source programs that can help you create and manage your Web site at an affordable price.

Joomla Day S.F. 2008 

Joomla Day S.F. 2008

I spent the day in Building 43 at GooglePlex in Mountain View for the 2nd annual Joomla Day in the Bay Area. The fine folks with the Bay Area Joomla user's group put together an energetic unconference that helped users, administrators, and developers better understand how to use the open source software, Joomla.

Drupal Camp LA - Huge Success 

Laura Scroggins speaking at Drupal Camp LA 2008

This year's Drupal Camp LA was bigger and better than last year. Thanks to the efforts of Chris Charlton, Crystal Williams, and the entire LA Drupal Group. It was great to see the fine folks at Achieve Internet again and I was delighted to meet the very handsome Michael Murdoch from Work Habit.

Guest Speaker at Drupal Camp LA 

Guest Speaker at Drupal Camp LA

Drupal trainer Laura Scroggins will be speaking at DrupalCamp LA 2008.

I am excited to announce that I've been invited to speak at Drupal Camp LA 2008. This is the second annual DrupalCampLA and last year's event was fantastic. If you are a Drupal developer, designer, or end user this event is for you.

If you've never been to a DrupalCamp here are a couple of pointers: