DNN Summit 2018 in Denver is a few weeks away. If last year was anything to go by, then its going to be a great chance to learn, meet new people and unwind at the snow. Its a great conference for you if you provide services to clients and leverage from DNN/EVOQ or if you are a business/corporate running DNN / EVOQ and need to stay current in your DNN knowledge, especially with the exciting 2017 changes to the platform and the DNN ecosystem in general.
Firstly, what's DNN? for those that don't know, DNN is an enterprise grade open source CMS. You can build sites from small to very large and complex with it. You can also build eCommerce stores, Classified sites, news and resource heavy portals or a Corporate Presence just to name some.
So why am I excited about the DNN Summit?
The DNN Summit organisers pull all the stops to organise an amazing event
The DNN Summit 2017 was a very well organized event. The committee in charge went above and beyond to organise an excellent event with every aspect meticulously taken care of. The presentations I attended were all inciteful and presentations catered for all types of DNNers, from marketeers to back-end developers. After three great days, a large group of us all us all got on a bus to Winter Park for DNN on the Slopes (deftly navigating our way around the Women's March in Denver). The organisers managed all aspects and we just had to show up and have fun. They even organised some very long tube link-ups as you can see in the video below.
Find out the latest trends especially after such a big year of changes
Exciting keynote speakers! 2017 was a huge year for DNN with many exciting changes. One of these exciting changes was the announcement of the new CEO at DNN Corp, Andy Tryba. So far in his short time he has renewed DNN Corp's focus on the DNN community and he will be one of the keynote speakers at the Summit. As well as Andy, the other keynote speaker with be none other than Shaun Walker the founder of DNN. So its a great chance to get the scoop on the DNN roadmap while also hearing Shaun's perspective on where we are and where we're heading. Some of the notable 2017 updates include:
DNN 9 - Granted it came out in December 2016 but we have also now had a whole year under our belt learning how to work with DNN 9 and it would be great hear some advice from the experts, especially about how to best work with the new 'Persona Bar'.
Hotcakes Commerce going Open Source (which I consider the premier eCommerce application on the DNN platform) was released as open source and opened up to the community in 2017. This is big as we now have access to what is a truly corporate grade eCommerce module. Will Strohl will be presenting on Hotcakes.
There have been some big product offerings by DNN Sharp such as their new DNN hosting packages, representing a big shift from what is one of the most popular DNN module developers.
Prompt by Kelly Ford was released in 2017. This is neat and is a way to manage DNN through a command-prompt interface.
With so much going on, What better way to kick off 2018 than with some great presentations focused on DNN 9 ().
Meet the people behind the modules that you regularly use
At ITworx we have bet big on DNN as one of the preferred platforms for the delivery of our web based solutions. As the CMS of choice when developing web solutions for our clients, we have invested a considerable number of years in DNN. Going to my first DNN Summit and finally get to know the people and the community behind the platform as well as some of the most popular modules we use on a daily basis made the entire experience amazing and very useful when I needed some inside knowledge with troubleshooting or best practice scenarios. Everyone you will speak to is relaxed, approachable and willing to impart their knowledge.
You get to visit Denver
Beautiful city, just large enough to have ample things to do while small enough to have that relaxed feel. I did spend a lot of my free time trying to find going from Walmart to Best Buy (lost the charger in airport lounge for my very new laptop at the time) but places like Union Station, 16th Street Mall are all a stone's throw away.
DNN on the Slopes where you can attempt the world's longest tubing chain
Yes, if you sign up the DNN on the Slopes you will have a chance to break last year's DNN Summit tubing linkup record. I don't know any other developer community where you put your life on the line for the greater good :)
Last year's DNN on the Slopes experience was definitely a highlight for me. A great time with a great bunch of people and with a stunning backdrop. What makes it such a highlight is that you get to really meet everyone properly in a relaxed setting and this is where the friendships are forged, be it with your condo buddies or trying to find your way out of trouble on the slopes.
What better way to summarise than with a video...
Ok, so hopefully I've convinced you to go to the DNN Summit but if there is still a chance I haven't, your best course of action is to check out the video below and see for yourself how much fun you could have while learning plenty on the way.
About me
I run ITworx Consulting, a Sydney based company specialising in web applications and digital solutions. We have been creating business grade solutions using DNN for over 7 years. I began when most DNN sites were running DNN v4 and DNN v5 and have experience with the application and the nuances of DNN.
You can always contact me directly for any questions on the email address waldo@itworx.com.au or just leave a comment below.