Tag: Melbourne

Melbourne to Perth: a 3700km road trip

Post author By James Collins
Post date 27th November 2013
7 Comments on Melbourne to Perth: a 3700km road trip

In July 2008, I moved to Melbourne with a plan on staying for approximately 12 months.

It turns out I was completely wrong about that time frame, because after more than 5 years, I’m still here!

Quite simply, Melbourne has been amazing. I’ve had the time of my life.

Melbourne’s food, bar and sporting culture have been highlights. On the other hand, Melbourne’s weather has not been a highlight!

I’ve met some great friends, and explored some beautiful places.

I’ve bought a house in Melbourne.

I’ve also been really impressed by Melbourne’s tech community. In particular, being a part of the WordPress Melbourne User Group.

But best of all, I’ve been lucky enough to meet the love of my life, Jen.

The Future

After many discussions, Jen and I have decided to move to Perth.

In 36 hours time, Jen and I will be leaving Melbourne and starting our huge road trip to the other side of Australia.

Here’s the 3700km plan:

We’ll be taking our time on this journey – there’s plenty of sightseeing to be done along the way!

The trip even includes a short ferry ride across the Murray River!

We’re both really excited about starting the next chapter of our lives in Perth.

I’m looking forward to being closer to my family and long-time friends, and being surrounded by amazing beaches.

I’m also excited about being in the same office as my business partner and colleagues.

Melbourne, I will miss you. But you never know – we may even be back some day!

Tags Melbourne, Perth, Road Trip

Community Events Open Source WordPress

The WordPress Melbourne User Group: a 1200 day history and a look into the future

Post author By James Collins
Post date 13th November 2013
3 Comments on The WordPress Melbourne User Group: a 1200 day history and a look into the future

The History

In June 2010, Andrew Davis, Anthony Cole and myself met with the idea of reinvigorating the (then defunct) WordPress Melbourne User Group.

The discussions went well, and the following month we hosted the first meeting (which had 8 people in attendance).

1202 days later, I’m immensely proud to say that we have organised 47 WordPress Melbourne User Group meetup events (an average of 1.2 events per month), all of which have helped WordPress users learn and share their knowledge about WordPress and related topics.

The Thank You’s

I’d like to extend a sincere thank you to the following people and companies, who have all played a big part in making WPmelb a success.

The sponsors (past and present):

Envato (generous pizza sponsors for the last 2 and a half years)
Sennza
Uber
Video User Manuals

The venues (past and present):

The organisers (past, present and future):

The regular volunteers (past and present):

The speakers:

There have been in excess of 60 volunteer speakers (too many to list unfortunately).

The members and community:

Countless people have come along to our events to expand or contribute their knowledge
These people have also helped spread the word about the group, and encouraged their friends to join and attend.

As of today, we are lucky enough to have almost 1000 members.

Without all of you the user group would be meaningless.

Thank you.

The Future

With my impending move to Perth, tonight will be the last WPmelb event I attend for a while.

I’ve also stepped down as lead organiser, and I feel confident knowing that a talented and awesome team of volunteer organisers will be ensuring that the group grows and prospers into the future!

It’s been fantastic being a part of the WordPress Melbourne User Group over the last 3 and a half years.

I’ve met so many great people, learnt so many things, and had countless opportunities to share some of my knowledge with others.

If you live in or near Melbourne, and are interested in WordPress, I strongly recommend that you join the friendly group and come along to an event.

Tags community, Melbourne, wpmelb

Conferences WordPress

WordCamp Melbourne 2013

It’s been two years since I helped organise WordCamp Melbourne 2011. Time flies!

The good news is that WordCamp Melbourne 2013 has been scheduled for April 27-28 2013.

WordCamp is a conference for WordPress enthusiasts, designers, developers, or anyone who is using WordPress for business or pleasure.

This year’s conference is being organised by a fantastic group of people, and they’re going to be putting on a fantastic WordCamp.

The speaker list and schedule is jam-packed, and the venue is in the CBD so it’s easy to get to.

So if you’re in (or near) Melbourne, I’d definitely recommend coming along.

Best of all, tickets are only $50 for two full days of WordPress goodness!

Tags Conference, Melbourne, wcmelb, WordCamp

Amazon Web Services Cloud Meetups

The Inaugural Amazon Web Services Melbourne Meetup

Post author By James Collins
Post date 29th August 2011
No Comments on The Inaugural Amazon Web Services Melbourne Meetup

Last Wednesday was the first Amazon Web Services User Group Melbourne Meetup.

Simone Brunozzi (AWS Asia Pacific Technology Evangelist) kicked the night off with an informal presentation covering EC2 Security Groups, ElastiCache, SQS, and several other questions from the 35-person audience.