What I've Learned After 160,000 Miles On A Bike
Last Friday morning I decided to ride to Nashville, TN for lunch. It's 260 miles so I made it right around 1:00 pm. I love Nashville and the ride there and back on the coutry roads was incredibly relaxing.
On my way back I added up the miles I’ve ridden on a motorcycle… around 160,000 (about 260,000 km). Not a lot by some standards but a ton more than people who buy a bike and leave it in their garage.
Tesla Model Y Test Drive
So... Tesla Cincinnati offered a new Model Y for an extended test drive over the Thanksgiving holiday. Seriously - this was so cool. :)
Most Comprehensive Drupal Course I’ve Ever Created
Whew! I just finished recording the most comprehensive Drupal Explained course I've ever made. It's a "beginner's" introduction to Drupal 9 - 81 videos in all. I'm pretty excited about it. You'll be able to take the course at OSTraining.com.
Easter 2020 - There Is Hope
If you've read any part of my blog, you probably already know that I'm a Christian and that I go to church. With everything going on this year (2020), we obviously couldn't go to church and meet as we normally would on Easter Sunday.
3,000,000 Views
My Drupal 8 Beginner Tutorials course on YouTube just hit 3,000,000 views! What a privilege to share Drupal with so many people!
One Minute Workbench Build
This is in the "just for my sanity" department. I've been getting into woodworking as a hobby and "fun" thing to do. Creating this workbench is outside the realm of my normal work life, so needless to say, I'm having fun!
Lessons in Leadership - Dearborn County Chamber Event
I’m at the spring “Get Energized” event for the Dearborn County Chamber of Commerce (that’s Indiana... not Michigan). It could be entitled “Lessons in Leadership”.
Speaking at Joomla Day Texas
On Thursday I'm climbing on the bike and riding to Houston (yep - that's 1,000 miles) to speak at Joomla Day Texas...
My Interview with Sarah Watz from PixPro Labs
I've had the joy of knowing Sarah Watz for about 5 years now. We served together on the Joomla! board, Open Source Matters for almost three years. Sarah runs a web design and internet marketing company in Stockholm, Sweden called PixPro (they do a lot more than that...).
Sarah interviewed me on her Facebook Live show on February 26, 2018.
Something New - Pixpro Inner Circle
On Monday February 5, 2018 the PixPro Inner Circle was introduced on the Pixpro Labs LIVE Show. The Inner Circle consists of Sarah Watz, Joe Sonne and myself. We talked about our new mastermind group for like-minded small business owners which starts this month on February 15th.
View the PixPro Labs Live show Introducing the PixPro Inner Circle here:
How to Create Online Video Tutorials - Podcast
I was recently interviewed by Steve Burge over at OSTraining for their monthly podcast. Over the years, I've created well over 1,000 video tutorials for WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Mautic and other brands.
Are You A Nice Person?
Years ago I purchased a tiny book called "Swanson's Written Rules of Management". I came across it this week while I was re-arranging some bookshelves. Bill Swanson was the CEO of Raytheon when he compliled the book. Rule #32 is one of my favorites.
Company Culture - Easy to Talk About - Hard to Do
When you read about new companies, especially in the startup space, one of the topics you’ll see over and over again is this idea of “culture”. To be sure, it’s an important topic and can be a true distinction (think Uber vs. Lyft).
Drupal 8.4 Video
I do A LOT of voice over work - mostly for training videos in Drupal and Joomla - but that seems to be expanding.
Here's the latest video for the introduction of Drupal 8.4 (launched October 4th, 2017)
Arlington Cemetery - Wreath Laying Ceremony
At the time of this writing, I've been an American citizen for just under two weeks. Two days ago I flew to Washington DC to surprise a friend of mine, Bobby Litchge.
Bobby is a 90 year old veteran of World War 2. He's as tough as they come and still incredibly active. He's someone I really admire on so many levels.
The Coolest Thank You
Over the years I've received tons of thank you notes for speaking, training or working on something.
This may be the coolest "thank you" note yet...
Listen to My Interview on Innotiom
One of the fun things in my career is hearing from people who have appreciated the training I've done over the years. Currently, my Drupal 8 videos on YouTube have over 1.2 million views. The Mautic channel is gaining viewers and our videos at https://mautic.com/help have tens of thousands of views.
How to Use RSForm! Pro for PayPal Recurring Donations
I had a friend ask if I could create a donation/membership page for their non-profit using PayPal. The site is built in Joomla! 3.x so I naturally thought of an excellent extension like JoomDonation. However, they wanted a number of tweaks that meant modifying the extension which I hesitate to do. Enter RSForm! Pro. It's pretty much been my go-to form builder on any Joomla! site I've built over the years.
How to Accept Others
A few months ago I was riding my motorcycle through town when a guy turned into my lane from a side street and almost hit me. I'll admit - I was angry. I swerved, hit the horn and was determined to give him a piece of my mind. As we came up to the next intersection, he got into the left turn lane so I pulled up beside him and glared.
October Update 2016
So...it's been a while since I wrote anything on the blog. If you read blogs, you've probably seen this before. Creating content for others kind of takes the fun out of keeping your own site up and running.
Making Good Decisions
This is the fifth in a series of posts from a talk I gave at the Joomla World Conference in 2013. While that 2013, I believe the 10 lessons are even more important today.
Leaders are Servants. Period.
I had the privilege of delivering the morning keynote at JoomlaDay Chicago this past weekend. I presented the State of the Joomla! Union talk, similar to the one in Sydney last November.
Resistance Isn't Futile - You Can Innovate
This is the fourth in a series of posts from a talk I gave at the Joomla World Conference in 2013. The idea of innovation sometimes scares us, sometimes inspires us, sometimes fills us with dread.
Rod's Big Adventure - 2015
It's been my privilege to teach a week long seminar at Kingswood University in Sussex, NB Canada every other year (basically) since 2004. This year's class is the first week of September.
Be Afraid of the Big Chair
This is the third in a series of posts from a talk I gave at the Joomla World Conference in 2013. This is the issue of integrity in leadership. The higher you rise in an organization, the more likely you are to fall if you do not have a strong moral compass. The bigger the chair - the more likely you are to fail... be afraid of the big chair.
Leadership Requires Humility
This is the second in a series of posts from a talk I gave at the Joomla World Conference in 2013. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself, less...
Know Yourself - It's the Key to Everything
This is the first in a series of posts from a talk I gave at the Joomla World Conference in 2013. While that was two years ago, I believe the 10 lessons are even more important today.
Clients are Aliens
In my last corporate gig, I reported to the Vice President of Marketing. One of my most important functions was to translate the "geek". He wasn't a programmer, or a designer. But he needed to understand what was going on so he could run the business. That's where I fit in... I translated the geek. I was his "Universal Translator".
Field Testing Apple's New MacBook
So, I'm on a plane heading to San Francisco for a week of training with OSTraining. I picked up the new Macbook this week as I prepped for a trip to San Francisco. I spent about 30 minutes playing with Apple's newest ultra-light laptop a few weeks ago and wasn't quite convinced. The new keyboard is definitely an acquired taste and the new trackpad has a ton of hidden tricks that I wasn't sure I'd ever use. The computer feels under-powered for anything beyond basic presentations, email, web browsing and hand-coding CSS or websites.
We're Heading to LA!
Once again this year, OSTraining was selected to do the beginner level training the day before DrupalCon Los Angeles. We've been accepted now at every DrupalCon since Chicago in 2011.
JoomlaDay Minnesota 2015 Promo
I'm the emcee for the 2015 JoomlaDay MN. I created a quick video to promote the event. It's going to be a great event! (video after the break)
Marketing OSTraining's Drupal Training
I am in the middle of producing some marketing videos for OSTraining's YouTube channel and I thought I'd post one here. Our marketing department is using them as lead generators for both live and online training, depending on the time of year. They're all around one minute long and I'm calling them "Pro Tips for Drupal Site Builders".
TEDTalk: The Puzzle of Motivation by Dan Pink
How do we incentivize people? Just throwing money at people won't keep them around - at least not the most highly skilled people. With well over 12 million views, this is one of TED's best videos.
State of the Joomla Union - Sydney 2014
I had the privilege of presenting the keynote at JoomlaDay Sydney 2014. After traveling for 24 hours (a 4 hour flight, a layover and a 15 hour flight), Teresa and I enjoyed Sydney for a day while we adjusted and got over the jet lag.
Leaders Call to the Best In Us
When the stakes are high, great leaders can rally people to a cause with just a few words. On October 29, 1941 Winston Churchill spoke to the boys at Harrow School. "Never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
The Value of a Good Microphone
As readers of this blog know, I create a LOT of training video for OSTraining.com. I'm up around the 400 mark these days. Last week I cranked out 30 new videos for an update to our Drupal Intermediate course, first published over two years ago. The microphone I used back then was a pretty good Logitech headset (no longer available) and I thought the audio was decent enough for screencasts. I'm now using the MIC from Apogee. While this is still not a high-end"podcast" quality mic, it only cost $199.
Leaders Take Us Where We'd Otherwise Not Go
Leaders influence people at every level. Some lead thousands or even millions, others lead one or two. The success of their leadership isn't found in the number of people in their "chain of command", but how they influence those for whom they are responsible.
Leadership is Influence. Period.
In 1989, I attended a Pastor's conference at Muskoka Baptist Conference, two hours north of Toronto. At the time, I was an Associate Pastor in a church in Toronto, ON. The speaker was the pastor of a growing church in La Mesa, CA. I'd never heard of him but I remember one of the first things he said: Leadership is Influence. Period.
Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership
At a glance, "Leadership" seems to be a vast and complex topic. Its been the foundation of thousands of studies, hundreds of thousands of articles and more than a few hours in classrooms from MBA's to Seminaries. Opinions on what leadership is, how to exercise it and how to "fix" it abound. In the words of General Stanley McChrystal - "'Leadership' was the single biggest reason organizations succeeded or failed."
Qualities for Board Members
I've been reading a lot about non-profit boards lately. I've participated in several and I was just elected to the Open Source Matters board which oversees aspects the Joomla! project.
Going Paperless with Evernote
Imagine 30 years of notes, files, academic papers, articles and other miscellaneous paper. Imagine the drawers of filing cabinets and boxes piled up in the attic. Imagine the receipts and paperwork that accumulated just last year with almost 85,000 miles of air travel and over 100 nights in hotels.
Joomla! Simplified
In my travels I teach both Joomla! and Drupal. Even though the two content management systems are pretty different, people sometimes struggle to get a handle on both of them. So here are my thoughts on understanding Joomla! in five easy steps.
How I Pack Three Computers, a Projector and an iPad When I Travel
Last year I flew almost 85,000 air miles speaking in the US, Canada and Europe. After all those miles, I've gotten pretty good at packing - especially the technology I use when I'm doing training.
Walk Through the Book of Revelation Resources
These are the pdf's for the presentation on the book of Revelation - presented at 1st Baptist Church, Aurora IN on 2/23/14.
Teaching Technology in Education
This week I've been in Sussex NB, Canada teaching 2nd and 3rd year students at Kingswood University. I've taught his one week seminar every other year since 2004. Think about the changes in technology in the past 10 years!
The Value of Humility in Leadership
Last weekend I attended the Joomla World Conference in Boston. I was one of 9 keynote speakers (see my talk here). On Sunday afternoon, we were treated to a keynote from Matt Mullenweg (wikipedia article) - the founder of WordPress. (Yes - this was the JOOMLA World Conference). WordPress runs about 20% of the entire web, making it the largest open source content management system in the world. Matt is 30 (as of this writing).
Live Long and Prosper - My Keynote at the Joomla World Conference 2013
I presented the Friday afternoon keynote address at the 2013 Joomla World Conference this week (http://conference.joomla.org). (video after the break)"Live Long and Prosper - 10 Business Tips from Star Trek" was really inspired by the room we were meeting in at Harvard University. Really great venue!
Life is Short and It's Been 200 Days
It's been 200 days since I saw my 19,000th day. That's: 200 days 4,800 hours 288,000 minutes
Life is Short and So Am I - My Talk at J and Beyond 2013
I had the privilege of delivering the Saturday night keynote at the JandBeyond 2013 Conference in Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands (#jab13) on June 1st.
Speaking at J&Beyond
J and Beyond, is one of two big international Joomla conferences every year, with the Joomla World Conference being the other and it's back for a fourth year.
From May 31st to June 2nd, Joomla! developers and site builders from over 30 countries will gather in Noordwijkerhout, near Amsterdam.
Speaking at DrupalCon Portland
Once again this year, OSTraining has been selected to provide the "Absolute Beginner's Guide to Drupal" at DrupalCon - this will be our 4th time! (Chicago, Denver and London being the others).
Here's the video I created to promote the training... (video after the break)
Life Is Short, and So Am I
I know three people who's lives changed this week: a friend in his early 30's fighting cancer for the third time; a man my age who died of pancreatic cancer; and a friend in his late 60's who had a stroke.
Inspire Me Please - Beyond the Bullet Point
I shared 10 critical ideas for better presentations at the 3rd Annual Ivy Tech Adjunct Professor's Conference in Marion Indiana.
Walk Through the Old Testament
They're Not Just Stories
This is a talk I've done for the past 30 years. I learned it from M.A. Butler, a fantastic Bible teacher and missionary. The presentation hasn't changed significantly - its a timeless journey through the greatest book of all time. Shot on location at the Demolishing Strongholds Conference in 2006 (at 8:00 am on a Saturday morning!) it became a DVD called "They're Not Just Stories".
My Visit to Arlington Cemetery
On my trip to Washington DC this past week, I visited Arlington Cemetery. I've been fortunate in the past two years to travel to DC fairly regularly, and I've seen all the monuments and memorials, but had not had the chance to visit this place of honor.
How Do We Respond to Evil?
As I sit here relaxed in my favorite chair on a Saturday morning, 26 families in CT are grieving over the loss of their children and loved ones. Yesterday, a 20 year old kid walked into the kindergarten room and started shooting. Whenever something like this happens – people ask the inevitable questions – I know I did – and my daily Bible reading took me to Psalm 11.
Training Your Clients with Video
In November 2012 I spoke at the Joomla World Conference in San Jose, CA. (Conference Site).
iPad in Education - Apps for Teachers
Apps for Teachers
The iPad is a powerful tool for teachers. We covered apps that make a teacher's life easier. From integrating administrative tasks to unleashing your creative energies, we demonstrated ways a tablet could make their lives easier!
Opening Keynote at JWC2012
We're at EBay Town Hall for the opening session of Joomla World Conference 2012.
One of the VP's is talking about their use of open source – specifically Joomla!. They use and contribute to OS projects. It allows them to move at the right speed of investment.
Joomla 3.0 - Presentation at JWC2012
Kyle Ledbetter and Mark Dexter are presenting on Joomla 3.0
Kyle works at EBay – and they push things to the limit. They needed a new UI – so they chose Bootstrap from Twitter – an awesome open source UI LIbrary that's really taken the world by storm… (I LOVE bootstrap)
Complete CSS, Javascript, html5, Responsive & LESS. – its really a fantastic system.
Responsive Design in Joomla
Taylor Bruce Design Partnership
Quick demo to begin… showing the breakpoints in the first responsive design from 2010.
Testing a New App!
I'm not the greatest blogger in the world… (yeah – no kidding) – I sometimes find it difficult to commit the time to just keeping it up.
So in the spirit of trying to do better – I purchased an app from Apple today called Blogsy.
Speaking in Toronto in November
In the “out of the blue” category – I’ve been asked to present a 3 hour training session on the iPad in Education for the annual ACSI Convention.
Flight Delayed - the Words You Love to Hear
I’m in the middle of an 18 day extended trip – Chicago, D.C., Toronto and Boston. I’m writing this from my seat – 10A on an Airbus 320 – sitting on the tarmac in D.C. – we’ve been delayed an hour by weather in Detroit. (Today’s flight is DC->Detroit->Toronto). They’re saying an hour… but we’ll know more … in an hour!
The Enola Gay
I had the privilege of seeing up close a number of amazing historical aircraft this week. I had an extra day in Washington DC – so I headed over to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)’s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport) – an excursion I had long wanted to take and anticipated very much.
Day 2 - Breakfast with Chickens
I’m sitting at E. Ontario St and N. St. Clair at an outside cafe… its 90 degrees at 8:00 pm… supposed to be 104 here in Chicago tomorrow… insane…
And so is the NOISE!
30 Pics in 30 Days
Tomorrow I leave for 18 days of travel to Chicago, Washington D.C, Toronto and Boston. I’ve decided to do another 30 pics in 30 days marathon. All the photos will be taken on my iPhone 4S with no editing…
Busy, busy, busy - but it's All Good
Yesterday was exhausting. (:)) Arranging and changing flights for this month has been kind of strange. But I think it’s almost done.
This month – Washington D.C. 2x, Chicago, Toronto and Boston… I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to pack… and hoping for hotels with laundry service! Teresa’s meeting up with me too… the joys of having older kids!
All in all – I’ll be teaching over 100 people how to use Drupal (9 days), Joomla (2 days) and visiting my mom in Toronto for 4 days (2nd anniversary of Dad’s death is 7/31).
Just Some Thoughts on Travels
Its been a fun year from the travel perspective… In the past 12 months, I’ve been in:
Drupalcon Denver 2012 Summary
What a great week at DrupalCon Denver!
Monday started with 34 students in our classroom learning the “Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Drupal” with OSTraining. Steve and I had a great time interacting with some very “keen” people. The fun came when several students came up to us during DrupalCon and thanked us for the excellent introduction. They had a firm foundation set on Monday so they could understand Tuesday through Friday!
Heading to DrupalCon Denver
I’m sitting at CVG (Cincinnati airport), waiting to board the plane for Denver… Really looking forward to DrupalCon again!
DRUPALCON TRAINING: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Drupal
This will be my 4th DrupalCon – the 3rd one at which I am teaching – check out – the Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Drupal – its going to be a lot of fun as usual :)
If you’re heading to Denver for DrupalCon – let me know!
iPad2 Resources - Sussex Christian School Workshop
I had the privilege of spending a day with the staff and faculty of Sussex Christian School last Friday – talking about the iPad2 in education – here are some links and the pdf of my presentation.
Traveling to Moncton
I’m on my way to Sussex, NB. via Moncton this morning. And for a change – I’m really impressed with travel plans…
Absolute Beginner's Guide To Drupal
I made this presentation on November 5, 2011 at DrupalCamp Indy - (Conference Page)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgYu7-DQjDQ
I gave the same presentation to over 100 people a few weeks later at DrupalCamp Ohio. Its a trimmed down version of our full-day course with OSTraining.com