EECI2010, What We’re About

The worst part of EECI2010 is that I forgot my camera and had to make do with the iPhone. Fortunately the EECI2010 Flickr Pool is beginning to fill up (go add yours)!

Getting to meet the community and the EllisLab family is easily the best part of my job. I love the human interaction. My official role at EECI2010 was to meet with people one-on-one to discuss whatever they wanted to discuss. My schedule was pretty much filled up from Sunday to Wednesday meeting incredible people, discussing ideas, and brainstorming opportunities.

I want to thank each and every person I met with one-on-one and the numerous people that said hello. In particular it was great to meet a number of folks from the CodeIgniter community. And my apologies to those I missed!

The downside is that I didn’t get to see much of the actual conference or attend the sessions like I did at EECI2009. I caught most of Adii’s (WooThemes) ExpressionEngine: Entrepreneurship and Economics, which really helped me understand some of the challenges people entering the community face from business and social standpoints.

I finally got to talk about a few things that we’ve been working on in 2010. I’m very excited about MojoMotor, our new Community Architect, and the Official Community Partners but those topics are best left to future posts on the actual EE Blog.

Robert and the Whoooz team delivered an outstanding conference despite the learning curve of dealing with American venders! I can’t say enough how impressed I am by Robert and the Whoooz team. Their heart for community and investment in its future success is nothing short of amazing.

What impressed me most about the Whoooz team is something that most attendees did not get to see. On the last day of the conference Robert gave away all the purchased furniture (from Ikea and elsewhere) to the Fort Mason cleaning staff. He also rounded up all the remaining Boudin sandwich boxes and hosted an impromptu picnic for the homeless around the Fort Mason area.

“Its what we’re about” Robert told me in his very understated Dutch way. Then he shrugged his shoulders and smiled. That spirit really personifies the Community we’ve all collectively built. Helping people succeed, its what we’re about. I can’t really explain what an honor it is to be a part of it.

Here’s the to the rest of 2010!