Today at noon (US EDT) I'll be speaking on the CF Meetup, about using RDS in Eclipse, DW, and HSStudio, as well as security issues, including changes in CF8 that may make it more acceptable to use in more environments. I think many will be surprised by what they can do via RDS in all the editors.

I announced both of today's meetup sessions yesterday, as I do each week, but I don't bother with all the details of each talk so as not to overwhelm my readers here. I give the link to the talk's event page on the meetup site and let interested readers go view them there.

Since this is my talk, I thought my readers may benefit from a more detailed clarification of my talk today, thus this entry. Here are the details:

Leveraging RDS in Eclipse, Dreamweaver, and Homesite+/CF Studio: It's more secure and more useful than you may think

Are you using the RDS-enabled features in Eclipse, Dreamweaver, or HomeSite+/CF Studio? If not, you could be missing out on a lot of increased productivity, from the query building tools it enables, to the component browsing tools, to enabling file access across the web, and more.

Perhaps it's been disabled on your server, or people may argue that it's insecure. If you could be shown how it could be secured, might you (or your admin) reconsider it? I think it?s a tragedy how many developers suffer without leveraging RDS, certainly on their own machines, and even on shared servers.

Whether you think RDS evil or a blessing, or are unaware of what it enables in your favorite CFML editor, and whether you use CF 8 or earlier, there may be more to RDS than you realize. And there are solutions to security concerns, especially in CF8 but even beforehand.

In this talk, frequent CFUG speaker Charlie Arehart will show you all the ways that RDS can be used to make you more productive in Eclipse, Dreamweaver, or HomeSite+. He'll also address (and in some cases resolve) common security concerns, especially the multi-user RDS security available in CF 8 (and CF 4 and 5), as well as how to enable it if it's been disabled (assuming you have the right to make configuration changes, of course).

Join us online at noon. Anyone's welcome. No preregistration required (though you may want to consider it: see below.)

About the CF Meetup

In case you've missed it, the CF Meetup is an online CF user group I run. I try to have weekly meetings, with speakers all over the world. FWIW, this is only the 2nd talk I've done of the 40 talks done so far, and the first this year. Anyone's welcome to attend.

While the descriptions of meetings are held on the meetup.com site (a commercial service to help groups meet up with each other), the actual meeting is held online at http://experts.acrobat.com/cfmeetup/. Anyone may join in on the meetings. Just log in as guest (everyone should, even registered members of the group.)

If you'd like to receive email notification of the meetings, as well as have access to other resources (to give ratings, take part in polls, participate in the mailing list/forums), you can join the group at no cost, again at coldfusionmeetup.com (which redirects to our group's site on the meetup site, http://coldfusion.meetup.com/17/.)

Finally, all meetings are recorded, and the recording URL will be posted after the meeting at http://recordings.coldfusionmeetup.com.

Just want to let folks I'm going to start announcing the upcoming Online ColdFusion Meetup sessions here.

I host them, and it turns out next week I'll be speaking in a full session of my own for the first time since we started the meetup in February. I was about to announce my talk here here.

Then I thought: hey, why don't I just announce each talk here from now on? Of course, I've been announcing them to the 1200+ registered members of the group, but certainly some who read my blog (or trip over an entry when it may show up on an aggregator) may be introduced to the group for the first time.

So I'm going to post next the 2 talks for next week, and in the future I'll post the rest. We have a full slate set for December. I'm not sure how far in advance I'll announce the rest of the month's talks. We'll see.

For those not familiar with the meetup, I've written about it here previously (though that was from the perspective of a potential speaker).

I'd like to once again put out a call for speakers for the Online ColdFusion Meetup (an online CFUG). The ColdFusion Meetup is a safe place for any speaker who may like to present on any CF-related topic, whether for an hour or even if just for 15 minutes.

If you're interested in speaking, you probably have a few questions. In this note I try to address them:

• Why should I consider speaking?
• So what is the ColdFusion Meetup?
• How often do you meet?
• When do you meet?
• Where do you meet?
• Are your meetings recorded?
• What topics are welcomed?
• What next dates are available?
• OK, so how do I become a speaker?
• What if I'm nervous about presenting?
• How can I support the group?

Why should I consider speaking?

People enjoy presenting to the CF community for a variety of reasons: to share experiences and discoveries, to help solve problems they've faced, to share new tools, or even to promote something they've written.

There are certainly many CFUGs the world over, and we support them fully, but some people may not be close enough to speak to one. And though they may know that some CFUGS welcome remote presenters, many presenters don't know where to turn or which to try to present to first.

The CF Meetup is really a great place, whether to present a talk for the first time or even if you've presented it to other groups live or remotely before.

In the case of a new talk, you can use it to work out the kinks (some find it easier to talk in front of a mic rather than standing before an audience). Also, other CFUG managers can see your talk and then may ask to have you present it to their group, whether on-site or online. (They may prefer that to telling their members to just go watch your recording.)

And if you have a talk you've presented before, well consider that some may not have seen your talk when presented before, again even if you recorded it. Also, you can use this as a chance to revise a talk done previously (practice makes perfect), or to reprise a previous talk you did that you think some groups may feel is old news. We have room here for classic subjects!

Finally, another benefit for you is that we record all our meetings (more on that later), so you can share the URL of recording on your site, in emails, in your materials, etc.

So what is the ColdFusion Meetup?

The Online ColdFusion Meetup is an online CF User Group--in fact it's the largest CFUG in the world with over 1,200 members. Don't let that scare you, though, as a prospective presenter. We tend to have less than 50 attendees at any one meeting (sometimes much fewer). It all depends on the topic.

As I've discussed in previous blog entries, the meetup was first formed in 2004 by Steven Erat, an Adobe CF support engineer who had to step down about a year ago. Ray Camden and I both stepped up earlier this year expressing interest in reviving it. We decided to take it on together, and the plan was that we'd split the hosting every 6 months, with me taking the first half of the year.

Well, it's been 9 months now (with a bit of a break in the summer, more in a moment) and no surprise Ray's super busy. We discussed it recently and, commending my effort so far, he asked to step back to just being backup host, which is fine by me, and which in fact I needed this week (again, more later).

We've had 17 speakers so far, including several previews before cf.Objective() and CFUnited. I even tried to arrange them before Max but it just didn't work out. Indeed, we had a bit of a hiatus around that time, with that and the release of CF8 stealing time and attention from prospective presenters.

But things have really started to pick again and we've had 4 speakers the past two weeks and have more to come, which will be announced each week as part of our new "Fall lineup".

So how often DO you meet?

Well, most CFUGs meet monthly, but being online we have the luxury to meet as often as we like. :-) We seem to be settling into a pattern of weekly meetings. There are enough presenters, topics, and audience members that I don't see the well running dry.

It may not be the same folks attending week to week, which is fine, really. That's the beauty of being an online group. People will come if the topic interests them. No crowd is too big or too small.

Ray and I have also decided that we'll commit to presenting at least once a month each if needed, so we can know we'll always have at least 2 talks each month from now on.

When do you meet?

We tend to meet Thursdays at either noon or 6pm eastern (often both times, though we don't ask a speaker to present his topic twice in a day). This is all about trying to balance not only the needs of US audiences (across 3+ time zones) but also those in Europe and Asia/Pacific. Noon will be the afternoon/evening for Europe but before dawn in Asia/Pac. 6pm will be morning for Asia/Pac but late night for Europe. These are the challenges of a world-wide audience. (We've also polled the membership and these were the most popular time frames, though we may rerun the poll in time.)

But we can be flexible on the time and even the day. It's just a pattern to give familiarity, but it's not set in stone. In fact, this week, Ray's speaking at 4pm and we've already got 32 RSVPs after announcing it only this morning! :-) Of course, he's a draw, as have been many of our presenters.

But really anyone is welcome to present, whether you're an old hand or a first-timer.

Where do you meet?

Again, we're an entirely online group. We never meet in person and we have members all over the world. The group always meets at http://experts.acrobat.com/cfmeetup, an Adobe Acrobat Connect meeting room which is opened only for the meetings (typically a few minutes before and after, just like a room in "the real world").

(I should mention that we also have both a message board and mailing list, for members to ask each other questions outside of the meetings themselves. See the Meetup site for more.)

Are your meetings recorded?

Yes, they are. And as I mentioned above, that's a real benefit of speaking at the Meetup, if you're interested in being able to have others see your presentation after the fact. We post the URL for all our meeting recordings for anyone to watch.

And we owe a debt of gratitude to Adobe for their provision of a free Acrobat Connect account as well as the space and bandwidth for holding and presenting the recordings. This is an offer they make to all official Adobe User Groups. For more info on that (if you're a UG manager or want it for your user group), see the other blog entries I've done, starting with this one/.

And while we're on the subject, let me note that to find these and many other recorded presentations, see my repository of recorded user group presentations, UGTV, which has hundreds of hours of presentations by presenters the world over, which anyone can view for free.

What topics are welcomed at the Meetup?

Getting back to being a speaker on the Meetup, we welcome pretty much any topic related to CFML, whether on an advanced or a beginning topic. The beauty of the online format is people can come or not. And again, logistically, no audience is too large or too small.

Going back to a point I made before, we can even have you present some classic topic that you think some audience may appreciate, but that you'd fear presenting before a live audience because of the risk it may not bring out enough attendees. Sure, maybe in any one city there may not be that many CFers interested in that topic, but across 1200+ members, you may find your kin here! :-)

What next dates are available?

We have meetings lined up this week, and next week, and then will take the following week off for Thanksgiving (a US Holiday).

I'm lining up speakers for the rest of the the last week of November, all of December, and into next year. I welcome even expressions of tentative interest (if you're not quite ready to set a fixed date).

OK, so how do I become a speaker?

If you're interested or have any questions, please drop me a note at charlie (at) carehart.org.

What if I'm nervous about presenting?

Don't be. This is a friendly place. And I'll guide you through the entire process. As a veteran presenter of hundreds of user group talks myself, both live and online, I've helped our Meetup presenters (veterans and newcomers alike) with issues as varied as helping firm up a compelling title and description to sharing tips on how to present effectively online, including helping you sound good and even helping pick out good choices for headsets or mics--we don't bother with cameras. For all we care, you can speak in your underwear. :-)

How can I support the group?

Hey, we could always use your support, whether as a speaker or just in helping "spread the word" on the group. :-)

If you're a blogger or belong to a mailing list and want to promote the Meetup as a place for prospective presenters to consider, we'd be grateful. Feel free to point them to this blog entry that you're now reading.

You can point potential members to the Meetup site (coldfusionmeetup.com). Again, it's free to join the group. Or feel free to use this nifty Flash badge that also always lets folks know when the next meeting will happen:

Here's the code for that:

I meant, "how can I support the group monetarily?"

Ah, well how nice of you! :-) Seriously, though, we're not setup to take in donations for now (nor are we setup as a non-profit).

I will say I pay a monthly fee for the meetup.com site, which otherwise is used by groups that meet in real life, to help them organize and promote such meetings. It's worth it for the, and for us. Our URL really just redirects to a specific section of their site, devoted to our group. I'm torn about whether it would be cheaper to build out all its features on a site of our own. Even with the many excellent free tools from Ray and others, it still would take time to do and to manage, and time is money, of course.

And indeed running the group itself is already a time commitment of its own. Still, running the CF Meetup is really a gift to the community, and just another part of the many wonderful ways that we all learn from each other in this great CF community.

But since you're really pressing me :-), I'll point out that both Ray and I have Amazon wish lists.

No, thank you!

But really, thanks for your support whether you're a speaker or an attendee, or if you do anything to help promote the group. It sounds trite, but as with all CFUGs it really is your group. You can help make it what you want it to be, and by promoting it to others, you make it all the more compelling a place to "watch and be watched".

I welcome your feedback and comments, and I hope to "see" you at an upcoming meetup.

If you're a developer, speaker, or vendor with something you want to share with the CF community, or know someone who does, here's a chance to reach thousands of folks. The Online ColdFusion Meetup wants you!

I explained previously the rekindling of the Meetup, which is an official, online Adobe ColdFusion user group.

The group serves a couple of audiences. Obviously, for those who don't have a local user group, it's a vital link to the community. Beyond that, though, anyone may join and participate, so it really serves the worldwide CF community. The group grew to 900 members during Steven's time, and now it's up to 1,100 over 1,200 members (update as of Oct 2007). We've had several successful meetings the past several weeks.

Meetings are typically 30-60 minutes long, just like a real user group meeting, as driven by the speaker's topic. People join in to listen (voice over IP) and optionally interact with the speaker via a chat window (we use an Acrobat Connect account that Adobe graciously grants to user groups). There are typically about 20-40 folks online during most of our sessions

Better still, we record all the meetings (again, with Adobe's generously hosting the recordings), so your message gets shared potentially to the entire CF community. I list all the recordings, along with over a hundred other user group talks, at my UGTV site. Folks typically blog about the sessions as well, all of which help further spread whatever news or tips you have to share.

Of course, we're not looking for anything exclusive. It can be a talk already given to another CFUG. But certainly if a speaker can't make it to any one group, or can't pick which one to present to virtually (if they use Connect), the speaker can at least present to this group and know that they can reach a wide audience, since all 1,100 members receive a notice by email of each upcoming meeting.

The topics can be anything related to CF, including ancillary tools, frameworks, products, etc. We want to help carry the flag for the CF community and be a resource for everyone. We can't expect that each meeting will interest every person, but we can hope that everyone might find value in one or more talks over time.

For now we're meeting irregularly (we've had 10 17 so far (update as of Oct 2007), sometimes with a week or two between them, but some on the same day). We'll fall into a rhythm of regular scheduling once we have a handle on availability of speakers and interest from the audience. For now, any ideas are welcome, and we already have a few folks lined up having expressed interest.

So again, if you're interested, or know someone who may be, let me know. My contact info is at right. Thanks in advance.

If you're a fan of the Online ColdFusion Meetup, note that you can now find the URL for the recording of each meeting on one place in the Meetup Message board (this is in addition to it being listed in the UGTV site).

For those who've not heard of it, I've mentioned in the past that I'm hosting the revived Online CF Meetup, which is a virtual (and Adobe-recognized) CF User Group that meets via Acrobat Connect on a regular basis (weekly, recently).

Well, we also record each meeting, and until now, I'd create a new email in the meetup message board, a precedence which Steven Erat had started when he ran the group.

But I just noticed today the option to "pin" a discussion, meaning it remains at the top of the message board all the time. So I've just created a new message listing all the past recordings and pinned it, and will instead just change that after each meeting. Note that you don't need to be a meetup member to see that message.

And in case you may want to share the URL for any reason, here's a TinyURL version of it: http://tinyurl.com/2dbdnk.

Finally, some may ask why I list it in both places (the meetup site, and the UGTV site). I don't know, I just felt that meetup members shouldn't have to look elsewhere for the recordings, or wade through the ever-growing list of all recordings at the UGTV site.

For those not familiar with the UGTV site, it's a subset of my web site (http://www.carehart.org/UGTV/) where you can find now well over a hundred recorded UG presentations from around the world. It's search-able, sortable, has RSS feeds (even for a specific search keyword), and more.

The meetups have been going great. If you'd like to speak at one, or know someone who does, have them drop me an email. My contact info is listed at right.

Following on the heels of the cf.Objective() preview sessions two weeks ago, the Online ColdFusion Meetup will now turn its attention to previews for the CFUnited conference. We've already lined up 7 speakers for each of the weeks between now and the conference, which is held the last week of June outside Washington, DC.

Michael Smith asked me to do the first preview, for my day-long class on "New in CFMX 6&7: What Did You Miss?". I'll have more about that in the next entry.

As before, these previews are just a 20-30 minute introduction to the topic at hand, with Q&A (thus the name, "previews"). The goal is indeed to offer great information and value, just as in the real talk, but they're not going to be the entire talk, so expect to be left looking forward to hearing more. :-)

Also, something new for the meetups is that from now on we will just use one Acrobat Connect meeting URL for all the meetings, both previews and otherwise. This will make it easier both for presenters to post the URL when they promote their own meetings, and also to help attendees make sure they don't end up visiting the wrong URL (only to find no one there, which has happened a couple of times.)

The new Acrobat Connect URL for the meetup meetings going forward will be http://experts.acrobat.com/cfmeetup/. As before, we do appreciate folks using the meetup system's interface to RSVP, as well as to be able to share thoughts before and feedback after the meeting. RSVPs are preferred but not necessary. Again, the meetup site is at http://coldfusion.meetup.com/17.