[webdesign-463] New member

Hello all -

I just joined this group tonight.  Been looking through the site here, 
and I'm surprised to see that a meetup has yet to occur.  The last 
discussion I see of it possibly happening was back in October, and the 
idea seems to have died.

I also saw some stuff that people were interested in learning about, and 
some of the stuff I actually know.  So I was hoping I could light a fire 
and maybe get a meetup to happen, as I'd love to be able to network in 
this area.

I see that one of the big issues is where people are located - 
apparently we're all over the state.  (I am located in Simsbury, which 
is not far from Farmington/Avon/Bloomfield.)  Although I'm not too 
familiar with CT yet (I'm a recent transplant), I'm never afraid to hop 
in the car and take a trip to somewhere I haven't been yet.  I've found 
that it's pretty hard to get lost in this state - I've tried ;)

So I was thinking - and I know this is a nice-sized group, so maybe this 
isn't too far-fetched - what if we kind of split it?  Instead of all of 
us in one place, maybe two smaller groups in two different places?  or 
perhaps have two meetups that are in different parts of the state, so 
that one is more accessible, and if someone lives farther away but is 
willing to drive, they can go to both?  I don't know - thinking out 
loud, I guess.

Anyway, as to what I can offer the group (at least, I hope I can!): I do 
CSS/XHTML coding (haven't done a tabled layout in *years*), W3C 
standards compliance, I dabble in PHP and I am *excellent* with 
CMS/Blogging platforms (think MovableType, WordPress - *especially* 
WordPress, actually - pMachine/Expression Engine - even dabble in 
MySpace sometimes)  I'd love to know more about PHP (I know enough to be 
scary) and MySQL, and as far as platforms go, I'd like to get my hands 
into Joomla.

So there it is, and hopefully I hear back from you all soon :)

~Shelly