Today Joe Brinkman announced the official OpenForce ‘09 Call for Speakers.

Apart from being excited about the event and what it has in store, I particularly liked the way the topics were split into 4 simple and concise categories:

• Development
• Design
• Administration
• Open Source

If you are an avid DotNetNuke user, then I am sure that you are asking yourself: how do I join in the fun? Well, Joe put it best by answering that question with the following quote:

“Are you a DotNetNuke expert?  Do you like to share your DotNetNuke knowledge with the community? Do you enjoy speaking in front of large crowds? You are exactly the person we are looking for.”

Obviously, those who know me, know that I fit that bill, and therefore I proceeded to submit two abstract (at least so far) in the “Development”, and “Administration” categories, and they are as follows:

DotNetNuke as a Blogging Platform - Part 1: Setup and Administration (Category: Administration)

DotNetNuke is a highly extensible and configurable content management platform and it includes several free core modules that provide powerful out-of-the-box functionality, one of which is the DotNetNuke Blog module.

The DotNetNuke Blog module includes several modules that together provide a rich user experience and provides functionality that empowers you to harness DotNetNuke for more than just a website management but to engage your users and members with up-to-date information about your business, your cause and your message.

In this session Antonio Chagoury will provide a detailed walk-through of the core Blog module, setup best practices, and demonstrate its full capabilities. So if you are thinking of using WordPress or any other external blogging platform for your blogging needs then hold that thought for a little longer; If you are already on another platform Antonio may persuade you to switch by  showing you how to consolidate your operations into one single system, DNN.

DotNetNuke as a Blogging Platform - Part 2: Extending It! (Category: Development)

You've probably setup the DotNetNuke Blog module and you are on your way to becoming the next great blogger, but you are now running into feature limitations and would like to simply DO MORE! You may want to integrate and syndicate your content with other third party services or you might simply want to add more pizzaz and dazzle to your blog, but your thinking: "where do I begin?"...

If you are either a blogger, a DotNetNuke Blog user, or you are simply interested in  learning more about developing feature-rich DotNetNuke modules then session is for you! In this session Antonio will demonstrate some  valuable module development tips, tricks and information by extending one of DotNetNuke's largest and most complex modules. After this session we are confident that you will adopt what we demonstrate in your module development practice.

I would appreciate your feedback on the choice of my topics and I am, as usual, open to all suggestions… please do keep them coming!

Finally, as some of you may know, I co-founded and I organize the Capital DotNetNuke User Group (CDUG). CDUG is a forum for members of the DotNetNuke community in the D.C. metro area to discuss and share ideas, challenges and solutions about their DotNetNuke experience.
I am still tinkering with the thought of submitting an abstract in the “Open Source” category that would provide attendees a “How-To Guide to Starting a User Group” in their local communities. There is a lot to talk about on that topic and a lot of knowledge to share that would certainly provide helpful information and insight that interested users will find extremely valuable. I am certain that life would have been much easier had I known then what I know now; I would like to share that knowledge. Once again, let me know what you think!

I look forward to sharing my thoughts and knowledge at Open Force 09, should I be privileged to do so.