We’ll also learn more about WVG and WIMG, and the various ways in which WVG might provide assistance to young companies.

Please join us Thursday, February 2 at 6:30, and spread the word. If you can make it, please RSVP.

About John Sheetz

John Sheetz has over 30 years of experience at the senior management level in the private for-profit, private non-profit and public sectors. He is currently the Director of Business Development for ERDMAN, a national healthcare facilities development firm headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin where his responsibilities include generating new projects throughout the northeast United States.

Mr. Sheetz’ experience includes investment and leadership in the start-up of numerous small companies funded through debt and equity capitalization; business acquisitions and dispositions; the sale, development or re-development of a wide variety of real estate properties and projects; and consulting with a wide range of business and real estate clients in the areas of strategic planning and business development.

He is a founding member of the WIMG, instrumental in forming the WVG.

For our first meetup of the year, Corey Brown will lead a discussion on how January 1st is just another day and why new year’s resolutions aren’t worth much. This is a discussion about opportunity, about taking a chance and making the leap. We’ll also talk about the exciting future of coworking, Refresh and other meetups in our community.

We’ll meet at Bright Cowork on Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 6:30 for food and start the discussion around 7pm.

Hope to see you there. Please RSVP, and please bring a friend.

We’ll provide the pizza, you bring some beer (or any beverage of choice). And a friend who hasn’t been to Refresh before, but should be attending.

When: Wednesday (December 21st) at 6:30pm
Where: Bright Cowork

Hope to see you there! Please RSVP so we know how much food to get.

Wufoo’s HTML form builder helps you create contact forms, online surveys, and invitations so you can collect the data, registrations and online payments you need without writing a single line of code.

And, they’re great looking out of the box.

Here’s a quick video from the Wufoo folks:

We hope to see you here on Thursday, December 1st, 2011, at Bright Cowork. We’ll kick it off with food at 6:30 and the Wufoo discussion around 7pm. Please RSVP if you can make it, and spread the word.

Fear not. There’s something called Responsive Web Design, and we’re going to get together to share what we know about it, work through examples and frameworks designed for this, and even dive into some coding.

We’re meeting at Bright Cowork, and we hope you can join us. Please RSVP if you can.

Come hungry (and thirsty). We’ll all pitch in for some pizza, and if you want to bring some beer, feel free (we have beer left over from our last Refresh meetup too). We’ll have sodas on hand as well.

Hope to see you there!

Join us for our next meeting as we open up the talk, round table style, and give each member a chance to talk about a project near-and-dear to them.

We’ll use the discussion to give shape to the next slate of scheduled talks: should we be pursuing speakers for specific tools and technologies?

Meet us on November 3, 2011 at 6:30pm at Bright Cowork. Be sure to RSVP and spread the word.

About Joey:
Joey started his web career as a designer, and found his way into loads of development. He is currently a Senior Developer, specializing in custom web and mobile applications at Jaspin Interactive in Ashburn, VA. When he’s not working, he stays busy raising his family with his wife Katherine, hacking on side projects, and growing beards.

Be sure to RSVP (and spread the word):

Even if you are, there’s a lot of hidden information (and hidden opportunities), especially if you’re using Google Analytics. While Google Analytics is super easy to add to any site, knowing what to do with it is far from easy for most people getting started.

This month, we’ll dive into the popular (and free) analytics tool, from reading basic reports to slightly more advance topics such as custom variables and tracking events and campaigns.

Corey Brown, who has been using Google Analytics since it was in private beta, will lead this discussion.

Please RSVP if you can make it:

Thanks to everyone who attended Refresh (and our first official WordCamp meetup) last night!

As promised, here is the list of plugins discussed. If any were missed (or you’d like to add more), please add them in the comments below.

Corey Brown’s List:

SEO:

• Google XML Sitemaps (Note: Curtiss Grymala recommended Better WordPress Google XML Sitemaps as an alternative)
• All in One SEO Pack

Performance:

• WP Super Cache (he’s wanted to try out W3 Total Cache based on its reputation, but hasn’t been able to get it to work yet)
• WP Minify

Social:

• Twitter Tools (note: this doesn’t work on a server running PHP 5.3)
• Sharepress (for Facebook)

Utility:

• WP Db Backup
• WP No Category Base

Aaron Collegeman’s List:

• wpapp (Skeleton for writing app-style plugins for WordPress)

Curtiss Grymala’s List:

Multi User / Multi Network:

• Networks+ (also: David Dean’s version and John James Jacoby’s version)
• Active Directory Authentication Integration
• Active Directory Employee Listing
• Note: ‘mu-plugins’ folder will execute code no matter what theme you use and are independent of your plugins (doesn’t require activation like Plugins do).

Mobile:

• WPtouch Pro

Utility:

• TypePad AntiSpam for WordPress (alternative to Akismet)/a>
• Jetpack
• WordPress EZ Backup
• Registered Users Only

Rob DeHaven’s List:

• The Events Calendar
• Eventbrite for The Events Calendar
• Widget Logic

DJ Lein’s List:

• Genesis Framework
• Easy FancyBox
• Login Logo
• Gravity Forms + Custom Post Types

Joey Blake’s List:

• Akismet
• CMS
• The WordPress Multilingual Plugin

John Mangino’s List:

• Front End Editor
• Markdown

Erik Zimmerman’s List:

• Maintenance Mode

Graphic Designer

Office of Marketing and Communications

Shenandoah University is seeking a qualified graphic designer responsible for the implementation of creative design in a wide variety of marketing communications projects, including print, web and electronic graphics and other media such as banners, signs and related items. Reporting to the Creative Director, the graphic designer is an integral part of the Office of Marketing and Communications creative team that ensures the university’s brand platform is reflected in design concepts for all visual media.

Specific Job Tasks:

• Create compelling designs that convey a strong brand and reinforce the values and mission of the university.
• Design, build and maintain brand assets including logos, icons, web pages, banners and print pieces that support marketing communications efforts.
• Participate in the marketing communications creative process for new projects and programs.
• Responsible for all stages of design and development throughout a project, assisting in resource planning and ensuring proper prioritization, key stakeholder involvement, final signoff and on-time delivery of assets.
• Provide valuable thought leadership, strategic thinking and insight used to help develop new direction, as well as new solutions to any existing design issues.
• Seek opportunities to streamline workflows.
• Follow trends of current design tools and techniques, and recommend changes to existing tools and process.

Requirements:

• Bachelors degree and experience in graphic design.
• Ability to prioritize tasks in an environment of changing time constraints and ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines. 
• Ability to work flexible hours in accordance with the demands of the position.
• Superior organizational skills, ability to multi-task, think outside the box and troubleshoot problems.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with the ability to deal effectively with diverse populations.

The review of applications will begin immediately and continue until a qualified candidate is selected. To apply, please send a cover letter, resume and contact information for three references to: Shenandoah University, Office of Human Resources-Graphic Designer, 1460 University Drive, Winchester, VA 22601.

Shenandoah University supports and encourages diversity in the workplace. EOE