For me it is always a great experience to meet Joomla! people in real life. The last two days I was in Utrecht and joined the Dutch Joomladays. It was the fifth time the Dutch Joomldays were held and for me it was the second time I was able to attend. The team made a very good job, organization was perfect and the presentations I saw were very professional and interesting.

The event was held over two days and each day was focused on a specific audience. It started on Friday with a business day with presentations about the news about Joomla 1.6, Joomla! Security, Migration 1.5 -> 1.6 and many things more. The big challenge for me was that I made a presentation in a foreign language (English of course, not Dutch) for the first time. I talked about good websites and how to design them in an accessible way. I think it worked as I didn't got any tomatoes :-).

On the second day we heard a presentation form Fotis Evangelou about building a business with Joomla! and becoming millonare in about two weeks. I am not really sure if it will work but I will try it the next weeks :-)

Angie Radtke gave a enthusiastic presentation about the 1.6 design output. Over the day there were a lot of presentations in the Dutch language, so I used most of the time to talk with people. Meeting people is the best thing about a Joomladay. It gives you a better understanding of how people look at the project and what the problems are in understanding what we as "Project" do. The day ended with a great presentation from Brian Teeman about finding the name "Joomla" and I have learned we were not far away for naming our CMS like a submarine.

A special thing on a Dutch Joomladay is the Doctor Joomla! area where the attendees can ask questions about Joomla!, problems they have and anything related to Joomla!. Maybe it's a good idea for other Joomladays.

If you have never joined a Joomladay you should look at your area and join the next Joomladay near by. I am now back in Germany and I am waiting to join the next Joomla-Event which will be happen at 30th May - 1st June in Wiesbaden. It is called J and Beyond and I hope to see you there.