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I finally got to drop in on CMS Expo. The brainchild of Linda and John Coonen (they have done an amazing job) it is a smorgasbord of CMS buzz, chat and the lunch wasn’t bad either. A couple sessions were especially interesting this afternoon.

As a Joomla lover I thought I would check out the competition so visited Colleen Carroll and a session on Drupal design.

Colleen emphasized that using a grid to build Drupal themes always renders a better end product.

She worked with her own theme she has modified from Zen available at drupal.org/project/austin.

Tip: Colleen says to activate css compressor during development (in configuration) to speed dev time.

I found the Drupal community contribution feature interesting and wonder if other CMS should adopt it.

Familiar to us Joomla users, Colleen advised not to hack Drupal core if possible, as updates will wipe away your hacks.

Colleen showed us that good theme development is as much about deconstruction as building. A fitting philosophy for a self professed lover of Zen.

Drupal update rumor: Colleen says she has heard it through the grapevine that Drupal 7 should be released by September 09.

GPL as a business model was the subject of Jeff Eaton of Lullabot’s session at the CMSExpo.

He began the session by explaining the difference between free as in speech and free as in beer.

Jeff then went on to outline what it means to release software under the GPL license including the right to get the source code and the right to customize and distribute the software.

There were several questions from the audience and it was clear that the question of what will come of MySQL after the acquisition of Sun by Oracle was a common concern.

Take away points included:

• GPL breeds GPL
• If you distribute, others can distribute
• Your code may be a product but it may also be a tool you use to deliver a product
• Sell your brain, the understanding of people and problems is your most valuable asset

Jeff went on to outline various ways to make money in the GPL world.

[Editor’s Note: See our detailed article Open Source: The GPL, Your CMS Project and You]

Wilco Jansen, the Joomla! (news, site) Development Coordinator and an Open Source Matters board member talked about the importance of engaging the community in his keynote at the CMSExpo today.

While not everyone can commit code, it is still possible to make significant contributions to the project in other more accessible ways like answering questions on the forums.

In addition to engaging the community, the GPL license plays a key role in advancing the growth of the project. There are currently more than 4000 registered extensions available for download under the GPL license.

There is no one person making key decisions, rather leadership is provided through working groups.

For a large group of volunteers, Wilco says that it is quite well organized and "it is a business, not a science project."

[Editor’s Note: See our detailed article Open Source: The GPL, Your CMS Project and You]

SilverStripe (news, site) is using this year’s J. Boye Conference to boost awareness of its open source CMS product by taking part in the Web Idol competition that adds some speed and humor to the event.

Social media moves so fast, it’s hard to keep up. Here are the week’s top stories in scan-friendly format:

• Surprise! Twitter Has a High Churn Rate
• W3C Releases Standardized Widgets 1.0 APIs and Events
• Do You Twitter At Work? Hide It!
• Your Company May Need A Social Networking Policy

For anyone who has worked the tough end of newspaper reporting, or editing, and whose deadlines are always “yesterday”, Nstein’s v4.1 (Mojo) of its Web Content Management System could be a godsend.

As a specialist provider of solutions in the online media and web publishing world, by adding WCM Mojo to v4.0, Nstein (news, site) is going make a lot of friends.

With your Mojo running, time-sensitive workers in both the print and online industries will no longer have to blank angry mobile calls from HQ, but instead, using a smart-phone and the new mobile back-office version of v4.0, send, edit and even publish content on the run.

Matt Asay, VP of Business Development for Alfresco (news, site) opened the CMSExpo with the message that open source is now mainstream and being embraced by the enterprise.

It is the right message at the right time. Open source companies like Alfresco are thriving in an otherwise difficult time.

Proprietary vendors are trying to survive through acquisition resulting in less choice. They use closed standards making it difficult to get your content out of their systems. Set your content free by using open source software.

Here are just a few other tidbits that Asay had to say about open source:

• Alfresco is considered enterprise but Drupal and Joomla! are also being embraced by the enterprise
• Cost gets you in the door but surveys show that 87% of companies actually show cost savings after implementing open source
• Open source de-risks software acquisition — you can try it for free before buying it
• Most software projects fail: If you buy open source and it fails, you have spent much less money in the process — it is a subscription vs a large up-front charge
• Forrester survey: 100% will be using or plan to use open source by 2010, 56% will be using or plan to use a content management system
• Why use open source:  65% said it sparked innovation, 81% for better quality software, 67% lower cost

And what are the 2009 trends for Enterprise Content Management?

1. Governance, retention, compliance
2. Freedom of choice
3. Easier to use, customize and deploy (Drupal and Joomla! are leaders here)
4. More and better software for the price

News from New Zealand! SilverStripe, the provider of one Content Management System that people are not only writing books about, but also won Packt’s Most Promising Open Source CMS award in 2008, has been accepted as an official Mollom partner.

SilverStripe is the second vendor to be deemed fit for Mollom’s spam blocking ecosystem by founders Dries Buytaert, who also founded Drupal, and Benjamin Schrauwen. 

TeamViewer (news, site) has been updated to version 4.1, offering a host of new features to improve the ways that distributed groups can communicate, share and offer support.

It has often been said that necessity is the mother of invention. In current times, with recession depriving many businesses of the barest survival necessity – cash - invention is key to getting through the next 12 months.

In this respect then, the recent announcement from XML and Information Management software vendor JustSystems (news, site) that Keyence Corp, a developer of sensors for factory automation, is to take a 44% stake — worth US$ 44.7m — in the Japanese vendor is logical.

The logic in this case being take the money where you can find it.

Welcome to the first installment of our new end-of-the-month look at what you can expect from open source CMS projects in the next 30 days. We’re just getting started and are counting on you, our community members to help us gather the key facts.

Here’s what you can expect in May 2009. To avoid playing favorites, the projects are presented in alphabetical order.

Across Systems (news, site), the corporate translation management systems provider, is asserting itself as a force within the language industry. At conferences and special speaking engagements, they’ve been busy make the rounds and aiming to stay relevant. Highlighting their expertise within Content Management and Translation Management technologies, as well as their central software platform makes for good business.

Remember Bluenog, the new-ish Enterprise Content Management solution provider who loves to play with open source solutions? The company claimed to be the first of its kind, but we tend to keep a healthy skepticism.

Recently these new comers’ ego has gained a bit of puff. InformationWeek has named Bluenog ICE — Bluenog’s flagship solution — to its first ever Startup 50 ranking. The award recognizes value, enterprise-readiness and innovation. Let’s take another look at what Bluenog is doing.

Day Software (news, site) announced the nominations of Barry Bycoff and David Arnott to the Board of Directors. Elections for both nominees are scheduled to take place on May 19, 2009, at Day’s Annual Shareholder meeting in Basel, Switzerland.

Bycoff brings to the table over 25 years of experience in the computer and software industry. Bycoff’s track record is extensive and includes Venture Partner at Pequot Ventures and founder of Netegrity, which was acquired by Computer Associates for approximately US$ 450 million in 2004.

Arnott is currently a member of the Executive Committee and Chief Financial Officer of TEMENOS Group AG, a provider of banking systems, with over US$ 400 million in FY08 revenue. Arnott’s professional background includes Chief Financial Officer of Socieete Europeenne de Communication and senior finance positions at Anglo-American plc.

Day’s performance hasn’t always been stellar. However, we’ve seen some bright and sunny days, too. We’ve also witnessed a recent shake-up on Day’s executive level, including the addition of new CEO Erik Hansen, CFO Richard Francis, CMO Kevin Cochrane and others.

The company seems to be going though positive changes and productive growing pains. Cautiously optimistic, we’re looking forward to seeing how these two possible additions to the Board may help steer the company in the right direction.

Last November, C2C (news,site), an email, data and file management solutions provider, gave its Archive One for SharePoint product a bit of a makeover. In its post-makeover version it enables users to remove and archive SharePoint data critical to meet the compliance and eDiscovery requirements of many industries.

So today’s announcement that BridgeHead Software (BHS) is integrating Archive One into its health care data archiving and management product should be no surprise.

The hardest part of writing web content is making it standards compliant to allow all visitors to use your site and for those with mobile devices to view it properly. The latest version of Ephox’s (news, site) EditLive! allows even non-technical users to create standards-compliant content, accessible to all.

Last summer, SDL (news,site) launched a Worldwide Language Service Provider Partner Program to help organizations get their content in the right format to the right customer. This week, they have announced another strategic partnership with Language Weaver, a self-described human communication solutions provider.

SDL plans to deliver Language Weaver’s translation software integrated within their Global Information Management platform and eventually, as part of SDL Knowledge-based Translation System.

Another sign of the growing interest in mobile applications and of the increasing competition in the market comes this week with the news that Zoho Mobile (news, site) is extending its mobile support to additional devices in addition to its current support of Windows Mobile and the iPhone.

As of this week, fans of Zoho applications, which have been developed on a individual basis for select mobile platforms, will be able to access all Zoho apps from an extended list of platforms.

The new platforms include Android, Blackberry, Symbian and the promise of more - like Palm - in the future.
 

You are probably spending a good chunk of your day on Tweetdeck twittering away — it’s addictive, we know. You may also be hanging out on Yammer Desktop with your co-workers yamming it up — that we also know well.

But Adobe AIR can be used to build much more than a micro-blogging application and SocialText (news, site) has set out to prove it. With the SocialText Desktop you can view your SocialText Signals right from your desktop. But you say SocialText Signals is just another micro-blogging solution. No, SocialText says. It’s a lot more.

Who’s hiring these days? e-Spirit is! Well, that is, they’re recruiting partners.

The Enterprise Content Management System providers recently announced the launch of their UK Alliance Partner Program. Currently on the lookout for partners in all industry verticals, e-Spirit hopes that the program will ensure their future success through formally built networks and partnerships. Additionally, linking their electronic arms with those of Content Management System vendors is expected to help place e-Spirit among reputable CMS suppliers in the UK market.

Already on board is ecomplexx, a UK based Web services provider with rich internet and Content Management offerings.

“Alliances play a critical part in e-Spirit’s overall business strategy for delivering and implementing e-Spirit systems,” said Jeremy Pitt, Head of UK Sales, e-Spirit UK. “We are delighted to welcome our new partners.”

Members of the Elite Partner Program can look forward to both training and education to ensure that they have a deep understanding of customer challenges, the CMS market and the benefits of the technology.

Additionally, further enhancements to the Partner Program are reportedly to include the launch of a certification program later this year.

For more information about e-Spirit, check out their websitee here, or, for the skinny on ecomplexx, here.