Calling Belgium’s French community
7 12 2007I just had an interesting discussion on Twitter with some friends about the French speaking Flash community in Belgium and the apparent lack of them at our local Adobe User Group events. That’s actually a very good point and never really understood why that is the case or if we’re simply not reaching them.
They must be out there but I’m afraid to say I personally know very few of them (Stéphane Bebrone, Gilles Bertrand, Cyril Hanquez — sorry if I’m forgetting someone I know) and would tend to say I’m generally pretty clued in on the scene.
Would love to get some links to personal blogs, community sites, courses, events etc. to follow up on what’s happening there and hear what would help to get our French speaking colleagues involved.
For those new to the Adobe User Group Belgium it might be worth noting that — except for one or two presentations in the past — sessions are always done in English, events are free of charge and its an excellent place for networking (usually with free drinks and great raffle prizes).
P.S. if there are any Flash/Flex or other Adobe software users in the German speaking community in Belgium please don’t hesitate to post a comment or get in touch either and let us know what you’re up to! 
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Hey Peter,
actually your post got a thread started, your next event might well receive the visit a heavy delegation of french speaking flashers and flexers :).
best,
J.
huhu, even if that’s my previous life’s website, corrected the url.
Hello Peter,
Unfortunately this event seems to be in dutch and too far from my house to wish I could go back after the session.
I really would like to be implied into flash/flex ’s belgian community and I’ll try to be more in the future.
I personally know Stephane Bebrone and he’s a great colleague and friend. I should have a chat with him
Regards
I really want to met the french community! “Get connected” is our moto with the AUG! Keep an eye on our usergroup site, register and offcourse see you all on our next activity
If you have some proposals for sessions or want to do a session yourself, just send an email to koen[at]adobeusergroup.be or shout it on our forums !
take care,
koen de weggheleire - AUG belgium
Hi Peter,
belgium french community is not very present on abobe belgium user group’s event, it’s true. Like Romain, I think it’s always far from the center. (I mean brussel).
By the way I almost finish reading your book, OOP AS3. Very interesting and perfect to switch from AS2 to AS3.
Regards,
S.
Hey Peter,
thanks for reporting our discussion on twitter
I’m happy to see that there’s positives reactions from the community. From my side, i will continue to convince people around me to participate more in the AUG, but like already written, some events are far from Brussels so it’s not always easy to attend them - i could easily understand that a castle is more attractive than a normal meeting room
!
See you soon then,
Regards
Thanks for the feedback guys — I see the point about location, there are a few things to consider for us:
- we need to be able to accommodate 70-100 people for a meeting, have an Internet connection for the presenter, projection and audio equipment and ideally the ability to serve drinks or some light refreshments
- parking space in the vicinity and/or good public transport links
We have close to zero budget so have to rely on sponsoring for a venue, etc. Thanks to our friends at Boulevart and other companies we’ve been able to get great places so far.
If you’re reading this and you or your company has a suitable place available or want to discuss possible sponsoring — feel free to get in touch! As Koen already mentioned, we’re open for all suggestions. If you want to kick start an event in your region let us know and we might be able to help and involve the user group.