Sessions
From beginners to experienced developers, everyone has something new to learn about CiviCRM. Sessions and workshops this year at CiviCon are better and more numerous than ever before! We've got something for everyone.
The schedule has a variety of shorter presentations (45 minutes) and longer hands-on workshops and discussions (1 hour 15 minutes).
The conference program is organized into audience-oriented tracks, providing you flexibility and control over your experience. From case studies and “how to” sessions, to in-depth code review, the program will cover a diverse array of topics, session types, and representative organizations -- ensuring you the opportunity to view broadly, and go deeply, into the CiviCRM community. In addition, the help desk will be open at various times throughout the conference to provide one-on-one consulting advice.
Complete session list
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keynote - Do nonprofits and open source software do it better? |
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_preview","fid":"269","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"180","style":"width: 180px; height: 180px; float: right;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"180"}}]]Why do people volunteer to write software? Why do people volunteer? Do people working on open source software and nonprofits produce better... read more
with Stormy Peters |
Audience: User, Implementer, Developer Type: Presentation |
Malone Theater |
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| CiviCRM/Drupal Integration Showcase |
Integration between CiviCRM and Drupal is tighter than ever before. New/updated modules are available which open new approaches to design and development for Drupal/CiviCRM developers and implementers. Used in combination with existing Drupal modules, site builders can creating custom, responsive interfaces like never before.
Views in Dashlets... read more
with Mark Hanna |
Audience: Implementer, Developer Type: Workshop |
Bresnan Boardroom |
| CiviCRM Custom Reports 101 |
If you want to create or modify CiviCRM reports to get your data out of the system this workshop will help. The session is oriented towards administrators and programmers who have never modified CiviCRM report files.
We will start with a VERY bare bones report and enhance it step by step. This will slowly build up our knowledge of the report file... read more
with Lola Slade |
Audience: Implementer, Developer, Other Type: Workshop |
Delaplaine Newsroom |
| Taking Personal Campaign Pages to the next level with Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research |
Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research have been in the process of encouraging donors to use their own Fundraising pages over third party sites for some time, launching their offering back in 2013. Over a year later, lessons have been learnt and Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research have realised the need to integrate the process into CiviCRM fully.
This... read more
with Parvez Saleh, Chris Morley |
Audience: User, Implementer Type: Presentation |
Malone Theater |
| I choose CiviCRM, now what? |
Session/Workshop for non-technical Implementor/User.
You or your organization has made the decision to move forward with CiviCRM as the organizations main CRM. Now what do you do? This session will cover high level steps of installing CiviCRM through Importing your data and using CiviCRM daily. The session will use Reach Out and Read Colorado's... read more
with Kate Sneed, KSNEED Consulting, Perry Jowsey, Reach Out and Read CO, Debora Schoen, Reach Out and Read CO |
Audience: User Type: Presentation |
Bresnan Boardroom |
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontend Partial Payments - a Development Framework |
Do you have online users who need to pay for something in irregular installments? Perhaps a contribution or camp registration with multiple kids?
CiviCRM 4.5 introduced the ability for backend users to enter partial payments for events and other financial obligations. BackOffice Thinking has built an extension to provide this capability to front... read more
with Dave Schafer, Anum Goel |
Audience: Implementer, Developer Type: Presentation |
Malone Theater |
| CiviCRM Recurring Events and Activities |
Many organisations deal with recurring events such as courses, weekly clubs/groups and so on. While Civi deals well with one-off events, it can't easily handle recurring events. The core of this feature is the ability to handle more complex events. The overarching term ‘recurring events’ includes several different scenarios:
An event with multiple... read more
with Parvez Saleh |
Audience: User, Implementer Type: Presentation |
Saeman Briefing Room |
| Managing Volunteers in CiviCRM |
Learn how CiviVolunteer builds on existing CiviCRM concepts to facilitate signing up, managing, and tracking volunteers. This session covers the basics of using CiviVolunteer as well as the new features in version 1.4.
Thanks to an incredible outpouring of community support, a generous grant has been made available to the project which will enable... read more
with Frank J. Gómez |
Audience: User, Implementer Type: Presentation |
Bresnan Boardroom |
| CiviCase showcase: dietetary intake followup of a pregnancy |
Discover the CiviCase component and how it can adapt to your organisation. We will show how the Montreal Diet Dispensary tracks the dietetary intake of pregnant women.
The presentation will include:
a quick introduction to CiviCase and its main features
overview of the case workflow and how it translates in CiviCRM terms
how to categories all that... read more
with Mathieu Lutfy |
Audience: User, Implementer, Developer Type: Presentation |
Delaplaine Newsroom |
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning Talks |
Jon Goldberg: In the past few months, I've heard some horror stories from folks who wanted to move to CiviCRM from competing CRMs and their pricing models. In this lightning talk I'll share some of those stories and how they relate to the CiviCRM ecosystem.
Coleman Watts: Coleman will give an overview of the new CiviCRM Stack Exchange site and... read more
with Jon Goldberg, Coleman Watts, Alice Aguilar, Jeremy Proffitt, Parvez Saleh, Nicolas Ganivet, Jessica Kirsner |
Audience: User, Implementer, Developer, Other Type: Lightning Talk |
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| UI For Developers |
This session takes you behind the scenes of some of the great new UI enhancements in recent versions of CiviCRM. We'll take examples from core code and show how you can apply them to spruice up your own extensions. Whether you are used to doing things the "old way" or are completely new to CiviCRM extension development, this session is for you!
We... read more
with Coleman Watts, Tim Otten |
Audience: Developer Type: Workshop |
|
| What you Should Know About Integrating WordPress with CiviCRM |
So you have CiviCRM installed on WordPress. Do you wish they would be more integrated? In this talk we’ll review some great tools to get you up and running code-free!
Integration with Gravity Forms for data collection and maintenance.
Lists and groups syncing for email marketing automation with MailChimp.
User role syncing to allow your contacts... read more
with Nathan Porter |
Audience: Implementer, Other Type: Presentation |
|
| Profiles here, profiles there, profiles everywhere! |
During this session, we will present the different uses of profiles throughout CiviCRM. Profiles can be used internally (e.g., to create simplified data entry screens, display select fields in a search, batch update data ) or externally on public pages (e.g., to collect data, to display data like a member directory, to edit data).
Content outline... read more
with Jane Hanley, Virginie Ganivet |
Audience: User Type: Workshop |
Malone Theater |
| CiviCRM for Joomla: Integration, Best Practices, Extensions, and More |
This session will provide a broad overview of CiviCRM implementations in Joomla. We'll spend the first half of our time discussing the basics of implementation, best practices, and overview of Joomla-specific extensions, and various other considerations for the Joomla environment. The second half of the session will be reserved for open questions... read more
with Brian Shaughnessy, Jeremy Proffitt |
Audience: Implementer, Developer Type: Workshop |
Delaplaine Newsroom |
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| What's new in 4.6 |
The 4.6 release includes lots of exciting new features, as well as a number of less well-known improvements designed to make CiviCRM easier and more fun to use.
We'll cover the "biggies" in detail, and also take time to make sure you're aware of the "hidden gems" in the release.
Topics will include:
Completely redesigned and streamlined CIviMail... read more
with Dave Greenberg, Kurund Jalmi |
Audience: User, Implementer Type: Presentation |
|
| Civi Death Match: Phonebanking vs Event Turnout |
Are you coordinating your team to make calls to invite people to your event?Are you phonebanking with your team to raise money for your organization?
If so, CiviCRM offers several ways to allow your staff to contact your consituents.Whether you have a small team that's calling members to show up at a meeting or alarge team of volunteers ready to... read more
with Tomás Aguilar, Alice Aguilar |
Audience: User, Implementer Type: Presentation |
Saeman Briefing Room |
| Multilingual CiviCRM: what's new for users and developers |
More than 700 people have contributed to translate CiviCRM in 40 languages, making it possible to use CiviCRM in various countries and regions, where the quality of the translation is a key part of the user experience. We will review how to use CiviCRM in other languages and provide an overview of how translation works. We will also explore the... read more
with Mathieu Lutfy |
Audience: User, Implementer, Developer Type: Presentation |
Bresnan Boardroom |
| CiviCRM 5.0 for non Techies |
This session will give attendees with a broad understanding of the CiviCRM 5.0 roadmap (to date). In an extremely lightweight and non-technical manner we'll explore the goals and objectives of the project and the challenges to come. We'll dive into some of the more technical aspects of the project using visuals and a palatable dictionary. Finally... read more
with Tony Mazzarella |
Audience: User, Implementer Type: Presentation |
Delaplaine Newsroom |
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mass De-Duplication using CiviCRM |
Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research have been live with CiviCRM since 2011. Duplicates were an issue with the data brought into CiviCRM and web enabling the database has meant that the problem needs to be resolved in order to ensure accurate reporting of supporter trends.
Initial investigations using core functionality caused the server to fall over... read more
with Parvez Saleh |
Audience: Implementer, Developer Type: Presentation |
Delaplaine Newsroom |
| Training and Hiring for Success |
CiviCRM is awesome but it is not a solution - it is a tool. People capable of using tools effectively are the solution. Learning new technology is one of the most challenging tasks non-profit staff can do. Not everyone is "a natural" but you don't need them to be to use CiviCRM effectively. You do, however, need a plan not only to transition to... read more
with Stuart from CiviTeacher.com |
Audience: User, Implementer Type: Presentation |
Saeman Briefing Room |
| Hosting Options and Performance Improvements |
Learn how to choose from the variety of hosting levels and provider offerings. There is a myriad of options from shared hosting, VPS, managed instances, dedicated servers, and CiviCRM-specific providers. What are the important indicators so that you can choose the most appropriate option? Can you really do more with less? What level of access do... read more
with Peter Petrik |
Audience: Implementer, Developer Type: Presentation |
Bresnan Boardroom |
| CiviCRM at CiviCRM - eating our own dog food |
At CiviCRM we eat our own dog food - we use CiviCRM to run critical parts of our infrastructure, including: our fundraising campaigns; our membership program; our conferences and events; our monthly newsletter and so on. This session will take a look at how we do that. You should come along to:
pick up tips and tricks for your projects based on... read more
with Josh Gowans, Michael McAndrew |
Audience: User, Implementer, Developer Type: Presentation |
Malone Theater |
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| State of the Community |
How are we doing? What are we focused on right now? And where are we headed in the next 12 months and beyond? This session will attempt to answer these questions and more with examples from our community.
with Michael McAndrew |
Audience: User, Implementer, Developer Type: Presentation |
Malone Theater |
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| CiviHR - 2015 progress and roadmap |
The CiviHR project has been running at full steam for the past 6 months, working up to a planned full product launch in late 2015.
Version 1.5 beta will be available soon after CiviCON Denver, where you can get a first hands on with the latest development version. The session will cover a first look at the new features for v1.5 (listed below), a... read more
with jamienovick |
Audience: Implementer, Developer Type: Presentation |
Delaplaine Newsroom |
| Making the Most of Events |
Events are a key aspect to many organizations. Whether a conference, fund raiser or trainings, managing the event registration, reporting and accounting is key. CiviEvent is a powerful tool to handle your organization's event management. This session will cover simple event setup to events requiring complex registration data. Topics covered will... read more
with Bruce Thompson |
Audience: User, Implementer, Developer Type: Presentation |
Bresnan Boardroom |
| Importing Large Datasets |
CiviCRM's built in import functionality can be used with smaller datasets or a limited number of record updates. Need to pre-load a database with tens of thousands of records? This workshop will demonstrate an approach of preparing, loading, and validating large datasets - tens or hundreds of thousands of records. We'll review options of using... read more
with Peter Petrik, Mark Hanna, Jon Goldberg, Nicolas Ganivet |
Audience: Implementer, Developer Type: Discussion Group (BoF) |
Malone Theater |
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Implementing and Developing for WordPress in CiviCRM 4.6 and beyond |
Starting in CiviCRM 4.6 with WordPress the following is now possible:
compatibility with the WordPress actions and filters system
CiviCRM hooks can be used by multiple plugins
Multiple WP Shortcodes per post or page
What does all of this mean? It means we are now headed on a path for feature parity with Drupal.
Join this workshop to... read more
with Kevin Cristiano |
Audience: User, Implementer, Developer Type: Workshop |
Bresnan Boardroom |
| Making the case for CiviCRM |
A deeply informative and facilitated conversation with a panel of 2-3 end-users, who have already deployed CiviCRM, openly sharing the internal conversations and processes they engaged in with their organization to have CiviCRM become and remain the solution.
At the end of this session attendees will have heard some real-life stories and get... read more
with Neil Planchon |
Audience: User, Implementer Type: Workshop |
Malone Theater |
| Better Together: Community resources for marketing CiviCRM |
The marketing team has embarked on a project to provide a kit of resources for staffing a CiviCRM booth at anything from trade shows to community events. The kit includes physical elements like stand-up banners and printed sheets, and it also includes support for producing promotional content yourself.
This session will introduce attendees to... read more
with Andrew Hunt, (possibly others) |
Audience: User, Implementer, Developer, Other Type: Presentation |
Saeman Briefing Room |
| Data Insights and CiviVisualize; Reporting Workshop |
Fully leverage your data by picking up tips and tricks for all of CiviCRM's reporting potential.
In this workshop, bring your CiviCRM login and questions about Civi's reporting features.
We'll cover how to assess your org's reporting needs, using default reports, and understand the possibilities for customization.
Close the loop on your data... read more
with Michael Z Daryabeygi @ginkgoMZD |
Audience: User, Implementer Type: Workshop |
Delaplaine Newsroom |
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| BoF for CiviCRM devops and sysadmins: let's exchange tips, tricks and challenges of hosting CiviCRM |
Group discussion to exchange various strategies used to automate the deployment of new CiviCRM instances, manage upgrades, securing the hosting environment and ensuring good performance.
with Mathieu Lutfy |
Audience: Developer, Other Type: Discussion Group (BoF) |
|
| BoF: Help Shape CiviVolunteer |
We've got the money, now tell us how to spend it!The CiviVolunteer fundraiser was a great success showing the growing community of volunteer organizations using CiviVolunteer.
Some great features have been articulated, but there are more details to iron out.
How are you managing your volunteers? What will make CiviVolunteer fit like a glove?
... read more
with Frank J. Gómez, Michael Daryabeygi |
Audience: User Type: Discussion Group (BoF) |
Delaplaine Newsroom |
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| From zero to success: deploying CiviCRM the right way |
This presentation will focus on the elements necessary for a successful CiviCRM deployment, from planning to launch and beyond.
We will break down the planning, setup, launch and ongoing maintenance phases into major tasks, define each task in detail and share relevant advice and best practices for each. The importance of change management and a... read more
with Nicolas Ganivet |
Audience: User, Implementer Type: Presentation |
Delaplaine Newsroom |
| Hands-on: a membership renewal campaign with CiviCRM |
This workshop will, from a project management perspective, go over the steps needed to create a successful membership renewal campaign with CiviCRM. We will go over defining the campaign, planning, execution, progress monitoring and reporting. We will see how CiviCRM can help in each of these phases and by doing so revisit advanced searches, smart... read more
with Susan Engeman |
Audience: User Type: Workshop |
Saeman Briefing Room |
| Adventures in Payment Processing - 360 view from around the Globe |
This presentation will provide an overview and in depth coverage of our ongoing adventures in writing code for Payment Processors in CiviCRM with views from around the globe! We'll examine the history, talk about things we learned about payment processing in CiviCRM along the way; how we dealt with them (or not!). We’ll present our ideas and... read more
with Eileen, adixon, KarinG |
Audience: Developer Type: Presentation |
Malone Theater |
| Clicktivist, Donor, Volunteer: deepening relationships with supporters |
CiviCRM has built-in tools for managing low-involvement supporters, high-value donors, and active volunteers. Organizations don't often recognize the ways that CiviCRM can help you strengthen relationships with supporters, identify their interests and capacities, and grow them as valuable contributors to your mission.
This workshop will start... read more
with Andrew Hunt |
Audience: User Type: Workshop |
Bresnan Boardroom |
| Session | Description | More info | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make It Pretty: Customize the Appearance of CiviCRM Without Knowing How to Code |
Every organization is different, which is why its important to be able to change the appearance of CiviCRM. Some of these changes require custom development skills, but a lot of changes you might want to make do not.
In this session, you'll learn how to:
Add new items to the CiviCRM Menu
Rearrange menu items
Update contacts' Display Name
Using... read more
with Jane Hanley |
Audience: User Type: Presentation |
Bresnan Boardroom |
| Multi-channel Donor Development with CiviCRM |
CiviCRM and its extensions provide lots of tools and techniques to help in donor development. This session shows how to pull them together in creating a donor development plan and implementing its various initiatives.
Fundraisers like to plan using donor pyramids:
As one moves higher in the pyramid, donation sizes tend to increase and the warmth... read more
with Joe Murray |
Audience: User, Implementer Type: Presentation |
Malone Theater |
| Data Security and Payment Card Fraud Prevention: Don’t Let the Bad Guys Win |
This session will discuss the following points that are asked and effect all non-profits that rely on Credit Card or ACH processing in CiviCRM for Contributions, Events or Memberships:
· Storing/Managing card data: general overview of PCI requirements
· Advantage of tokenizing card data
· Types of credit card fraud... read more
with Stephen Bestbier |
Audience: User, Implementer Type: Presentation |
Delaplaine Newsroom |
| Forena Reports: Complementing CiviReport with a Business Intelligence report system |
CiviReport is great - it does a huge number of complex reports, has a lot of configuration options and is tightly integrated with CiviCRM. But every organization or client seems to have a particular reporting need - and we turn to using Views, Jasper (or other BI software) or writing custom reports in CiviCRM. If PHP isn't your thing but MySQL... read more
with Eliot Mason |
Audience: Implementer, Developer Type: Presentation |
Saeman Briefing Room |
