CiviCRM Developers Gather at ADG

By Kathleen Van De Loo

Last week, the Association Development Group, Inc. hosted the CiviCRM Usability, Test and Code Sprint. Thirteen CiviCRM programmers from around the world met in ADG's training center for a full day of face-to-face CiviCRM development.

CiviCRM is the constituent relationship management solution used by many state, national and international organizations, including the New York State Senate. Put simply, it is a contact database that allows organizations to track membership, dues records and event registrations, and send email blasts, targeted emails, as well as e-newsletters.

CiviCRM is an open source software system, which means it is developed by a collaborative team of some the world's best programmers. Code sprints allow these programmers an intense few days of in-person, targeted programming to add new features, improve usability, and patch bugs. It is a fascinating process, and a new way of doing business for those of us used to a more traditional work setting. ADG provided a comfortable space, great food, and as much coffee as needed as the developers worked late into the night.

ADG's database development team creates CiviCRM databases for our clients because it provides a full-featured constituent database without the high cost and complexity of other alternatives. By maintaining close ties with the CiviCRM community, we have the opportunity to shape the evolution of the software for the small professional trade association with big database needs and limited budgets. New features are continually being added, including some ADG has requested on behalf of the professional trade association industry. Our relationship with CiviCRM allows ADG to provide cutting-edge services, while supporting the people who build our software.