DrupalCon Paris snapshot from website.
The ever-evolving "Birds-of-a-Feather" session announcement board at DrupalCon DC.
Having attended DrupalCon in Washington D.C. last March, I envy those who are about to board flights for Paris for the September 1st start of DrupalCon Paris. There were over 1400 attendees from all over the United States & world in D.C. I can only imagine what this conference feels like on an international scale.
I was wondering what it was that so impressed me about DrupalCon. I've been to many conferences, but couldn't bring one of them to mind quickly, except for this one. There were the usual multitude of sessions on every topic imaginable, but that is pretty typical. I think I learned more in 3 days there than in 6 months sitting back in my own office!
The difference seemed to be a sense of shared effort and the commeraderie that comes from finding ways to not just "take it in", but to give something back. There was the sense of groundswell in an effort that could burst open the doors of sharing information online, and feeling a part of that beginning. And, there was an enthusiasm level in the participants so above and beyond, that they don't just stick to what is on the preplanned agenda, but form spontaneous "side meetings" with others, on topics of mutual interest. The image, lower left, shows an ever-changing lineup of these breakout meetings which they call "Birds of a Feather" sessions.
Last March, I was fairly new to Drupal as a development platform, though I am a senior web developer with years of experience. The company I worked for had just selected Drupal as our content management system 6 months earlier, and I was getting up-to-speed technically. I am now beginning to find my own Drupal groups to contribute to, mainly concerned with interface design, user experience design and such.
So, I am already planning on attending the next U.S. DrupalCon, I believe currently proposed for March 2010 in San Francisco (but stay tuned). Hope to see even more people passionate about great design, open-source development via Drupal, and what can be accomplished if we work together!
