Looking back at 20 years of open source creation with Drupal—and my hopes for the project's bright future.
Our co-founder Suzanne Dergacheva looks back on two years volunteering on the Drupal Association Board of Directors (and shares why you should consider running for a seat).
I think we'll be talking about this DrupalCon in the same way for years to come. With an asterisk. Not because it was a failure (it certainly wasn't — it was a huge success), but because it will influence future DrupalCons.
Originally from Winnipeg, MB, I moved to Fredericton, NB before beginning high school. I’ve always had interests in a variety of areas. I have a background as a musician, experience with content creation and design, and a fascination with computers. I was interested in learning more about web development, and working with an experienced agency seemed like an ideal way to gain those valuable skills.
A few weeks ago, we launched our Scholarship program to give organizations in need due to the COVID-19 crisis access to free training. Our goal is to help scholarship recipients build a solid technical foundation and the skills they need to build a solid future. So far, we've had a tremendous response and have been able to give away dozens of scholarships to our upcoming courses.
Today, we'd like to honour Princeton mathematician John Conway, who passed away from COVID-19 at 82 years old. He made impressive contributions in various areas of mathematics but is most widely known for his invention of Conway's Game of Life, a cellular automaton in which simple rules give rise to surprisingly complex behaviours.
Last year, I created a presentation for DrupalCamp Atlanta called "Growing the Drupal Community". Since then, it's been my hallway track conversation of choice, and everyone I talk to seems onboard with the goal of growing Drupal. As part of my role on the Drupal Association board, I'm chairing the Community & Governance Committee. We've been having lots of conversations about facilitating community growth, and I wanted to share some of what I've been thinking.
Evolving Web attended Acquia Engage in New Orleans last week, an exciting and informative three-day conference where we learned a lot about how different companies are thriving in an evolving digital landscape. We were also sponsors of the event and presented a session on how to create more effective personalization by combining UX research and a strong content strategy. Aside from the fact that New Orleans has great food, music, and people, here are other takeaways from our time in the Big Easy.
There’s never been a better time to be a Drupal user in Canada.
Since I started using Drupal in 2008, I’ve seen anecdotal evidence that Drupal is popular in Canada. Since 2006, and probably earlier, there have been active users groups in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, that organize regular conferences and meetups. These local groups are key to the Drupal community’s culture of open source and knowledge sharing. So I wasn’t surprised to learn that Canada is fourth in the world in terms of active users on Drupal.org (behind the US, Great Britain, and India).
As you probably know, voting is currently open for the Drupal Association’s Board of Directors. The Board of Directors plays an important role in developing the Association’s strategic direction, and voting for the Board of Directors is an opportunity for members of the Drupal community to participate in shaping the Association’s future.
