Blogs

Some of you may have noticed it, but most probably have not:

the old DrupalCon sites that are still running Drupal are not accessible at the moment, they are locked by a htaccess script.

This is an unfortunate development, but in the end I didn't have any choice but to do this.

The reason for this is quite simple: the sites are unmaintained. With the associated DrupalCon, the various webteams dispersed and software updates weren't done anymore.

This means that the sites are insecure. And since they run on the same webservers as the main drupal.org site and all subsites as well as current DrupalCon sites, I had to act.
I should have acted much earlier. It is unfortunate that this caused troubles for some people who linked to the sites. But you can't really expect such a temporary site to be around forever.

Now, you can think that I should maintain the sites myself. But quite frankly I don't have the time for this.

What should happen now?

The days before the Drupal 7 release were a scramble to organize a PR effort, including a new landing page and changes to the home page. Both are custom pages rendered by the drupalorg module, Drupal.org’s site-specific module. Site-specific modules need sites to work, and we were ready with infrastructure built during the Drupal.org redesign.
The days before the Drupal 7 release were a scramble to organize a PR effort, including a new landing page and changes to the home page. Both are custom pages rendered by the drupalorg module, Drupal.org’s site-specific module. Site-specific modules need sites to work, and we were ready with infrastructure built during the Drupal.org redesign.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

You are all invited to the Drupal Association's second Town Hall meeting!

The Drupal community is one of the strongest open source communities, involving tens of thousands of developers, themers, administrators, and users connecting with each other every day. In 2006, the Drupal Association was formed by a few community volunteers to support the Drupal community. Now in 2011 the Drupal Association is growing extremely fast and we have a lot of exciting events happening.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

You are all invited to the Drupal Association's second Town Hall meeting!

The Drupal Association is constantly looking for ways to make Drupal.org more useful for the community. Currently we are working on a Drupal Marketplace which will allow Drupal Service providers to publish listings and categorize them.

The Drupal Association is constantly looking for ways to make Drupal.org more useful for the community. Currently we are working on a Drupal Marketplace which will allow Drupal Service providers to publish listings and categorize them.

We are proud to announce the latest additions to the DrupalCon staff; Neil Kent and Megan Sanicki. Neil and Megan come to us with strong backgrounds in event management and fundraising. Their expertise and skill set will help bring the Drupal Association and DrupalCon to the next level in our development. As Drupal grows, the Drupal Association fosters and supports that growth through events like DrupalCon and other projects for the Drupal community and industry.

With the Drupal.org redesign launched, I’ve heard many ask, “what’s next?” We always do regular, incremental improvements through the infrastructure and webmasters projects. This will continue, with the new design as a foundation and deployment workflow improved by the redesign project.

Keen observers may have noted various signs since the last Drupal Association elections that the organization is growing up.

Maybe the earliest hint came right after the elections to the General Assembly. The announcement of the election results was written and posted by George DeMet, who was himself one of those elected just one day earlier.

If the early Association leaned on an existing inner circle, change was afoot.

Keen observers may have noted various signs since the last Drupal Association elections that the organization is growing up.

It's been very busy the last few months at the Drupal Association; so busy in fact, that we haven't had time to tell the community about everything that's been happening!  Here's what's been going on since our last update back in May:

• The Drupal.org redesign and Git migration effort has accelerated dramatically with the addition of several paid contractors to supplement the ongoing volunteer effort. You can view the latest version at beta.drupal.org, and we're looking for members of the community to help us provide quality assurance to ensure a successful launch! This effort is being funded and supported by the Drupal Association.
• DrupalCon, Inc., the United States-based not-for-profit organization that partners with the Drupal Association and other non-profits to organize and promote events that help educate people about Drupal, recently received its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. DrupalCon, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is the organization that's been responsible for DrupalCons in Washington D.C., San Francisco, as well as the upcoming DrupalCon Chicago and other events. With its new status, DrupalCon, Inc. will be better able to serve the Drupal community by providing fiscal agency and insurance for DrupalCamps and other local events as well as insurance benefits for its employees.
• This summer, DrupalCon, Inc. provided fiscal agency for DrupalCamps in Chicago, Colorado, New York City, and Connecticut. Support was also provided for Drupal promotion efforts at OSCON 2010, which was held in July in Portland, Oregon.
• The Drupal Association provided support for a survey of DrupalCamps around the world. This survey was intended to help the Association better understand the challenges faced by camp organizers and figure out the most effective ways it can help support and foster local efforts in different parts of the world.
• The Association is in the process of expanding its paid staff with new hires who will help provide support for DrupalCon event management as well as sales and sponsorship coordination.  Open positions can be viewed at association.drupal.org/jobs
• The Association provided logistical support and funded scholarships for DrupalCon Copenhagen, held at the end of August.  DrupalCon Copenhagen attracted over 1,200 Drupal enthusiasts from around the world.
• Growing Venture Solutions (GVS) has been hired to build a new Drupal-based platform that will integrate the best features of past DrupalCon sites and serve as the base for future sites. Regional organizing teams will continue to be responsible for design, theme, and content of individual DrupalCon sites. This platform will be rolled out in the coming weeks for DrupalCon Chicago.
• A revised draft of the Drupal Association's mission statement was released to the community following DrupalCon Copenhagen. This mission statement, which had not been formally defined since the founding of the Association in 2006, helps describe why the organization exists and the different ways in which it supports the Drupal project and its community.
• And finally, the first-ever Drupal Association Town Hall meeting will be held on Friday October 22nd.  This event, which is being held via WebEx and IRC, will give the community the opportunity to find out more about what it is the Association does and how you can help be a part!

As always, we welcome any questions, comments or other feedback you have to offer.  Please post in the comments below, or contact us!
It's been very busy the last few months at the Drupal Association; so busy in fact, that we haven't had time to tell the community about everything that's been happening!  Here's what's been going on since our last update back in May:

• The Drupal.org redesign and Git migration effort has accelerated dramatically with the addition of several paid contractors to supplement the ongoing volunteer effort. You can view the latest version at beta.drupal.org, and we're looking for members of the community to help us provide quality assurance to ensure a successful launch! This effort is being funded and supported by the Drupal Association.
• DrupalCon, Inc., the United States-based not-for-profit organization that partners with the Drupal Association and other non-profits to organize and promote events that help educate people about Drupal, recently received its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. DrupalCon, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is the organization that's been responsible for DrupalCons in Washington D.C., San Francisco, as well as the upcoming DrupalCon Chicago and other events. With its new status, DrupalCon, Inc. will be better able to serve the Drupal community by providing fiscal agency and insurance for DrupalCamps and other local events as well as insurance benefits for its employees.
• This summer, DrupalCon, Inc. provided fiscal agency for DrupalCamps in Chicago, Colorado, New York City, and Connecticut. Support was also provided for Drupal promotion efforts at OSCON 2010, which was held in July in Portland, Oregon.
• The Drupal Association provided support for a survey of DrupalCamps around the world. This survey was intended to help the Association better understand the challenges faced by camp organizers and figure out the most effective ways it can help support and foster local efforts in different parts of the world.
• The Association is in the process of expanding its paid staff with new hires who will help provide support for DrupalCon event management as well as sales and sponsorship coordination.  Open positions can be viewed at association.drupal.org/jobs
• The Association provided logistical support and funded scholarships for DrupalCon Copenhagen, held at the end of August.  DrupalCon Copenhagen attracted over 1,200 Drupal enthusiasts from around the world.
• Growing Venture Solutions (GVS) has been hired to build a new Drupal-based platform that will integrate the best features of past DrupalCon sites and serve as the base for future sites. Regional organizing teams will continue to be responsible for design, theme, and content of individual DrupalCon sites. This platform will be rolled out in the coming weeks for DrupalCon Chicago.
• A revised draft of the Drupal Association's mission statement was released to the community following DrupalCon Copenhagen. This mission statement, which had not been formally defined since the founding of the Association in 2006, helps describe why the organization exists and the different ways in which it supports the Drupal project and its community.
• And finally, the first-ever Drupal Association Town Hall meeting will be held on Friday October 22nd.  This event, which is being held via WebEx and IRC, will give the community the opportunity to find out more about what it is the Association does and how you can help be a part!

As always, we welcome any questions, comments or other feedback you have to offer.  Please post in the comments below, or contact us!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

You are all invited to the Drupal Association's first Town Hall meeting!

The Drupal community is one of the strongest open source communities, involving tens of thousands of developers, themers, administrators, and users connecting with each other every day. In 2006, the Drupal Association was formed by a few community volunteers to support the Drupal community. In mid-2010 I became the Association's first full-time employee and by the end of this year the Association will have three full-time employees. We are growing rapidly and there is quite a lot happening behind the scenes here. Curious what we are up to? Want to learn more? Come join us!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

You are all invited to the Drupal Association's first Town Hall meeting!

The Drupal community is one of the strongest open source communities, involving tens of thousands of developers, themers, administrators, and users connecting with each other every day. In 2006, the Drupal Association was formed by a few community volunteers to support the Drupal community. In mid-2010 I became the Association's first full-time employee and by the end of this year the Association will have three full-time employees. We are growing rapidly and there is quite a lot happening behind the scenes here. Curious what we are up to? Want to learn more? Come join us!