Flickr photo: AlborathI can't begin to tell you what a joy these last two days in Sydney have been. My first DrupalCon was a whirlwind of acronyms and goodwill and I couldn't have had a better time, or packed my head with more Drupal knowledge. One of the most impressive parts of the conference has been how welcoming each and every individual is. Drupal community members have welcomed new initiates into the fold, creating an amazing spirit of "can-do" and collaboration.

Collaboration was the main theme of our day two keynote with Senator Kate Lundy. The Senator made a lot of fans right off the bat by sharing that Drupal is widely respected and used in the Australian government, and that she sees the values of the Drupal community and the Project as key to the future. Namely, the collaboration required across such a diverse communtiy to produce Drupal is the same that's required to fuel any innovation. It's no wonder then that Drupal powers so many innovative sites.

I think that one of the other reasons we are so fortunate in this community is the sheer amount of creativity. I'm struck by the number of artists and musicians turned themers and developers. The mixing of these genres was everywhere, including one of the few sessions I got to attend, Information Architecture for Site Builders. Murray Woodman gave a great talk that mixed philosophy, code, and the Kardashians. Thanks to Murray, Kim, and Khloe, I now understand N-ary relationships. 

It's also clear that this community loves to give back. Over 25% of the DrupalCon Sydney attendees showed up for the Core Code Sprint. Over 77 new contributors joined Flicker photo: AlborathZenDoodles and a team of local mentors to learn about getting involved, and over 100 contributors showed up for the D8 initiative sprint. Working in Web Services, Mobile, Blocks + Layouts, Configuration Management, and Twig, 3 new contributors got their first core patch reviewed and committed live on stage: claudinec, chrischinchilla, and jlscott! Many thanks to Andrea, Jess, Addie and Kim for organizing such a productive and inclusive sprint.

What else did I learn?

  • Trivia is a blood sport in the Drupal community. I thought Aussie rules football was tough, but it's got nothing on webchick (captain of team Four_Newbies_and_ a_Core_ Contributor). Thank you to our esteemed emcee eaton and his judicious assistant, John Albin for keeping the competition clean.

  • Faceted classification allows you to assign multiple characteristics to an object.

  • We drink a lot of coffee. More than a liter per day per person. For realz.

  • It is REALLY difficult to find user profiles on D.O. I hope I memorize your usernames soon. :)

You may also have noticed that this post is a lot shorter than my Day 1 post. That's because the last thing I learned is this: pace yourself at DrupalCon. It's the most exhuasting, exhilirating, ride I've been on. Thanks everyone! <begin nap>

Comments

Anonymous’s picture

Great to see you getting into the spirit of things and thanks for posting these updates - regular communication is so important, fab to see it finally beginning to happen!

holly.ross.drupal’s picture

Thanks Steve! It's easy to get in the spirit with such a ridiculously awesome group of people. Also, the beach. I'm not gonna lie. That helped a lot.

toddatkins’s picture

This looks very fun.  Wish I could have attended.

dennistin’s picture

By reading your post above, it seems you had a wonderful time over there learning new and creative things. Above community members look very lively as well as creative too. I would have loved to be part of such a fantastic community.

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