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.

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.

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!

Back in April, after DrupalCon San Francisco, Kieran Lal wrote a post for this blog with some ideas for how to effectively grow DrupalCons without losing our soul as a community. One of the key items he focused on was improving session quality. As Kieran put it,

"In order to grow Drupalcon, we need to focus on the quality of the main program. Drupal sessions are still wildly hit or miss, both in session quality and session attendance. As a community, we need to take a hard look in the mirror and raise consistency and quality of every Drupalcon session."

These thoughts have been echoed by many other folks within the community, including Mike Anello, Heather James, and Larry Garfield.

As one of the co-chairs of the upcoming DrupalCon Chicago 2011 and a permanent member of the Drupal Association, I’m writing this follow-up post to talk a little bit more about the things that we’re doing that will hopefully help improve session quality, provide more support to DrupalCon presenters, increase attendee satisfaction, and make for an overall better DrupalCon experience for long-time members of the community and newcomers alike.

But first, a little background:
Back in April, after DrupalCon San Francisco, Kieran Lal wrote a post for this blog with some ideas for how to effectively grow DrupalCons without losing our soul as a community. One of the key items he focused on was improving session quality. As Kieran put it,

"In order to grow Drupalcon, we need to focus on the quality of the main program. Drupal sessions are still wildly hit or miss, both in session quality and session attendance. As a community, we need to take a hard look in the mirror and raise consistency and quality of every Drupalcon session."

These thoughts have been echoed by many other folks within the community, including Mike Anello, Heather James, and Larry Garfield.

As one of the co-chairs of the upcoming DrupalCon Chicago 2011 and a permanent member of the Drupal Association, I’m writing this follow-up post to talk a little bit more about the things that we’re doing that will hopefully help improve session quality, provide more support to DrupalCon presenters, increase attendee satisfaction, and make for an overall better DrupalCon experience for long-time members of the community and newcomers alike.

But first, a little background: