Koen Van Crombrugge
Drupal Developer
From September 19 to 23, I stayed in Prague with some colleagues where I attended an international Drupal conference for the first time. In this article I take you through my personal highlights.
My first DrupalCon experience in Prague
Drupalcon feels like coming home
Monday our flight was scheduled. After an hour of flying, we arrived. As the evening progressed, we headed toward the city center and I met some people from the Drupal community. The collegial and warm atmosphere among Drupalists immediately made me feel at home in Prague.
From my first evening, I especially remember this life-important quote.🍺 👉🏻
A diverse and open Drupal community
The following day, the conference started with an official opening ceremony. Just like during New Year's, the countdown flashed and at zero everyone went wild. This was followed by the first keynote: the Drupal Core initiatives. These initiatives are teams working on innovative projects to take Drupal to the next level. My favorite talk took place later in the day and was about a data analysis of the Drupal.org issue queue. The presentation gave a great picture of the diversity and openness of the community.
On every Drupalist's bucket list: Driesnote
On Wednesday, the Driesnote was scheduled. During this keynote, the Drupal founder shared Drupal's long-term vision. A must for any Drupalist. One of the important topics Dries addressed was how to better promote Drupal: everyone needs to see how powerful Drupal is and what you can all use it for.
Building Google like search experiences without busting the bank
On Thursday, my colleagues Steven and Joris successfully presented "Building Google like search experiences without busting the bank." To end the day, we all went to Trivia Night, the closing Drupal quiz. We didn't achieve first place but our enthusiasm led to us all getting a free drink from the judges.
The week flew by. Suddenly it was Friday morning and our return flight was scheduled. It was a successful week. As a Drupal enthusiast, I highly recommend attending a DrupalCon. Be inspired, discover the status and future plans of the software, connect with others and get to know a piece of international culture.
