I've been a little reluctant to go to camps if I'm being honest. They always gave off a "coders only!" kind of vibe, and not being a codemonkey myself, I was afraid of feeling useless or left out. This year I was lucky enough not only to attend this event, but to speak at it (I'd like to give very big thank you to the sponsors of Drupalcamp Stockholm and to Commerce Guys for making my trip to Stockholm possible!).
This camp was in a word: Awesome. They sold out, and for good reason! Here are my top 5 reasons for why this camp really rocked it:
1) The sessions weren't just about coding
It's hard to strike the right balance at a camp. Many of the attendees are looking for technical content, but that's not all they need to become well-rounded and successful site producers. This camp's organizers clearly value more than just development, and there were many sessions to accommodate the "rest" of us. Sessions about theming, migration, buying/selling Drupal and project management responded to the many facets of this vast community's needs!
2) They focused on community building
These camps are great community builders in general and from the very start with the keynote, this camp really set the tone: community is key! The session "It's not their drupal, it's our drupal" really hit the nail on the head: "we", the community, own this product! It's up to us to make it great. And it wasn't all talk either, Wunderkraut provided a great space for sprinting the next day, and this supported the whole camp's desire to give back with a way to do it :) Way to walk the walk!
3) They recognized our competition
Drupal is not the only CMS out there, and as a group we need to learn to get outside of our bubble! This camp provided a way to foster that conversation and keep the community looking to its competitors to compare and contrast our own solutions. I was glad to hear this discussion happening because we can learn things from taking a closer look at wordpress, typo3, and proprietary solutions. Too often we are happy to talk about the joys of Drupal, why our platform is the greatest and why we'll remain so. I for one, am really pleased to see us expanding our vision to what could be, and not just what is.
4) They talked about the future
The camp provided a platform to discuss Drupal 8 and what it means during the panel session. The audience provided a lot of questions to feed this conversation like, "is it going to be hard to learn?" and "what makes this version different?" -- important questions to answer and discuss from the perspectives of site builders, front-enders, coders, etc. We need to prepare for the next version, and find ways to learn more/better/faster if we are to keep growing this community and improving our toolset.
5) Great organizers & organization
From the venue, to content, to food, to, eh-hem *KITTEN KILLERS CONCERT*… this day was fantastically organized! The location was practical, the food was delicious and easily accessible (no 2hr lines here!). The content was varied and valuable, and speakers were full of passion. They opted for better food instead of paying for beer, which I think was a smart move because a) not everyone drinks!, b) everyone eats and c) beers are cheap, we can buy our own. The Kitten Killers really brought down the house and gave our after party a very fun vibe in a modern/comfortable venue. Also +1 to having english content so that the audience could be opened up to neighboring countries! Bravo!
Not only was this a great event for learning, but also for networking. Many of the top shops and minds were in attendance, and I really enjoyed talking with, and learning from you all. I heard from many first-timers that it was well worth the trip and that they would be back next year, and I have to say that I'd love to join them!
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