Drupal Community Summit DrupalCon Atlanta 2025
A presentation at DrupalCon in in Atlanta, GA, USA by John Picozzi
Community Summit DrupalCon Atlanta 2025
Welcome to the Community Summit Todays Agenda ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 9am - 9:30am - Welcome 9:30am - 10:00am - New to Drupal Initiative 10:00am - 10:15am - Break 10:15am- 11:15am - Event Organizers Ask Me Anything 11:15pm- 12:00pm - Lightning Talks ■ IXP Fellowship with Carlos Ospina ■ Event Platform with Martin Anderson Clutz ■ Member Platform with JD Leonard ■ Drupal Open University with Lenny Moskalyk 12:00pm- 1:00pm - Lunch 1:15pm- 2:15pm - Fireside Chat with DA CEO Tim Doyle 2:15pm- 2:30pm - Break 2:30pm - 3:15pm - Everyone’s voice matters: Empower Stakeholders with Sociocracy 3:15pm- 4:00pm - Round Table Discussions
Drupal Slack - Ask Questions ● Drupal Slack Channel: ○ #community-summit ● Post Questions for… ○ Drupal Event Organizers AMA - Start with “AMA Question:” ○ Fireside Chat with Tim Doyle - Start with “Fireside Chat Question:” ● Post Roundtable Topics ○ Start with “RoundTable Topic:” ○ Feel free to upvote topics with emojis!!
Ice Breaker Bingo Scan the QR code or visit this link to play bingo: https://bingobaker.com#67dc6de764f12a86 Go make some friends that might describe themselves with the words on your bingo card. Only mark one box per person per round of bingo.
New to Drupal Initiative
New Community Members 1. 2. 3. 4. Lean on our Local Drupal Communities (Camps, User Groups, etc.) Connect attendees to their Local Drupal Community Elevate Local Drupal Community leaders (Ambassadors) Celebrate each community’s uniqueness Result: 20 communities, 31 ambassadors volunteered
Network with Fellow Attendees: DrupalCon is an excellent opportunity to meet others in the community. Use the event to introduce yourself, exchange ideas, and build lasting relationships. The easiest way to do that is find your local Drupal community in the New Member + Local Drupal Community Meeting Space. The best times to meetup are: ● Monday evening: Right before the welcome reception and walk over together ● Tuesday morning: Before the first sessions and keynote to plan for the day ● Tuesday afternoon: Right before lunch to sit and eat together ● Tuesday + Wednesday evening: Right before each social activity to travel together
Let’s Take a Break!
Event Organizers Ask Me Anything (AMA)
Mike Richardson (richo_au) April Sides (weekbeforenext) Principal Software Engineer - Red Hat Organizer Drupal Camp Asheville Avi Schwab (froboy) Technical Product Consultant - ImageX Secretary - Midwest Open Source Alliance (MOSA) Former MidCamp Organizer Joi Garrett (joigarrett) Programs Manager - Drupal Association Community Summit Organizer Managing Director - Ironstar Event Organizers Working Group DrupalCon APAC Organizer Kaleem Clarkson (kclarkson) Chief Operating Officer - Blend Me Former Drupal Camp Atlanta Organizer
What are you most looking forward to at this year’s DrupalCon? Question 1 “ “
How many DrupalCons have you attended? Any tips for first timers? Question 2 “ “
How does DrupalCon compare to other events you have attended? Question 3 “ “
“ Question 5 “ Recently Mike Anello took to social media commenting on the lack of beginner sessions at Drupal events. Do you agree we should have more sessions for beginners at Drupal events?
Let’s take some audience / Slack questions Ask a Question “ “
What’s your favorite food? Lightning Round “ “
“ “ What’s your favorite Drupal module? Lightning Round
What was your favorite DrupalCon location? Lightning Round “ “
What is your favorite Drupal event? Lightning Round “ “
Why are Drupal events so important to the future of Drupal? Last Question “ “
Lightning Talks
Ripple Makers with The Drupal Association
Ripple Makers with The Drupal Association Ripple Makers is a community of passionate individuals committed to supporting the Drupal Association’s mission of driving innovation and adoption of Drupal as a high-impact digital public good by making recurring financial contributions. The goal of Ripple Makers is to foster a sustainable ecosystem for Drupal by harnessing the collective generosity and commitment of our supporters, thereby empowering the Drupal Association to continue its vital work in advancing our common goals, and to facilitate interactive communication to, from, and within the Drupal community.
Ripple Makers with The Drupal Association ● Engineering ○ Gitlab migration ○ Server availability ○ Security ○ Issue queue management ● Advocacy ○ Open Web Manifesto ○ Digital Public Good registry ○ Cyber Resiliency Act advocacy in Europe ○ Open Website Alliance ● DrupalCon ○ Scholarships ○ Ripple Makers Roundtable ○ Ripple Makers Networking ● Engagement ○ Social media ○ Events site ○ Local Associations initiative ● And so much more! ○ Stay in touch with our Ripple Makers newsletter
Ripple Makers with The Drupal Association
Ripple Makers with The Drupal Association Scan to become a Ripple Maker! www.drupal.org/association/RippleMakers
Carlos Ospina The IXP Program “ “ Not just an initiative anymore!
The problem & our solution The Problem Our Solution: IXP ● Entry-level Drupal jobs require experience ● New talent can’t break in ● Companies train people who get hired away ● ● ● ● Companies hire inexperienced developers Provide mentorship (1 hour per 10 worked) Organizations earn 250 contribution credits Newcomers get real paid experience
How It Actually Works For companies: Post on jobs.drupal.org/ixp-developer-hub For developers: Apply for IXP-specific positions ● Both track progress on https://drupal-ixp.site ● Minimum 160 hours paid work ● Blog post + 3 contributions required
And now …. Current Status Building Our Future ● Job board live ● Management system functioning ● Now seeking participants ● For companies: Trained talent and contribution recognition ● For developers: Career path into Drupal ● For our community: Pipeline of new contributors ● Sustainable talent ecosystem for everyone ● Breaking the experience barrier together
Call to Action Hire an IXP at your organization Apply if you’re new to Drupal Visit drupal.org/ixp Find me after this session
Event Platform with Martin Anderson-Clutz What is the Event Platform? ● A set of modules that simplify the website setup for a Drupalcamp (or similar event) Content Architecture Includes ● Sessions and BOFs ● Sponsors ● Job Listings ● Featured Speakers Functional Enhancements ● Generate Time Slots ● Drag-and-Drop Scheduler ● Rate Sessions (new!) ● Bulk Moderate Sessions (new!)
2.0 Event Platform with Martin Anderson-Clutz Version Multi-Event (e.g. Annual) Architecture (NEW!) ● Preserve content from previous years ● Set up new event in seconds Starter Theme (NEW!) ● Based on FLDC Theme Template on Drupal Forge (NEW!) ● Create a site in seconds Convert to Recipes (Coming Soon) ● More flexible ● Site starter recipe ● More robust starting point bernardm28 🦾
Member Platform with JD Leonard Mission: To leverage Drupal to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of membership organizations globally, especially those with low technical or financial resources, so that they can positively impact their communities and to build an open and welcoming community of individuals united in their passion for serving membership organizations through Drupal. Vision: To provide a Drupal-native ecosystem of secure, privacy-enhancing, integrated, beautiful, and user-friendly tools that initially can meet many of the operational needs of at least 80% of membership organizations globally that have zero to five staff members (including all-volunteer organizations).
Member Platform with JD Leonard 1.0 (MVP) Scope: ● Initially targeting Drupal User Groups / local associations ● “Meetup.com light for a single group” ● Join group, RSVP for events, member directory ● Email group members (based on RSVP status) ● Localization into at least one non-English language Calls to Action: ● Join #member-platform on Drupal Slack ● Declare how you will contribute [#3508389] ● Declare your user group / meetup’s interest in being an early adopter [#3514527] ● Attend “If you Give a Member Platform a Cookie” Tuesday 4:10pm in Hanover C (LL2) ● Contribution Day + Thursday BoFs
Drupal Open University with Lenny Moskalyk The Drupal Open University initiative is a community-driven project focused on bringing Drupal into the academic world. Our mission is to introduce students to the power of Drupal and foster the next generation of Drupal developers. Challenges: ● We need new talent for Drupal ● PHP is overlooked by students, teachers and Universities ● Open Source is pushed by Governments ● We need attention and love from outside of our Drupal Community ● There are people already teaching Drupal at Universities ● Drupal is at a crossroads with Drupal CMS: huge opportunity and momentum is building
Let’s Eat!
Fireside Chat with Drupal Association CEO Tim Doyle
“ Question 1 “ For folks that might be new in the crowd, can you give us a high level overview of what the Drupal Association does?
“ Question 2 “ What is your message for first time DrupalCon attendees or folks who are new to Drupal?
What is your favorite part of DrupalCon? Question 3 “ “
“ Question 4 “ What do you feel is the most important DA initiative happening right now?
Question 5 “ “ How is the Drupal association working to ensure the future of Drupal?
“ Question 6 “ Can you explain why the Drupal Community is better positioned to avoid issues, such as the current problems within the WordPress community?
Let’s take some audience / Slack questions Ask a Question “ “
What’s your favorite color? Lightning Round “ “
What’s your favorite food? Lightning Round “ “
“ “ What’s your favorite Drupal module? Lightning Round
What was your favorite DrupalCon location? Lightning Round “ “
Where is next years DrupalCon NA? Trick Question “ “
What message or feeling do you hope that attendees leave this year’s DrupalCon with? Last Question “ “
Let’s Take a Break!
Everyone’s Voice Matters Empower Stakeholders with Sociocracy
Roundtable Discussions
Roundtable Topics ● Event Platform - Martin ● Midwest Open Source Alliance (MOSA) / Event Support - Avi ● A11y Talks / Accessibility - April ● Non Code Contribution - John ● Member Platform - JD
“ Margaret Mead “ Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
These slides are from the Drupal Community Summit at DrupalCon Atlanta in 2025. The Drupal Community summit is a dedicated space for Drupal community members to connect, collaborate, and share insights on strengthening our ecosystem. This summit provides an inclusive environment for discussing challenges, exchanging ideas, and exploring strategies to grow and sustain both local and global Drupal communities.
Drupal thrives on collaboration, and this summit offers a unique opportunity to contribute, learn, and help shape the future of our vibrant ecosystem. Whether you’re a seasoned contributor or new to the Drupal community, you’ll leave with actionable insights, new connections, and inspiration to drive community initiatives forward. More details at DrupalCon Community Summit.
Resources
The following resources were mentioned during the presentation or are useful additional information.
