Do we need a Drupal UK Society? Notes/Minutes

Do we need a Drupal UK Society? Notes/Minutes

Venue: DrupalCon Munich

Agenda:

• What is being proposed?
• Why do we need a local body Drupal Association?
• Committee, constitution and logistics

Present:

Adam Hill, Russell Blakeborough, Hedley Smith, Steve Jones,  Meike Walcha, StevePurkiss (1st part), Micheal Lenahan, Vamory Traore, Rob Castelo (2nd part), Peter Brownell, Leon Tong. (Apologies to those whose names I have omitted - see point (1) below). 

The following are notes from the Drupal UK Society BoF in DrupalCon Munich for those who were unable to attend. Many points of view were raised in the 90 or so minutes that we met and this post should narrow the focus on which questions need to be answered in order to move forward. Thanks to everyone who came along!

Part 1

1) The meeting started with a request by me for everyone to introduce themselves. In typical democratic, UK fashion this was voted against given that we only had 15 minutes. 

2) So the (semi) anonymous discussion started with Steve (Purkiss) outlining a lot of the work the Drupal Association already does that a UK Drupal Association would not need to replicate.

3) Peter questioned whether something as formal as a UK Drupal association was even needed. Would this be a layer of bureaucracy that would not add any value? What do people want an Association for? 

4) The remainder of the quarter of an hour therefore centred on Peter's second question. The following answers were offered. An Association would be needed as: 

• an independent representation of all UK Drupal companies/freelancers, not dominated by one company or those with the biggest budget; 
• a structure to reduce risk or personal liability; 
• a framework to support UK Drupal events;

Adam pointed out that Scotland already have an existing Drupal Association. How would a UK Association fit with this? 

5) At this point our 15 minutes were up and we were inundated with people who had come for the marketing BoF. Micheal attempted to organise a vote - but the general consensus was that we had nothing to vote about yet - apart from where we should adjourn to next. 

Part 2 

6) We continued the discussion in the Hotel Bar/Restaurant having lost Steve Purkiss (to another meeting) but gained Robert Castelo along the way.

7) We thus resumed the discussion around needs and purpose. 

8) Peter: Let's look at this like building a piece of Software. Who are the users? What are the requirements? What are the solutions? What are the tasks? Then create a backlog and prioritise it.

9) Steve (Jones):

This is why we need a UK Drupal Association:

• separation of business interests from Drupal interests
• an entity to handle things such as a large donation in one go
• an entity to handle profit or loss without individual liability
• a decision making body
• run by a committee - of any size
• with transparent accounts

It should start small in scope and then expand once successful.

We then went around the table to invite people to comment:

10) It was suggested (by Peter/Michael?) to reduce the scope of a UK Association - to initially just a UK Drupal Camp association. Removing larger issues such as Drupal certification, or UK representation would simplify the scope and issue to just event organising.

11) Adam raised the question: are Scotland ok with a Drupal UK society?

12) The idea of a European Drupal association was also discussed but agreed as too wide a scope at present.

13) Hedley brought up the fact that one of his main aims would be: Education and Training in Drupal - initially individuals - but later education of businesses independently of Drupal shops doing the training under their brand

14) On the subject of membership fees - Vamory stated that as a member, one should pay. There should be different levels of membership - this is very important.

15) Mieke: the idea still needs more research before I can say "yes" or "no" to a UK Drupal Association

Items to be decided before people can decide:

• clarification on fees and benefits needed
• a public online survey on the questions raised in this discussion is a good idea
• spread the discussion to those who couldn't attend DC Munich

18) Peter then offered to cook a meal and invited everyone round to his house for dinner on a regular basis to discuss UK Drupal matters. (Personally I like this idea - Leon).

19) Going back to reduction in scope (point 10 above) the mission could start with "Build the best UK Drupal Camps possible..."

20) Russell was not sure about the use of the word "Association". "Mob" and "Gang" were helpfully suggested as alternatives. 

21) It was agreed that for those not able to make it to Munich these minutes be posted on Drupal.org and Drupal.org.uk. So that's what I've done here.

Related posts:

Calling Drupal event organisers!

Be part of the DrupalCamp London Team! (Drupal.org) and on Drupal.org.uk

DrupalCon Munich BoF – Do we need a Drupal UK Society?