In case you missed the exciting news announced Thursday afternoon at Drupalcon Chicago, next year’s North American Drupalcon is coming to the Denver Convention Center March 20-22.
This is a huge honor to have Colorado hosting this enormous event that brings together thousands of the brightest developers, designers and business leaders from the worldwide Drupal community for learning, sharing, growth and fun.
Being from Colorado, you probably know how vibrant and passionate the local Drupal community is. The Drupal community in Colorado is amazingly supportive. We need your ideas, your help, and your input to help make Drupalcon Colorado the best yet.
This large, complex event is going to be organized and run mostly by local volunteers. A small group of us has already started laying the initial groundwork behind the scenes. There is so much to do before next year. We are going to need your help. (Yes, you.) We need an army of volunteers helping out with marketing and communications, customer service, special event planning, sales and sponsorships, and much more.
Stay tuned for more information, it’s going to be fun!.
Comments
Willing to help out
How do we sign up to help out? Do you plan to have a meeting to allow people to sign up and possibly divide up responsibilities? I suppose the existing groups (DBUG, SCUG, WC, NC) would be a good place to start.
Congrats Denver!
I'm super excited that the conference is going to be so close to home. Being a Utah resident I'll be able to drive to the event! Curious why the event is only scheduled for 3 days next year instead of the previous 4 days? Either way it's going to be a great conference and I'm looking forward to attending as I missed the Chicago event this year.
Joshua Needham
WebMob Development, LLC(formerly App Ventures, LLC)
http://WebMobDev.com
Actually, this year the
Actually, this year the central event was scheduled for three days. This gets boosted by a few other things: The day before the event is set aside for training and some sprinting, and the day after the event is used for Code sprints.
We're all really excited by this.
-john
New to the community, but willing to help
I'll look for an invite to help ... but one of my past careers included helping to organize multi-day tournaments. Those skills may be a helpful addition to the mix.
John McKiernan
Quantum Corporation
Sponsorship Herding
I'll sign up to help get sponsors lined up and organized. Nothing beats cattle duty..
José G.
The exciting news is filtering through the labs
At a not-so-top-secret laboratory nestled in the foothills near Denver, the news that Drupalcon is headed to Denver has started to take hold! I hope to get institutional support through the channels here. Stay tuned -- let's start building the momentum.
So excited by this news. As I
So excited by this news.
As I said in Chicago, I'm throwing my hat into the "ring" to help out in anyway possible ... as long as i can stay away from the phones.
For those asking "how do I get involved?" by asking the question, you are now on the list!! ;-) As I understand it anyway.
Welcome to the movement to make this the BEST conference ever ... can't wait!!
Count me in
+1
NICE TO HEAR FROM U
Hi guys though new to the group, incase ave contribution at any moment wil drop them.........nice time all
And one more
So exciting to be in the audience when this was announced! I'm willing to help make it great! I'm probably best in marketing/communications roles, but I look forward to learning what is needed.
Congrats, Denver!
I'm looking forward to sharing some dccph2010 love at dcden!
Amelia Berkeley
Managing Director, Wunderkraut Denmark
I'm In!! Congrats Denver!!!!!
I've never been to Denver and I'm willing to help. I'm the university AV geek and I plan and implement technology usage for conferences and events. Let's start planning!!
Keith
Keith R. Kennedy
Manager, Digital Design & Multimedia Production University of Northern Iowa
initial expectation
Any preliminary best guesses about projected total attendees?
Amelia Berkeley
Managing Director, Wunderkraut Denmark
That's up to us!
At Drupalcon Chicago, there were almost 3000 attendees. If we can construct an event that is compelling for regional, national and international Drupalistas (and even non-Drupalistas) to attend, perhaps we can hit 3500.
Rick Nashleanas
www.monarchdigital.com
It can be done.
Can't wait to help out- count me in! The Drupalcon we held here in Denmark was Europe's biggest ever @1200.
Amelia Berkeley
Managing Director, Wunderkraut Denmark
re: That's up to us!
In other contexts I've been a part of, the shift from Chicago to Denver dropped attendance around 20%. Population density, airfares, and perceived distance combined to trim the numbers from the first time and "occasional" attendees.
John McKiernan
John.Mckiernan@Quantum.com
Let's aim for 5,000
We have keynote space for 5,000, so that's a good goal. The promotion so far has done a great job of addressing misconceptions about Denver (e.g. perceived distance) and we have a whole year to do more of that. The year ahead will also substantially increase interest in Drupal, likely offsetting whatever we do lose in potential attendees not realizing how awesome Colorado is.
20% drop???
Looking at the attendance stats for the past three years ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drupal#DrupalCon_Events ) I wouldn't expect a drop in attendance unless the global economy takes another serious nose-dive. 20% drop, in my opinion, is very much overstated. For planning purposes, I think it would be wise to plan for 3500 to 4000, to be on the safe side and to not have to turn people away.
Capacity is here, predictions are hard
The rooms we have at the convention center can handle up to 5,000.
The folks in charge of budgeting are taking into account a broad range of attendee numbers to make sure we can handle whatever happens.
My personal goal is, of course, to grow the regional Drupal community to make sure we have a strong attendance from the local areas AND of course help improve Drupal adoption worldwide so we see growth beyond Chicago and San Francisco.
On the other hand, Denver is a smaller city than either Chicago or San Francisco and less tech-centric than San Francisco (though probably comparable to Chicago). If attendance is flat I won't be surprised. Note that I'm not accepting it, I'm working to make sure we grow, but I wouldn't be surprised by it...
knaddison blog | Morris Animal Foundation
2012 Attendance
With improved usability in v7, there should be growth in the user pool to draw 3,500-4,000 by next winter. my $.02.
José G.
Mobile App
I have a team of Droid and Mobile developers. Glad to help or lead the mobile team. We are also a Drupal shop :)
~ Ty Hallock, TopFloorStudio.com