I attempted to organize a "DrupalCon" last year in Australia with mixed results, and learned quite a lot. Several people in the Australian community are pushing to organize a "DrupalCon" again and I am aware that other people in this region and others are keen to do the same.
This highlights several issues with the current arrangements for organizing international/regional drupal events and how the community and the association work with them.
Some of the issues involve timing. Some people feel 2 annual events is too much, while others are unable to attend either because of location. This also is due to expectations of these events, such as the attendance of Dries and core developers at each large event. There is a desire for this in every region, but its not really suitable right now without burning out those people. There is also a concern that with some of these characteristics we risk diluting the brand and clout that a "drupalcon" has come to be known as. There is also the perception of drupalcamps, which in some areas are very large, but generally don't always convey the significance of the event.
I had a discussion with Jacob Redding about the issue and several issues were brought to light. I have attached the conversation to this thread for reference.
The big point I would like people to help with is how do we break the stalemate that we are currently in. There is a desire for larger events in regions outside of N.America + Europe, but there are limitations to people, time + money and the desire to keep a high level of quality and expectations from events. I proposed the idea of a single international "DrupalSummit" annually, multiple regional "DrupalCons" annually, and a plethora of "DrupalCamps" as frequently as supported by local areas (on top of ~monthly user group meetings as appropriate). Please read the conversation and add your views and suggestions.
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Comments
Ok, I'm a bit off-topic but
Ok, I'm a bit off-topic but ...
Talking to rcross in IRC, I don't think there is a huge push in Australia for a Drupalcon here. Donna Benjamin (http://cc.com.au) and I have agreed to increase the energy levels in Melbourne events and if things were going smoothly maybe pitch for a DrupalCon in about 2 years.
Back on topic ...
As long as the DrupalCon brand isn't diluted I don't see a problem. It's probably inevitable that the conferences will space out and travel to other places.
OK, I've found out that Ryan
OK, I've found out that Ryan had been speaking to Donna about a Drupalcon in Australia much sooner. So it's valid to say that the interest is there.
camp vs con vs summit?
Look - I'm not sure about camp vs con vs summit to be honest...
But a large drupal thang in these parts would be great. The reality is that most aussie / nzers just can't justify going regularly to events in Europe and North America - but perhaps North Americans and Europeans could justify heading to Aus/NZ once or twice?
Would a drupalcon in Asia Pacific or South America be instead of Europe / North America? Or in addition to it?
I've been using drupal for a coupla years now, but only engaged with the community a few months back when emspace came to OSIA. So I I'm not even sure whether the community in Oceania / Asia-Pac is big enough to support a 2000+ conference
So perhaps what I've been thinking about is just a larger regional drupal camp.
Donna Benjamin
Former Board Member Drupal Association (2012-2018)
@kattekrab
That's what we're working out
That is the question we are asking. I personally think that if it happened in addition expanding Drupalcon to three conferences a year it would dilute what Drupalcon is today because core and module developers will be unstable to sustain attending the three conferences. It is also asking quite a bit for them to attend two and we've been asked to space them out even more so adding a third might be very difficult.
I'd like to find a middle ground here. Something that is larger than a Drupalcamp but doesn't have the same expectation of a Drupalcon.
As of right now there is an expectation that when you attend Drupalcon you will
(a) See Dries
(b) Hear about the future of Drupal, what's next, what the community is working on, etc.
(c) Meet other module developers that maintain popular modules on d.o
(d) Meet the authors of Drupal books
(e) Meet the key Drupal firms as well as other companies using Drupal
I think these are what sets apart a Drupalcon from a DrupalCamp.
A middle ground would be a conference with only a few of these expectations (maybe all developers or maybe all companies).
Another suggestion is to expand the continent list of the conference and keep a similar pace. For example
Spring 2010 North America
Fall 2010 Asia/Pacific
Spring 2011 Europe
Fall 2011 South America
Spring 2012 North America
Fall 2012 Antarctica
-Jacob Redding
-Jacob Redding
what is a camp? what is a con?
I vote for 3 "Drupalcons" per year spread as close to 4 months apart as possible and lots of DrupalCamps. I also have a very loose definition of DrupalCamp that can include lots of people, high quality and well prepared sessions, regional or international attendance.
In my opinion, creating a DrupalSummit that is a giant camp will just create confusion. Is there some reason that regional events can't just be called Drupalcamps?
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Camps vs. Cons
These areas are already having very successful camps. The point of calling it a "Drupalcon" (or something else) is to get the International folks (chx, Dries, webchick, etc.) to fly to said area.
-Jacob Redding
-Jacob Redding
As long a I know, DrupalCamp
As long a I know, DrupalCamp fits for any Drupal event which is not named DrupalCon. As described by @jredding, a DrupalCon is "the" event. I also agree with him about 3 DrupalCons may result more difficult to handle. So, expanding the continent list would be cool!
Think about the weather factor also, I got flu in DC :( it is an opportunity to fix it, doing Drupalcons all the time Springs or Summers, don't have to be that ice cool! :D
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Indeed - the DrupalCamp we
Indeed - the DrupalCamp we held in Vancouver last year, though nowhere near the attendance of a Con (we had about 125 attendees + volunteers and speakers) was much more of a conference than a camp. Three session tracks, pre-determined sessions and speakers, t-shirts, and a party. People came in from Seattle, Vancouver Island, and even Calgary (about 12 hrs by car). The "Camp" name doesn't restrict what you can do, though it's important to make clear what attendees should expect.
That said, it'd be great if there was a more appropriate name for smaller conferences, but a DrupalCon is a DrupalCon, and like Jacob said we have to be careful not to dilute the meaning, as they are an important part of the community.
I'd really like to see some more regional mini-conferences...hey hmm... MiniCon? There's been some discussion off and on about doing a Pacific Northwest collaboration DrupalCamp type thing, but will of course be challenging to try and wrangle organizing between the various communities, and will need some thought as far as how to define such a gathering/event.