Midwest technology industry leaders and open source community members have united to organize MidCamp—a three-day celebration of all things Drupal—in America’s heartland. Debuting March 28-30, 2014 in Chicago, MidCamp will offer training, sessions, and sprints designed to help people learn more about the world’s leading open source Web content management platform.
MidCamp, a new Drupal camp in the Midwest, is gearing up to unite Drupalers in the heart of America. The conference will feature three days of training, sessions and sprints that will educate and engage Drupal users and evaluators at all levels. MidCamp will be held March 28-30 at the University Center in Chicago’s downtown, within walking distance of many of the city’s tourist attractions, restaurants and nightlife.
“Drupal community members know each other, respect each other, and collaborate with each other every day. Whether you’re an existing Drupal user, developer, designer, site builder, or are someone new to the community, MidCamp will have plenty of opportunities for education and advancement,” said Andrea Soper, Chair of the MidCamp planning team.
Organized by volunteers from the regional Drupal community, MidCamp will feature curated sessions and panels from internationally-renowned Drupal experts, including keynoters Jeff Eaton and Larry “Crell” Garfield. With the upcoming release of the much-anticipated Drupal 8, they will introduce attendees to this new Drupal version. “[We] will take you through a tour not just of Drupal's new features, but Drupal's new philosophy, both for the code and the community,” said Garfield.
Garfield is the Senior Architect and Community Lead for Chicago-based Palantir.net, and an active Drupal core contributor. He is the principal architect of the Drupal 7 database system and the Drupal 8 Web Services Lead, as well as the Drupal representative to the PHP Framework Interoperability Group and a member of the Advisory Board of the Drupal Association.
Eaton brings more than two decades of experience in publishing and CMS development. As a Senior Digital Strategist for Lullabot, he has designed and implemented large-scale Web platforms for clients including Sony/BMG Music, Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, World Wrestling Entertainment, MSNBC, Verizon Wireless, Harvard University, and more.
Other sessions and panels will feature Drupal developers, designers, themers, project managers, and business leaders sharing their experience and expertise. These one-hour sessions will act as a learning platform for all attendees. Currently, MidCamp is accepting session submissions that focus on Advanced Coding, Dev/Ops, Business Aspects of Drupal, Drupal 8, Front-End Development, and Site Building.
MidCamp will provide bootcamp style training and more in-depth knowledge sessions on Friday, March 28th. During these full and half-day training sessions, attendees will delve deeply into topics including Drupal 8 sitebuilding, Performance tuning/DevOps and Drupal module development.
Sunday, March 30th will be devoted to Drupal sprints. A Drupal sprint is a gathering of users working on outstanding Drupal issues in order to improve the software. Drupal training is provided within the sprint process; all levels of Drupal users are welcome to make a contribution.
MidCamp is made possible by the support of sponsors that include Promet Source, Palantir.net, Duo Consulting, Breakthrough Technologies, Trellon, Pantheon, Acquia, and net2Community. Additional sponsorship opportunities are available for companies and organizations seeking to show their support and help keep the event affordable for all for attendees. “With your support, MidCamp and all Drupal users in the Midwest will prove that we are a tech superpower,” said Andrew Kucharski, President of Promet Source.
“MidCamp welcomes all attendees, presenters and sponsors to the Midwest. The camp will prove to be an epicenter of innovation where great minds from both sides of the country collide and amazing Drupal work is born,” said MidCamp planning committee member Avi Schwab.
Visit www.midcamp.org to purchase tickets or learn more.