Do It With Drupal 2008 Summary

I'm sitting in the Louis Armstrong Internation Airport in New Orleans, LA. This was an intense week and I'm glad to be going home! I've been attending the first ever Do It With Drupal (DIWD) conference.

DIWD, It Was Awesome!

This was my first "real" conference experience. I've attended several as a student at BYU, but this was my first professional conference, with flight, hotel, and per dium arrangements. I would do it again.

This was a first-time conference for the Lullabot team that arranged DIWD. They pulled it off very well, by all accounts. Those familiar with Drupal, need to know that this was not a replacement for DrupalCon; it was focused on the fringes of Drupal users, the newbies, the un-initiated, with some sessions for the intermediate skills. However, few knew this beforehand, so there were  hard-core developers here too. That is one reason that the conference was a success; we had plenty of experts to quiz!

I chose to attend DIWD for two reasons: I wanted to meet (and introduce myself to) the real people behind nicks and handles used in the community. I also wanted to flesh-out my understanding of Drupal and reasure myself that I was developing in the best direction, with the best modules and techniques. Both purposes were met this week!

The People

Many of the presenters were key people in Drupal development. I met them all. I tried to keep myself extroverted at all times, pushing my boundaries and reaching out. It worked well, but was quite taxing! I have a hard time remembering names, especially in rappid succession. It helped that many important people mentioned their handles several times. We also used Twitter and IRC for Q&A. That exposed me to lots of other handles (why are handles so much more memorable than names?).

The Lullabot team was everywhere and their personable, energetic personalities infused the conference with a comradre that I appreciated.

I also discovered that educators came in droves! Maybe 50% of the attendees worked (or were otherwise interested) in using Drupal for educational objectives. We held a Birds of a Feather (BoF) gathering during the last lunch and exchanged ideas, problems, solutions, and business cards.

Speaking of business cards, I didn't have any! The thought crossed my mind the week before, but I never got around to printing anything. Next time, I'm bringing some! Besides the basics, a Drupal-oriented business card should include your IRC nick & Drupal ID. Also make sure your Drupal.org user profile is complete. That is used by the community to evaluate you and your "karma" (how worthy you are of help in a very busy community).

The Lessons

I'm not sure where to start! I took a lot of notes. The presentations were also recorded (thank goodness!). I may have to post the notes on my blog, and make a new section for Drupal. The sessions were through-provoking. Angie's and Addi's presentation on the Drupal community convinced me that I wanted to participate.

My flight is boarding. More later....