Every year we have a great time at DrupalCon - this year was no exception! Heading to New Orleans was definitely a treat for the team.
So without further ado - here are some of our favorite things:
Aimee:
Favorite Sessions:
- DriesNote
- Gabor / Webchick: The potential in Drupal 8.x and how to realize it
- Gabor / Dries / xjm: State of Drupal
Favorite social events:
- There are so many!! Sorry to have missed the D6 funeral but our team was on an historic Steamboat tour that was an amazing experience and a nice break from the DrupalCon hubbub. We did see the Lingotek team on the cruise, too, so it seems that we are speaking the same language. Har har. ;)
- We were fortunate to join Amazee Labs on their haunted walking tour.
- Women in Drupal was fun and we hope to have more turnout next year.
- Pantheon always has an awesome event and we were happy to attend (as you can see in the photo above)
Favorite NOLA thing:
- Haunted cajun beignets
Favorite overall thing:
- Our team. All together. All in one place. In person! We work remotely and some in other countries so it is wonderful to just “be” together. We also had many extended team members (wives and sons) join the festivities. :)
AmyJune:
Favorite session(s):
- The AMPing Up In Drupal session provided me with valuable knowledge about SEO, which, as a novice to building websites, I hadn’t given much thought to previously. OR
- The State of Drupal session, on the other hand, gave me reassurance the the drupal community is striving to be more accommodating and inclusive of beginners.
Favorite social event(s):
- The Riverboat Cruise was a nice change of pace from walking all over the streets of NOLA drinking beer; I could drink beer while riding on a boat watching a spectacular sunset on The MIssissipps. Having breakfast with the boys at Majoria's Commerce Restaurant was a close second…the staff were so much fun and were the epitome of Southern style and hospitality.
Favorite NOLA thing:
- Hanging out with Jeff at The NOMA and sculpture garden. The museum had a wonderful collection of recognizable artists along with a large throng of southern folk art.
Favorite overall experience at DrupalCon:
- THE PEOPLE. From meeting my mentors, to sitting down with random people, drupalers shared such a wealth of information with me.
Chris:
photo credit: Chris Darke
Favorite Sessions:
Favorite social event(s):
- Pantheon Party
- Riverboat Cruise
Favorite overall experience at DrupalCon:
- Meeting everyone on the Team!
- From a purely drupalcon perspective, what I really enjoyed was seeing the value in actually attending one, being immersed in the world of core contributors and the directions they are taking, and basically in some ways refreshing my enthusiasm for Drupal which can get a bit waned when you are working on the same sort of stuff for a long time! In a lot of ways reminded me of university, and the academic world, which whilst it can be a bit insular, can also be a pretty cool place to be.
Genevieve:
Favorite session(s):
- Once Upon a Drop Cap (When Words Were the Experience & Letters Were Your Voice) This was definitely one of my favorites, even got a book at the end :)
photo credit: Genevieve Parker
Favorite social event(s):
- Pantheon Parties. How can they not be?
- Hook 42's Steamboat Dinner too!
Favorite NOLA thing:
- Streetcars, steamboats, swamp tours, so much tasty food everywhere!
Favorite overall experience at DrupalCon:
- I’m not actually sure. I had such a great time in NOLA both at the convention center, and in the city in general. It was also great to finally meet some of our remote team, I now believe they are actual people ;)
Jeff:
Favorite Sessions:
- Drupal8 Theming - Am I doing this right? w/ MortenDK
- Elm - Frontend with Guarantees w/ Amitai Burstein
photo credit: Kristen Pol
Favorite social event(s):
- Riverboat cruise on the Steamboat Natchez
- Walking down the street with beer in hand
- Visiting the New Orleans Museum of Art
Favorite NOLA thing:
- Seeing a lot of friends
Favorite overall experience at DrupalCon:
- Chillin’ with volkswagenchick
Kevin:
Favorite Sessions:
- These really were my favorite sessions (not just because they were given by my bosses)! ;)
photo credit: Susanne Coates - https://www.flickr.com/photos/142503742@N05/26701068430
Favorite Social Events:
- Riverboat cruise on the Steamboat Natchez. Nearly missing it was an ”adventure”!
- Women in Drupal, which was probably the most engaging event where I could actually have a conversation with people that wasn’t drowned out by loud music.
Favorite NOLA Thing:
- Enjoyed buying a new hat with Jordan Koplowicz @koplowicznsons at Goorin Brothers.
- I didn’t take much advantage of taking drinks “to go,”
Favorite Overall Thing at DrupalCon:
- Reconnecting with the community was fantastic, and spending Friday in my first Sprint was way overdue.
Kristin (K2):
photo credit: Genevieve Parker
Favorite session:
- Aimee’s Scrumberjack presentation - it’s not every day you get to see your boss heft a giant log on stage.
Favorite social event:
- Ghost tours with Lindsay, Patrick and Jen - spooky and booze!
Favorite thing in NOLA:
- holding an alligator!
Favorite overall thing at DrupalCon:
- It is always the same - the people, the sense of community, the feeling that we’re all in this crazy Drupal boat together.
Lindsay:
Favorite session(s):
- There are three sessions that really stand out to me and I think they were so good I’m posting the youtube link so you can watch them too! They are no order because I think they are all great for different reasons.
- Watch the Hacker Hack was really informative and unique. I focus on frontend but security is important to every website, and I thought this talk rocked! While I was sitting in the session, I thought, this might be my favorite session of DrupalCon NOLA. Watch it the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek8FswgBvW4
- Because I’m a frontend developer, I really enjoyed the Browser Based Tools talk. It was excellent and there were a lot of cool tricks that I’m going to use moving forward to save time and be a better developer. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK1GT3ojo1g
- Last, but certainly not least, is Michael Schmid’s Keynote “Your brain health is more important than your standing desk.” I think everyone should watch this video and be a little nicer to themselves. Also, it is good to know I’m not alone in peeing all the time (this will make sense if you watch the video, I promise I’m not crazy). Watch it here so you know I’m sane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA95tpXUIos
Favorite social event(s):
- I really liked the Pantheon Partner’s dinner. I got to hang out with K2 from Hook 42 and a bunch of awesome Drupalers at our table, including people from Backdrop, Last Call Media, and CodeJourneymen. And like all good internet nerds, we eventually just shared pictures of our pets. The internet is all about cats anyway. Just accept it.
- Also, I went on the Amazee Lab Ghost tour and it was FANTASTIC. I loved it so much, I went on a second tour the next day. No ghost sightings though.
Favorite NOLA thing:
- All the ghosts of course! Also, the architecture was very cool. And I ate alligator sausage, yummm.
Favorite overall experience at DrupalCon:
- It was great to meet some of the Hook 42 team and make sure they are actual people and not just skype bots. Unless Microsoft actually made a life-like robot to throw me off... *cough*chrisdarke*cough*
Patrick:
photo credit: Kristen Pol
Favorite session(s):
- Behat: Behavior-Driven Development, Functional Tests & Selenium (in Drupal!) Ryan Weaver is an excellent speaker and gives a great session on how you can use Behat to test Drupal. Be sure to stick around for the post talk questions to answer some good real world gotchas!
Favorite social event(s):
- Steamboat Hook 42 dinner party. The sunset was amazing, the dinner was good.
Favorite NOLA thing:
- I like how small in size but big in events the city felt, one could walk to a street dedicated to drinking, another to shopping, another to having one of the oldests 24/7 bars, and another that is known for hauntings...all in under an hours time.
Favorite overall experience at DrupalCon:
- I love mentoring. I was able to greet people going to the Sprints and start their day right. Most of the time dancing while doing so, half of the people just looked at me with the coffee and made some remark about "having too much energy in the morning". It's a great way to meet fellow Drupalers!
photo credit: Kevin Davison
Until next time...
We are all looking forward to next year in Baltimore - until then we'll just sail off into the Mississippi River sunset.
photo credit: Kristen Pol