Are you already excited and getting ready for DrupalCon Barcelona coming up in just a few weeks? We know we sure are!
This year there are hands down so many sessions that you wouldn’t want to miss. It kind of feels like that huge music festival with a dozen stages where, no matter which one you’re at and how much you’re enjoying yourself, you constantly feel like you’re missing out on something equally enjoyable (classic FOMO).
In this article, we’ll try to do as much heavy lifting as possible to help you get at least a decent idea of the sessions that you absolutely need to catch. For obvious reasons, we won’t be including the legendary Driesnote and other keynote speeches, since no one there will want to miss it anyway.
Okay, let’s get started with Tuesday September 24, the first day of sessions, with some fantastic ones right off the bat!
How combining open source platforms can make your business and the community stronger. An update on Mautic, Drupal and the open DXP.
Track: Agency & Business
Where: Room 5 (124-125)
When: Tuesday, September 24, 2024, 15:15 - 16:00 local time (CEST)
The first session worth checking out will be presented by Dropsolid’s Dominique De Cooman, who is a huge advocate for bringing the open source communities of Drupal and Mautic closer together to enable powerful open digital experience platforms (DXPs).
The main goal of Dominique’s session is to encourage business leaders to be more open with combining different open source ecosystems into a single robust and customizable open DXP by drawing on the unique strengths of each particular open source tool.
Experience Builder Initiative
Track: Drupal Starshot
Where: Auditorium
When: Tuesday, September 24, 2024, 16:30 - 17:15 local time (CEST)
The next session we need to highlight is going to be particularly relevant for everybody excited about Drupal Starshot (and, honestly – who isn’t?!). The session will be given by Lauri Timmanee, Principal Software Engineer in the Drupal Acceleration Team who is also heavily involved in the Starshot initiative.
The focus of Lauri’s session will be the Experience Builder initiative, a key component of Starshot enabling content creators and site builders to easily create customized experiences using no-code and low-code, all right from the browser.
Project Browser: making Starshot's in-browser feature composition a reality
Track: Drupal Starshot
Where: Room 6 (122-123)
When: Tuesday, September 24, 2024, 17:30 - 18:15 local time (CEST)
The Starshot project is a major milestone for a framework that’s been such a key part of the industry for over 20 years; so, it’s no wonder that many of the sessions we’re featuring in this article are about Drupal Starshot, this one focusing on Project Browser which will ease the installation process for users of Drupal.
Leslie Glynn and Christopher Wells from Redfin Solutions are going to present the key features of Project Browser as well as the main challenges to implementing them. They are also going to talk about work that’s still needed to do and how community members can get involved and help out.
Day 2 of DrupalCon Barcelona will be just as exciting. Here are three sessions you won’t want to miss.
Bridging the gap: Unlocking Non-Code Contributions
Track: Open Web & Community
Where: Room 2 (131-132)
When: Wednesday, September 25, 2024, 08:45 - 09:30 local time (CEST)
In open source software projects, there is often this assumption that code contributions are valuable. This session by Surabhi Gokte, Baddy Sonja Breidert, Shawn Perritt, Lenny Moskalyk and Seferiba Salif Soulama will show how non-code contribution can be just as meaningful and important.
While code is indeed essential to the success of an open source project, what helps drive this success are things like event organization (this is a session at a conference after all, right?), help with documentation and marketing the project, and of course design and user experience.
Reinventing the Digital Agency Business Model
Track: Agency & Business
Where: Room 5 (124-125)
When: Wednesday, September 25, 2024, 11:30 - 12:15 local time (CEST)
Over the past couple years, many digital agencies have faced challenges in seeing real business growth, many of which are the result of the outdated traditional agency business model. George DeMet of Palantir.net is going to showcase some of the changes they have made and what successes they have achieved from them.
Adopting a true agile approach and enabling autonomy through self organization will bring benefits across a number of areas, from better engagement with clients and within teams, to better financial and operational sustainability.
How to Promote Drupal: The ultimate toolkit
Track: Open Web & Community
Where: Room 2 (131-132)
When: Wednesday, September 25, 2024, 16:00 - 16:45 local time (CEST)
The Promote Drupal initiative has been getting more and more active over the years. Now with Drupal Starshot on the horizon, top-notch marketing of Drupal is becoming more important than ever.
This session by Rosie Gladden, Paul Johnson and Emma Horrell will showcase best practices to make Drupal stand out among the competition. These will include drupal.org case studies, speaking opportunities beyond the Drupal community and marketing Drupal to a broader audience, and the mentorship and training of Drupal newcomers.
The third and final day of sessions will also bring a ton of great choices, including one by our Head of Client Services Ales Kohek about onboarding best practices which you should definitely check out.
Drupal Business Survey 2024 Results BoF
Track: Birds of a Feather
Where: Room BoF 1 (118)
When: Thursday, September 26, 2024, 10:45 - 11:30 local time (CEST)
Every year the Drupal community does a survey investigating the latest trends with the open source digital experience platform Drupal, with service providers from all over the world sharing their experiences and feedback.
The results of this year’s survey will be presented in a BoF session by Imre Gmelig Meijling and Janne Kalliola. Digital agency leaders are invited to participate and share their own insights during the breakdown of the 2024 results.
Next Generation of Drupal Developers: Effective Onboarding Strategies and Best Practices (Sponsored by Agiledrop)
Track: Sponsored talk
Where: Open Stage
When: Thursday, September 26, 2024, 12:45 - 13:00 local time (CEST)
At Agiledrop, we’ve been refining our onboarding processes for a number of years, and as this year’s Silver sponsors, we wish to share our successful strategies so others can benefit from them as well.
Our Head of Client Services Ales Kohek will discuss the challenges of attracting new developers to PHP and share best practices of training them to effectively collaborate on teams using Drupal or another PHP framework. Most of these will be based on a previous DrupalCon talk by our Development Director Bostjan Kovac.
Fractional vs. Full-Time Teams: Maximizing Efficiency and Expertise
Track: Agency & Business
Where: Room 5 (124-125)
When: Thursday, September 26, 2024, 14:15 - 15:00 local time (CEST)
The final session we would like to highlight will be presented by Tracy Evans and Jeffrey McGuire who will talk about the rise of fractional teams, a response to fluctuating talent needs due to constant industry changes.
This approach can be especially valuable for small to medium sized businesses where a flexible hybrid model with external partners is more effective and cost efficient than relying solely on fully in-house teams.
Of course, there are many more amazing sessions to check out, so you better start planning your schedule to make sure you catch as much as you can.
Oh, and don’t forget to stop by our sponsor booth for a chat and some swag to help you enjoy sunny Barcelona even more. We’re looking forward to seeing you all soon!
