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Acquia at DrupalCon Baltimore
If you're coming to DrupalCon Baltimore and you're curious about Acquia, there are a couple of ways to meet the company and see what we're about beyond the marketing and sales efforts that get directed at potential clients. One great way is to come to our sessions! Looking at the breadth of topics covered, you begin to get a sense of how much is going on behind the scenes at the company. You can see and hear Acquia experts talking about everything from data-driven workplace improvement to the latest in Drupal 8 front ends to how and why Drupal is still changing rapidly during the conference. We'd obviously be very happy to talk with you at the Acquia Query Lounge in the exhibitors' hall, in the Hallway Track, our industry meetup, or wherever you might meet us along the way, too! Oh and we're Acquia Certification tests for $99 in Baltimore!
One of the things I've loved about working at Acquia has been the growing and changing--but consistently smart and motivated--microcosm of the Drupal community that is my colleagues at the company. There were about 20 of us--total--at the company when I attended DrupalCon Szeged in my second or third week on the job at Acquia in 2008.
The company is a lot bigger today; nearly 800 strong and spread around the globe. As part of our culture of contribution, a whole bunch of us will be at DrupalCon Baltimore this year; around 20 of us will be presenting something like 32 sessions across 16 tracks as well as sprinting, mentoring, and helping out!
Looking at this track by track, it's an interesting mix â¦
General Sessions - Dries Buytaert and I are the only two Acquians to have DrupalCon General Sessions. I consider this quite a privilege for one of us ;-)
Media and Publishing Summit - Day-long summit with industry leaders from national and international organizations. "Drupal often finds itself in the sweet spot of these industries through its focus on content management and tackles many problems today's industry is facing."
Being Human - This is one of the newer tracks at DrupalCon and underscores the importance our community places on communication, mental- and physical health, working conditions, motivation, community, and all the other stuff that lets us produce, appreciate, and use Drupal code. As the Drupal Association puts it, This track puts the software and tools aside to focus on the human beings behind it all.
Business - The Business and Strategy track is aimed at attendees looking for actionable advice and ideas from business owners, executives, and project managers on how to manage a Drupal business successfully.
Coding & Development - I'd call this the staple material of technology communities and conferences: All the code, techniques, processes, and workflows that go into making Drupal, the technology.
Core Conversations - These conversations are one place where the future of Drupal's code takes shape. Short presentations about where Drupal could/should go, followed by 30 minutes of discussion.
DevOps - Development plus operations, up one side of the stack and all the way down the other!
Drupal Showcase - Case studies, new solutions, business value delivered with Drupal.
Front End - Where the code meets the user; where the designer and the dev cooperate; and where there has been rapid, ongoing change and innovation in recent years. The Front End track explores realizing the web's full potential along with the expanded tool set for designers and developers in Drupal 8.
Hands-On Lab - One of only three hands-on labs at DrupalCon, I will be welcoming first-time DrupalCon attendees (everyone is welcome, of course, no matter how many DrupalCons you've been to!) and sharing how I think you can get the most out of your first DrupalCon and our community!
Horizons - Drupal + emerging technologies == the DrupalCon Horizons track
PHP - An intermediate to advanced code-focused track, focusing on non-Drupal-specific coding in PHP and beyond.
Project Management - Despite their best efforts, many of us don't give project managers the credit they deserve. These are the folks that keep scheduling, resourcing, budgeting, and so much more off our plates, so we can get on with the good stuff ;-) ⦠Thank you, project managers for everything you do!
Site Building - Drupal without the code! Click pride! Tools and techniques for creating Drupal websites using the administrative interface without needing to know how to code. People that should attend these sessions include current site builders and Drupal newcomers.
Symfony - A technical track dedicated to the Symfony Framework and its ecosystem, key technologies in the creation of Drupal 8.
UX/Content Strategy - Non-technical sessions in and around understanding users, their needs, and creating experiences that support their business goals.
BoFs - Birds of a feather flock together. BoF's aren't sessions or presentations. Come discuss a topic with others who share your interest. Here are some topics that Acquians want to talk about with you.
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