Why the Drupal community deserves (and needs) well-attended events

In my recent article, I outlined three challenges the Drupal community as a whole is facing in the past couple of years. In this one, I will focus on the first of these three challenges – Drupal events and the attendance that has been shrinking in the past years. I will not go into more detail, but the downward trend in the past decade is obvious. And that is worrying.

Agiledrop has been involved in Drupal events since our inception in 2013. Starting in 2017 the company also started sponsoring the events. Not just DrupalCons, but Drupalcamps in Europe as well. What has happened since then is fewer people are coming to events and there are also fewer sponsors at Drupal events. I have outlined several benefits of having a big(ger) audience at events. This time I will focus in more detail on a couple of them.

A broader audience introduces a wider range of viewpoints and conversations, which elevates the collective learning experience for all participants. It also enhances brand exposure and boosts the potential for after-event buzz that can have a lasting ripple effect.

With a larger group in attendance, the variety of networking possibilities grows, encouraging the formation of valuable new connections. A higher turnout not only drives greater ticket revenue but also attracts sponsors eager to reach a more varied and extensive audience.

This, in turn, makes the event more attractive to prominent speakers and high-profile sponsors, increasing its overall status and making it easier to organize future events at an even higher level.

Moreover, a bigger audience generates a more vibrant atmosphere for collaboration, introducing fresh and diverse ideas. This expanded reach benefits vendors, exhibitors, and sponsors by offering greater promotional opportunities, while simultaneously extending the event's influence over time.

A larger gathering also allows the event to play a more significant role in shaping industry directions and encouraging innovation. Finally, a bigger attendee base strengthens the community as a whole, bringing more stakeholders together, fostering shared experiences, and building stronger relationships within the field.

While I was preparing this blog post and conducting research on the topic, I noticed something. Here is how DrupalCon is “defined” by the Drupal Association. The first quote is from the DA homepage and the second one from the webpage dedicated to Drupal events.

• “DrupalCon is an international educational event that brings together people who use, develop, design and support the Drupal platform.”
• “DrupalCon unites experts from around the globe who create ambitious digital experiences. Network, learn, and be inspired.”

Obviously, both are correct and non exclusionary, and even more, we need to strive to adhere to both “principles”. It should be an educational event that connects everyone who is using Drupal in any capacity. That goes without saying. Additionally, it needs to also be an event that attracts experts from the field of digital experiences. It needs to look beyond Drupal “borders”.

I’ve spoken with a lot of people at DrupalCons in the past years, and the feelings they get from the sessions and the overall experience varies greatly on the profile of the person I chat to. A number of engineers “complain” about sessions not going too deep or that there is too much focus on business themes. I could hardly disagree with that.

On the other hand, people from marketing & sales often paint a different picture; for them, there are too many technical, development focused sessions and not enough emphasis on the business side. Again, can’t disagree with that either. So – what now?

We need to strike a balance between having an educational event, directed inwards, towards the community, and having a marketing/sales event, which is focused outwards, beyond people who use, develop, design and support the Drupal platform. An event that addresses people who are not using Drupal but do have the need for an exceptional digital experience.

The Drupal community needs to make Drupal (more) relevant, relevant beyond the shrinking bubble we are facing in the past couple of years. Drupal presented itself at Web Summit last year, which – in my opinion – was a definite step in the right direction. Showcasing Drupal to the 70,000+ attendees in Lisbon was in line with DA’s move to do more marketing.

Drupal is not present this year (I checked the Web Summit website and was not able to locate Drupal under the list of partners), and while there are more reasons for that, probably the most important one is the huge financial investment.

The Drupal Association and Drupal community have to spread the word about Drupal beyond Drupal events but we all have to do that in a systematic and sustainable way.

Photo credit goes to Bram Driesen; check out his full DrupalCon Barcelona 2024 photo album.