The Drupal Movement
where do you fit in?
Addison Berry, Lullabot
Drupalcamp Atlanta 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mateus27_24-25
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Drupal big, overwhelming - like an aircraft carrier
Looks chaotic and dangerous for an outsider, but does actually make sense to the people
doing the work

What is Drupal?
Saturday, September 19, 2009

Saturday, September 19, 2009
We think of Drupal as the code we download
That’s half of it - the other half is the people
The people effect the code which effects all the people using it, who in turn effect the code...
Without the people the code dies on the vine

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greencolander
Saturday, September 19, 2009
We think of Drupal as the code we download
That’s half of it - the other half is the people
The people effect the code which effects all the people using it, who in turn effect the code...
Without the people the code dies on the vine

“It’s really the Drupal community
and not so much the software that
makes the Drupal project what it is.
So fostering the Drupal community
is actually more important than
just managing the code base.”
- Dries Buytaert
Saturday, September 19, 2009

Hello, in there...
Saturday, September 19, 2009

Virtual Reality
http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Main places to connect are online:
drupal.org (forums and issue queues)
- the issue queue is the place where stuff happens - not just for code
groups.drupal.org (regional and topical groups)
IRC, it’s geeky but well worth checking out

Do it Live
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bevanr
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Druplcons (1 in NA each spring, 1 in Europe each fall)
Camps (like this one!)
Meetups
Build relationships, stay connected and keep context for online interaction

Communication
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heather-dietz
Saturday, September 19, 2009
it goes both ways, but you need to initiate contact with others or they won’t know you’re
there

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotpolka/
Saturday, September 19, 2009
There are asshats in every community. Don’t be one.
When you encounter them, remember:
- everyone has a bad day sometimes
- jerks don’t define the entire community

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotpolka/
Saturday, September 19, 2009
There are asshats in every community. Don’t be one.
When you encounter them, remember:
- everyone has a bad day sometimes
- jerks don’t define the entire community

How does this work?
Saturday, September 19, 2009

Do-ocracy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/froboy
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Do-ocracy: the person who does it gets the job.
You don’t need to be an “expert” to have an impact
If everyone talks and no one does, then it simply won’t happen. So do it.

Structure
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindenbaum
Saturday, September 19, 2009
teams grow organically - no real top-down hierarchy
“defined leaders” : Dries, core maintainer and docs, infra, security leads
lots of groups and teams just get together, define things and do the work
remember this is all volunteer and you can be involved in what interests you

Human beings
Saturday, September 19, 2009
At the end of the day, this is just another group of people gathered around a common topic.
Diverse and passionate.
Even the “rockstars” are just people and you can call them on their bullshit.
Keep the humanity of the work in mind.

You matter.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Each person that uses Drupal can have an impact on the software and the millions of other
people that use it
Fitting in to the community is being human and building relationships

Addison Berry
add1sun
http://rocktreesky.com
http://www.lullabot.com
Saturday, September 19, 2009