Top Ten Reasons To Go To DrupalCon Denver

Submitted by Larry on 24 January 2012 - 10:38am

You mean you aren't already attending what will likely be the largest web developer conference in the Western US this year? What are you waiting for? Not sure if it will be worth it? It will be. Oh, it will be...

If you still need some convincing, or if your boss still needs some convincing, here's the top ten reasons you want to be at DrupalCon Denver:

10. Keynote by Luke Wroblewski
One of the founders of the "Mobile First" movement that is taking the web design world by storm, he'll be speaking about the opportunities and challenges of mobile and what it means for you and your business.
9. 92 presentations and panels
The core of a conference is its sessions. DrupalCon Denver features no less than 92 sessions, running the gamut from module development to software architecture to theming with HTML5 and responsive design to Javascript both in the browser and on the server. This year we feature a few speciality tracks as well, focusing on Mobile, E-commerce, and Non-Profit institutions. For you project managers and business folks, worry not, there's a full track specifically for you. All tracks have a special emphasis on this year's theme, "Collaborative Publishing for Every Device" - that is, get to your customers any time, anywhere, everywhere.
8. Drupal Means Business
DMB (not to be confused with the band of the same acronym) is a special conference-within-a-conference held on Thursday targeted specifically at Drupal evaluators and business people. The rock bottom price of $50 covers a full day of content relevant specifically to evaluators who want to see if Drupal is a good fit for their organization.
7. The community
Drupal's greatest strength is its vibrant community, which will be out in full force. Birds of a Feather sessions (BoFs), impromptu hallway track conversations (the most important part of any conference), and other opportunities to meet and greet with developers are invaluable. Beyond the informal socialization, there will also be an all-conference party Tuesday night (sign up when you buy your ticket) to rock the night away with other Drupalers. If you're traveling with your significant other, worry not; the "Drupalgängers" group will be organizing sight-seeing events for people attached to attendees.
6. Professional training classes
16 different full-day training sessions are available. These professional training classes are taught by some of the leading people in their field, ranging from absolute Drupal basics to high-end Drupal scalability- all are substantially less expensive than a stand-alone training class elsewhere.
5. Keynote by Mitchell Baker
Mitchell Baker is the leader of the Mozilla Foundation, one of the most successful Open Source projects in the world. Arguably it is the Firefox browser that has done more to bring the concepts of Open Source to the mainstream than any other project. Mitchell will be talking about the care and feeding of large Open Source projects.
4. Core Conversations
A recent addition to the DrupalCon repertoire is the Core Conversations track. Unlike the rest of the conference, this track is aimed at people actively working on Drupal to discuss, plan, and whiteboard the future of Drupal. Have a proposal you want to put forth? We're still accepting proposals until February 1st!
3. It's in Denver
Skiing potential aside (although there's that, too), Denver is a hotbed of technology. Colorado is one of the fastest growing tech markets in the USA, especially in higher-ed. Regions that host a DrupalCon tend to see a surge of Drupal business a few months after the conference. Do you know where your next client is? (Hint: They'll be at DrupalCon.)
2. It's cheap!
All of that, a full week of content, and the ticket price is only $350 until 21 February. In comparison, PHP Tek is $1000 for the "full experience" early bird pricing. ConFoo is $700 early bird. CakeFest was $950 for conference and workshop. All in all, DrupalCon is still one of the most affordable, best bang-for-the-buck conferences around.
1. The Driesnote
And oh yeah, some guy named Dries is talking about the future of Drupal or something.

Register today, as the ticket price goes up 21 February to $400. (Still a steal.)

See you there!