DrupalCon 2017: Reviewing the Impact

DrupalCon 2017 may be over, but we’re still feeling the impact. Last week 20+ Phase2 team members and over 3,000 sponsors, attendees, and speakers converged on Baltimore for 5 days of Drupal.

In case you weren’t able to join us in person, here is a recap:

Impact At The Phase2 Booth

At this year’s conference, we focused on highlighting the impact digital technology, and specifically Drupal, has and can have on the world around us. We also drew attention to the fact that technology would be nothing without the incredible vision and talent of the people who fuel it.

Phase2’s booth was designed to showcase our event theme: “Vision + Technology: The Impact Is Infinite.”

We believe, and are energized by the fact, that digital technology allows one person to reach billions, with the simple stroke of a key.

And we know that the impact doesn’t end there...

When a vision is combined with technology, we have the power to set something into motion, the outcome of which is not entirely known. Actions build upon one another and inspire reactions, putting transformation entirely within reach - the impact of which is infinite.

We took our impact message and created a one-of-a-kind, interactive voting installation in the Phase2 booth. The voting station empowered DrupalCon attendees to come together and offer  their input by voting on important community issues.

DrupalCon attendees voted by completing the following sentences:

• I want to live in a word where ______ doesn’t need an initiative, it’s just a given.
• With _________, anything is impossible.
• The impact of _______ is endless.
• If we focused more on ________ what we can achieve is infinite.

With the words:

• Privacy & Security
• Accessibility
• Community
• Education
• Diversity

Each vote deposited a corresponding color of sand in a plexiglass container. Voting data was displayed visually in real time as each person’s vote contributed to a unique piece of sand art.

The Results of the Vote

The final results are in and DrupalCon attendees voted to make an impact on “education”. In response to the vote, Phase2 will make a donation to The Digital Harbor Foundation, a local Baltimore youth tech education nonprofit. We were thrilled by the participation in our booth and inspired by the beauty of the final sand art and how it really was a great visual representation of  what we can achieve as a community!

Impacting the Drupal Thought Leadership

Phase2 was represented in six DrupalCon sessions and we were excited to invite some amazing clients on stage with us, including Pinterest, Turner (NBA), Score and Weight Watchers. Here’s the full session lineup - feel free to check out the video of each session:

• Building NBA.com on Drupal 8
• Accessibility, New Technology, and the Aging Baby Boomers
• Dungeons & Dragons & Drupal
• Pinterest’s Component Based Design: Breaking Down Silos, Saving Time, and Empowering Content Editors
• Drupal As Tech Education: Fostering New Staff Via the Drupal Stack
• Score.org: User Experience for 320+ sites on one flexible platform!
• Nonprofit Summit

One great Phase2 moment involved our Director of Engineering, Tobby Hagler, and his Dungeons & Dragons themed session. As a major D&D fan, Tobby has submitted this talk to DrupalCon multiple times over the years, and this year it was finally accepted! To commemorate his perseverance and the awesome subject matter we created a D&D themed t-shirt that everyone from Phase2 wore in support.

Caitlin Loos and Chris Bloom spoke on the success of Phase2’s BuilDesign Internship Program and offered some insightful strategic and tactical advice to agencies that are looking to build their own junior talent program. Watch the session here.  

The Impact is Infinite

We’re back from DrupalCon Baltimore exhausted, but exhilarated by the creativity and talent of the Drupal Community. We are reminded of the impact our collective talents can have on our lives and the world around us. It was an amazing week with team members, partners, clients and friends and we’re already looking forward to DrupalCon next year!