Imagine an event where passionate developers, eager learners, and open-source enthusiasts unite to explore and enhance a powerful tool. That’s what Drupal Developer Days Burgas 2024 is all about. This year, the event will be held from June 26 to 28, 2024, at Burgas Free University, offering a unique blend of learning and community.
Drupal Developer Days is an annual gathering dedicated to the open-source content management system Drupal. This three-day event will have amazing sessions, hands-on workshops, and lively discussions. Attendees can also look forward to various social events and some exciting surprises. Organized by the Drupal Bulgaria community, this event is set to be a memorable experience.
Get the Latest in Drupal!
Alka Elizabeth, sub-editor at The Drop Times, had the chance to speak with some of the key organizers. Valery Lourie, Maria Totova-Cholakova, and Hristo Chonov shared their insights and excitement for what’s to come.
Alka also connected with a few speakers, includingFrederik Wouters, Head of A.I. at Calibrate, and Klaus Purer, Principal Engineer at Jobiqo. Fredrick shared insights into his session on AI integration with Drupal and the role of AI in the future of Drupal development. Klaus discussed key takeaways from his session on D7Security, focusing on the support and maintenance of Drupal 7 sites after January 2025. He also shared how the D7Security project will help Drupal 7 site operators transition smoothly during the end-of-life phase and what resources will be available to them.
Main Goals and Expectations
When asked about the organizers’ main goals and expectations for Drupal Developer Days Burgas 2024, Valery Lourie highlighted the importance of in-person meetings in the post-COVID world.
"In the post-COVID world with the rise of work-from-home and hybrid work mode, in-person meetings are more important than ever. For many (me included), gathering for several days is a rare chance to look around my everyday routine and “get in sync” with other people’s agenda: issues they face, new approaches, new technologies. This is… refreshing."
Valery explained.
Valery Lourie
He also noted the shift in DDD Burgas's AI-related agenda, moving from fears about AI replacing jobs to practical discussions on leveraging AI to enhance productivity and user experience. Valery emphasized the importance of the Drupal Starshot initiative, announced by Dries during his DrupalCon Portland keynote, which has been integrated into the conference schedule with a keynote by Lauri Timmanee.
Maria Totova-Cholakova shared that the main goal for DDD 2024 is to ensure participants have the best experience in both knowledge sharing and networking.
“We knew in advance that there would be a big interest, and this has shaped our main goal: to make sure that the participants will get the best experience in terms of both knowledge sharing and networking”
She also mentioned the significant emphasis on creating the Open Website Alliance and the Starshot initiative during the keynote sessions.
Hristo Chonov expressed pride in showcasing the Bulgarian Drupal community and providing an affordable, rich program that includes Bulgarian traditions.
Hristo Chonov
“The event has travelled through Europe and even was repeated in some countries multiple times and we wanted to show that the Bulgarian community exists and that we can organize an affordable event for anyone with a rich program combining some Bulgarian traditions and making it more than just an event for developers, but for people to come close together and to get to know each other better”
Expected Turnout and Engagement Strategies
Regarding the expected turnout, Valery Lourie mentioned the idea of offering a vacation experience for Drupalists and their families while maintaining the conference spirit.
“Burgas, being not only a tourist hub but also a university city, seemed like a perfect match,”
Valery noted.
Maria Totova-Cholakova
Thanks to generous sponsors, Maria Totova-Cholakova highlighted the efforts to keep ticket prices low and provide additional discounts.
“We know that the times are hard right now. Many people were willing to join but couldn't do so due to the political and economic situation. We kept the price of the tickets low and the early bird rates available for a prolonged time, plus offering extra discounts for big groups,”
Maria explained.
She mentioned that more than 160 people have joined so far, with tickets still being purchased.
Hristo Chonov discussed the challenges posed by late flight announcements and the economic struggles of some agencies, which affected the expected turnout.
“If it was not for both points we would have expected at least 250 attendees, which was our original goal,”
Hristo said.
Valery Lourie explained the straightforward selection process for sessions and speakers, involving a team of seven people who evaluated each session on a 1 to 5-grade scale.
“Sessions that got the highest average rate made it into the final schedule”
Maria Totova-Cholakova emphasized the variety of topics included to ensure there is something for everyone.
“We strived to include a variety of topics, which cover each track and to ensure that there will be something interesting for everyone,”
Maria explained.
She also mentioned the high level of interest and numerous session proposals, allowing for a wide range of BoFs and workshops.
Diversity and Inclusion Efforts
When asked about the importance of diversity and inclusion at Drupal Developer Days Burgas 2024, Maria Totova-Cholakova emphasized that these themes are central to the event’s planning and execution. Recognizing the significance of creating an inclusive environment, the organizing team has made concerted efforts to ensure that the event reflects a wide range of voices and perspectives.
“We focused on selecting speakers from various backgrounds and designed activities to be inclusive and accessible. Our organizing team reflects this diversity, reinforcing our commitment to a welcoming environment”
The organizing team itself reflects this commitment to diversity and inclusion. Comprising individuals from various cultural and professional backgrounds, the team brings a wealth of different perspectives to the planning process. This diversity within the team helps ensure that the event welcomes all participants and that the activities and sessions are relevant and engaging for a wide audience.
Insights from Speakers
Alka Elizabeth also connected with a few speakers, including Frederik Wouters, Head of A.I. at Calibrate, and Klaus Purer, Principal Engineer at Jobiqo.
Frederik Wouters shared insights into his session on AI integration with Drupal and the role of AI in the future of Drupal development.
“AI integrations in Drupal are power tools for editors. I'll give a historical perspective on AI in Drupal, current and future AI capabilities, and how developers can start integrating AI without needing deep knowledge of complex APIs,”
Frederik said
Frederik Wouters' Session at Drupal Developer Days | Image Credit: Drupal Developer Days LinkedIn
He also touched on emerging trends, mentioning in-Drupal bots that know more about modules and generate content types and layouts.
Klaus Purer discussed key takeaways from his session on D7 Security, focusing on the support and maintenance of Drupal 7 sites after January 2025.
“The key takeaways are an overview of options for Drupal 7 site owners, including engaging commercial contracts with Drupal 7 LTS vendors or maintaining Drupal 7 code themselves with the D7Security open source project,”
Klaus explained.
He highlighted how D7Security will help site owners during the end-of-life phase with security update notifications and Gitlab issue queues for discussions and fixes. Klaus also emphasized the need for community awareness and contributors to the D7Security project.
Klaus Purer's Session at Drupal Developer Days | Image Credit: Drupal Developer Days LinkedIn
Klaus emphasized that D7Security is seeking awareness in the Drupal community to ensure that a path forward for Drupal 7 will exist. He highlighted the need for contributors to help spread the word about D7Security and to implement the design for their static website at d7security.org.
Satisfaction with Organizing the Event
Maria Totova-Cholakova shared the most fulfilling aspect of organizing DDD.
“Seeing the community come together to learn and collaborate is incredibly rewarding. Witnessing attendees engaged and inspired makes all the effort worthwhile,”
Maria said.
Hristo Chonov expressed pride in hosting an international event in Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian Drupal community came together to make this happen, and we’re proud to host an international Drupal event in Bulgaria.
Challenges Faced
Valery Lourie discussed changing perceptions about Burgas.
“We worked hard to fight the perception of Burgas as a distant destination. In reality, it’s a popular tourist spot with a modern airport”
Maria Totova-Cholakova emphasized teamwork in overcoming challenges.
“We established clear roles and responsibilities and maintained open communication. Thanks to our amazing team members, we handled everything on time,”
Maria Totova-Cholakova confirmed that the Drupal Starshot initiative would take centre stage at Drupal Developer Days Burgas 2024. This initiative, a major focus of the event, will be a significant topic of discussion, providing attendees with numerous opportunities to delve into its intricacies and future impact on the Drupal ecosystem.
With Cristina Chumillas, Lauri Timmanee, Gábor Hojtsy, and four more core committers at DDD 2024 Burgas, there will be plenty of opportunities to explore the details in person. Don’t miss them out!
These sessions will provide a platform for knowledge sharing and foster collaboration and networking among participants. By interacting with these experts, attendees can gain valuable perspectives and practical advice on implementing and leveraging the Starshot initiative within their projects.
With such a rich agenda, Drupal Developer Days Burgas 2024 promises to be an unmissable event for anyone involved in the Drupal community. For more details on the event schedule and speakers and to register, visit the official website. Be sure to RSVP for the various social events to secure your spot and make the most of this unique opportunity to connect with fellow Drupal enthusiasts and experts.
Image Attribution Disclaimer: At The Drop Times (TDT), we are committed to properly crediting photographers whose images appear in our content. Many of the images we use come from event organizers, interviewees, or publicly shared galleries under CC BY-SA licenses. However, some images may come from personal collections where metadata is lost, making proper attribution challenging.
Our purpose in using these images is to highlight Drupal, its events, and its contributors—not for commercial gain. If you recognize an image on our platform that is uncredited or incorrectly attributed, we encourage you to reach out to us at #thedroptimes channel on Drupal Slack.
We value the work of visual storytellers and appreciate your help in ensuring fair attribution. Thank you for supporting open-source collaboration!
Disclosure: This content is produced with the assistance of AI.
Note: The vision of this web portal is to help promote news and stories around the Drupal community and promote and celebrate the people and organizations in the community. We strive to create and distribute our content based on these content policy. If you see any omission/variation on this please reach out to us at #thedroptimes channel on Drupal Slack and we will try to address the issue as best we can.
Alka ElizabethMy puns are intended.
Kazima AbbasKazima Abbas is a sub-editor at The Drop Times
