Zoocha at DrupalCon Barcelona 2024: Part 1

The Drupal Community witnessed a glorious and as per the opinions of many, one of the best DrupalCons ever happened in Barcelona this year. Many Drupal experts and organizations have contributed tremendously to this global conference. Zoocha, a Drupal development agency from the UK, generously shared the important updates and outcomes of their session with The DropTimes for the benefit of the greater Drupal Community who couldn't attend the event in person. The sessions will be discussed in a two-part article.

The Final Hurdle

On September 25, 2024, the Business Development Manager of Zoocha, Hannah O'Leary kicked off Zoocha's sessions at DrupalCon. Hannah covered all things empowering and supporting your pitch team towards success such as agency pitching, and discussing how one can best support our team to deliver fantastic pitches that promote trust and value in the clients we work with.

"Too often we rely on the sales leaders in our agencies to deliver a stellar pitch and win new business. Through empowering the experts across our teams to share engaging insight into their area of expertise, we can build immediate trust with a prospective client and, as a result, win more Drupal clients."

One of the core themes from the presentation was the importance of assembling the right team for each pitch, ensuring they are well-prepared, collaborative, and supported to deliver confidently when it matters most.  She stressed the need for flexible preparation, allowing the pitch process to fit into the busy schedules of agency teams, while keeping them relaxed and confident for the presentation day. 

Hannah also highlighted the value of exposing the entire agency to the sales and new business processes, ensuring alignment and collective understanding. Effective communication was another critical theme, with an emphasis on meeting clients where they are, choosing language that resonates with their specific needs and expectations.

Audience engagement was high, particularly around managing the nerves of team members who may not be seasoned presenters. Attendees sought practical advice on helping staff feel more at ease when facing clients. Another key area of discussion revolved around the role of AI in agency projects, with many curious about how to address client concerns upfront during the pitch process. Hannah emphasized the need for transparency early on, making sure that AI’s value is communicated clearly and its use justified from the start.

The key takeaways were clear: tailor your pitch team to reflect the client audience for greater rapport, build in flexibility to accommodate busy schedules during preparation, and focus on concise, direct communication during the pitch. This ensures that client time is used efficiently, prioritizing what truly matters to them. These strategies help agencies position themselves as not just service providers but trusted partners who understand and meet their clients where they are.

"With a confident pitch team and increased support for new business within your agency, you can eliminate the common pitfalls that cause teams to fall at the final hurdle in the sales process."

Everything you need to know about cookies but are afraid to ask!

"The world of cookies is changing. By the end of this year, Google aims to have phased out 3rd party cookies entirely for Chrome, which has big implications for website owners."

Will Huggins, the CEO of Zoocha in his presentation highlights that,

"most people know a little bit about cookies, few understand what they are, why there is a move to replace them, and what it all means for website users and editors."

Offering a ‘safe space’ for attendees to ask the questions they were too afraid to ask, Will started by breaking down the basics of cookies and then explored what a "cookieless future" could look like. The session catered to non-technical members of the community, offering a clear overview of how to balance user privacy and data protection while maintaining a great user experience and gaining valuable insights into website performance and marketing ROI.

Will addressed several key questions, beginning with what cookies are, how they function, and why they are used. He then moved into discussing the reasons for the ongoing changes in cookie usage, prompted by evolving privacy regulations like GDPR. There was also considerable focus on whether cookies are being replaced and, if so, by what technologies. For website managers, the discussion centered on how these changes impact the ways websites are run and how data is managed moving forward.

The audience responded with high levels of engagement, asking numerous questions ranging from analytics and marketing attribution to whether there could be a tool to bulk accept cookies across all websites—demonstrating both curiosity and humor in navigating this complex topic. These interactions highlighted the strong interest in practical, user-friendly solutions for managing cookies, data privacy, and web performance.

Key takeaways from the session included the fact that cookies are not disappearing, but the way they are used and managed is increasingly crucial to meet stricter privacy regulations. While many browsers now block third-party cookies by default (though Google Chrome has yet to do so), this shift presents challenges for marketing attribution data. However, there are alternative ways to capture this data while prioritizing user privacy. Will emphasized the growing importance of focusing on first-party data and gaining greater control over who can access user data through methods like server-side tracking. These changes require careful planning but are essential for maintaining compliance and optimizing user experience in the future. means for website users and editors.