Meet the Trainers Taking the Stage at Florida DrupalCamp 2025

The wait is finally over! Florida DrupalCamp 2025 kicks off tomorrow, bringing together some of the brightest minds in the Drupal community for three action-packed days of learning, collaboration, and innovation. From February 21^st to 23^rd, the Florida Technical College campus in Orlando will transform into a hub of cutting-edge web development discussions, hands-on training, and inspiring contributions to the open-source ecosystem.  

This year’s lineup is nothing short of spectacular, with sessions covering everything from front-end design to back-end development, project management, and even off-the-island tech talks. Attendees will have the opportunity to sharpen their skills, network with fellow developers, and immerse themselves in the ever-evolving world of Drupal. And let’s not forget the much-anticipated Contribution Day, where developers and enthusiasts come together to push the platform forward.  

As excitement reaches a fever pitch, Alka Elizabeth, sub-editor, TDT, had the privilege of speaking with the trainers who will be taking the stage at FLDC 2025. They shared exclusive insights into their upcoming sessions, what attendees can expect, and why this year’s DrupalCamp is shaping up to be a game-changer.

So, whether you're a seasoned Drupal pro or a newcomer eager to dive in, Florida DrupalCamp 2025 promises to be an event you won’t want to miss. Let’s take a closer look at what’s in store!

Drupal CMS Preview 

Drupal CMS is set to redefine how developers and site builders interact with Drupal, and Michael Anello’s full-day workshop will offer a hands-on introduction to its key functionalities, including installation, project browser, AI integration, and the much-anticipated Experience Builder. The session aims to help attendees understand how Drupal CMS simplifies site building, making it more approachable for newcomers while still leveraging Drupal’s structured content. While Experience Builder has yet to make its full impact, Michael shares his optimism: 

"I feel like the real debut of Drupal CMS will be the version that ships with Experience Builder—right now, Drupal CMS is solid, but it isn't a no/low-code solution yet." 

He believes that its best-of-breed structured content backend will offer a unique advantage, adding, 

"I am really looking forward to seeing designer-centric workflows be developed with Experience Builder as their destination—I think there is tons of potential there."  

Beyond the technical features, Michael acknowledges that one of Drupal’s biggest challenges has always been its learning curve. While some perceive it as outdated, he firmly dismisses this misconception: 

"The biggest hurdle is that Drupal isn't easy to learn—this is a fact. The biggest misconception is probably that Drupal isn't modern—this is crazy talk." 

He sees Drupal CMS as a step toward making Drupal more accessible to no/low-code users, ensuring it competes with other site-building platforms. As a long-time community leader, he also emphasizes the importance of engaging with Drupal’s open-source ecosystem, stating, 

"Being involved in the community is a catalyst for becoming a better Drupal developer. There's nothing I do independently that improves my skills more than being involved in the community—sometimes it feels like cheating." 

This session is more than just training—it’s an opportunity to experience the future of Drupal while embracing the power of community collaboration.

Introduction to Agile and Git Workflows for Web Developers    

For developers accustomed to working solo, transitioning to team-based workflows can be a challenge. In this hands-on session, April Sides will introduce Agile and Gitflow, two essential methodologies for collaborative development. She emphasizes that working in a team accelerates learning: 

"Regardless of your coding experience, beginner or advanced, so much learning happens when you work with a team. As developers, we either keep up with technological changes or become extinct." 

By leveraging the collective knowledge of a team, developers can adopt new strategies, solve problems more efficiently, and grow both technically and professionally.  

One common misconception about Agile and Gitflow is that they slow down development, but April counters this notion: 

"If you research the statistics that compare Agile to the traditional workflow of Waterfall, Agile projects have a much higher success rate." 

She explains that increased communication and flexibility lead to better outcomes, and Gitflow enables parallel development while maintaining code stability. Beyond technical skills, she encourages attendees to engage with the Drupal community, adding, 

"Ask questions in or after sessions, participate in contribution day, attend social events. Curiosity, kindness, and showing up are great first steps in building relationships with the people that make Drupal a community."

Learn Drupal Forge

For Drupal developers looking to streamline their workflows, Salim Lakhani’s workshop on Drupal Forge promises to be a game-changer. This hands-on session will introduce attendees to a cloud-based development environment where sites can be launched, built, and shared in seconds—eliminating the traditional setup hassles of local development. Salim highlights the pain points Drupal developers often face, from rebuilding dev environments to managing hosting and collaboration. 

"Drupal developers often struggle with creating new sites. It should be two clicks, but it’s not. You have to install a local dev environment, read the manual, connect VS Code, and on and on… not easy. Why go through all of that?"

With Drupal Forge, these challenges are addressed by offering a cloud-based alternative that eliminates the need for local configurations, speeds up site deployment, and simplifies integrations with third-party tools.  

Beyond just efficiency, Drupal Forge aims to create “Aha!” moments for developers, as Salim puts it: 

"Aha! Why aren’t we using this already?! 
Aha, this will be able to do twice as much in half the time. 
Aha, this is so much faster, cheaper, and better than what we’re doing now." 

The session will demonstrate how site builders and agencies can leverage the platform for faster collaboration, improved security, and effortless project distribution. For anyone looking to refine their development workflow, Salim offers one simple piece of advice: 

“Go try Drupal Forge.” 

Whether you’re an individual developer or managing multiple projects, this workshop will showcase how Drupal Forge can unlock your potential and redefine how Drupal sites are built and deployed.

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Drupal

For those new to Drupal, Rod Martin’s Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Drupal is the perfect starting point. This hands-on session will walk attendees through the basics of Drupal 11, covering everything from content management and user organization to modules and themes. With Drupal CMS introducing a new way to interact with the platform, this session provides an ideal foundation for beginners. Rod, who has introduced nearly 50,000 people to Drupal, finds the most rewarding moments in seeing newcomers grasp the system: 

"I've always said that I love the moment. I see the light go on over people's heads when we're in class talking about Drupal… when somebody looks up and says ‘I get it!’, that makes me smile."  

Drupal has come a long way since Rod first started teaching it in 2011, and he believes that Drupal 11 is the most beginner-friendly version yet. 

"By far, Drupal 11 is the most well-thought-out version of Drupal. One of the most significant improvements, especially for people new to Drupal, is the consistency in the administration UI and the tabs across the top of every entity management page." 

Beyond the technical lessons, he encourages attendees to fully engage with the Drupal community: 

"Don't be afraid to ask questions, especially in beginner-type sessions… The Drupal community is incredibly open and supportive, and even those who are hard-core developers (you know - the really cool people) are fantastic people willing to help and get to know you."

 This session is not just about learning Drupal—it’s about becoming part of the Drupal ecosystem.

Learn Laravel: Intro for Drupal Developers

For Drupal developers looking to expand their skill set, Lee Walker’s Learn Laravel session offers a hands-on introduction to one of PHP’s most popular frameworks. Since both Laravel and Drupal are built on Symfony, Drupal developers will find Laravel’s modern PHP architecture familiar. As Lee explains, 

"Nothing is surprising, and that is good. It just works as you’d expect. No ‘magic.’" 

However, one key mindset shift is Laravel Facades, which differ from Drupal’s dependency injection approach. While some Drupal developers might initially overuse Facades, Lee notes, 

"Using too many Facades is a code smell, telling you to use D.I. instead." 

By the end of the session, attendees will have built a CRUD-based Laravel application, gaining the ability to determine when Laravel is a better fit than Drupal for a project.  

The decision between Laravel and Drupal often comes down to project needs. Lee explains, 

"If you are managing content, i.e. having non-technical users edit and maintain content through a workflow, then Drupal is your go-to tool. If you are doing more of an ‘App’ style project—especially CRUD projects—then Laravel is a much better option." 

He also highlights how learning other frameworks benefits developers, stating, 

"‘Getting off the Drupal Island’ has been a thing for Drupal for quite a while." 

Laravel's Inertia.js layer and Collections are features Lee wishes Drupal had, while Laravel, in turn, could benefit from Drupal’s centralized community structure. Ultimately, he encourages developers to engage with their local user groups, adding, 

"If there isn’t one in your area, then it’s now up to you to start one! That’s what I did." 

This session isn’t just about learning Laravel—it’s about broadening perspectives and strengthening connections across open-source communities.