Drupal Meetup in Sofia to Focus on Future of Platform and AI Integration

Drupal-related community meetup in Sofia is set to take place this Thursday, May 22, at BetaHaus, Shipka 6, from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM EEST. Titled “The Future of Drupal,” the event is hosted by GeoNovation in partnership with The DropTimes and marks a new chapter for the open-source community in Bulgaria.

Organisers have positioned this gathering as both a celebration of Drupal’s ongoing evolution and a first step toward establishing a recurring space for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and innovation within the regional tech ecosystem. The event is designed to bring together diverse participants, including developers, engineers, technology leads, nonprofit organisations, and open-source advocates.

The evening will feature three lightning talks from Bulgarian Drupal professionals and companies, each lasting approximately 15 to 20 minutes. These presentations will explore themes centred on technological innovation within the Drupal ecosystem, particularly the integration of artificial intelligence and emerging tools that support developers.

Lead organiser Andrea Corda emphasised the significance of launching this event despite organisational and logistical challenges. 

“Really motivated to organize this meetup, even though the different issues we are facing for the amount of normal load we have faced, plus the full organization of the event,” Andrea said. “The first goal is to start and to put a new milestones in order to learn and make bigger the organization, so, just having the event I would consider a success.”

The event’s venue is provided by BetaHaus, a well-known coworking space in Sofia, while Geonovation is financing and promoting the event. 

“BetaHaus is offering the space where to present the event and receive all the guests, GeoNovation is the company in which I work, that is promoting and economically supporting the event,” 

he noted.

In line with the event’s theme, the program is designed to encourage forward-looking conversations around Drupal's role in the future of digital platforms. 

“We propose some ideas about the usage of AI in Drupal, about development and integration that can help the Drupal developers and their ecosystems,” 

said Andrea.

Speakers were selected through direct outreach on LinkedIn and professional contacts within the Drupal field, with a focus on individuals with demonstrated expertise in the sector. Efforts have been made to ensure that the event is accessible and impactful beyond the physical venue. The meetup will be live-streamed via LinkedIn, and full recordings will be made available afterward. Organizers also plan to publish written recaps and analysis based on the discussions, ensuring that the insights generated are shared more widely. 

“We will record the event session and we live-stream in Linkedin, and we will propose some articles as the results of the discussions to be published after the event,” 

he said.

This initiative is intended to be the first of many.

 “As it is the first event we organize, we can commit errors in the organization, the idea is to get experience and inspire people to have a broader variety of speakers and be more inclusive in Bulgaria with many other companies, proposing a meetup every 3 months,” 

Andrea concluded.

Participants can expect an evening of insight, community engagement, and informal networking, with refreshments provided. While attendance is free, capacity is limited to maintain an intimate and focused atmosphere.

Those interested in joining or supporting future events are encouraged to get in touch directly via email at [email protected]. The event will also be covered on social media and through post-event content published by The Drop Times.

The Sofia meetup is a starting point, it signals that Drupal has a new home on the map in Southeast Europe. Learn more about the event here.