DrupalCamp Austin: past, present, and future

From its inception in 2009, Four Kitchens has been heavily involved in the planning and organizing of DrupalCamp Austin, along with other Austin Drupal leaders like Astonish Design, Volacci, and Entermedia (to name a few).

It seemed like in 2011, we had hit our stride: Angela Byron was keynoting, we produced one of the first responsive DrupalCamp websites, introduced full-day training to the camp, and finally found a cool Druplicon mascot (we love you, hipster Druplicon).

Then in 2012, things came to a halt. Maybe the Mayans meant to predict the end of DrupalCamp Austin and not the end of the world. Okay, maybe not. But 2012 was definitely a turning point in the Austin event landscape with the inaugurating Formula 1 race at Circuit of the Americas. While CoA is great for the Austin economy, it was bad news for us and our camp.

Every hotel in Austin and the metro area was booked solid for the whole month of November, which is when we usually host our camp. We didn’t want to put on a camp that would be inaccessible to folks from out of town, especially our friends in Dallas and Houston; so we decided to cancel the camp as a result. (Although we did have an awesome one-day event aptly called Drupal Day Austin.)

Back with a vengeance

We’re no Die Hard 3, but we are back with a vengeance in 2013! (Sam Jackson may even make an appearance at this year’s camp. Okay, no. Don’t get your hopes up.)

Here’s what’s new this year:

• 3 days instead of 2: The camp will start on Friday with full-day trainings and a one-day web leadership summit open to anyone who works in the web (and free to attend!).
• Full-day trainings take place on Friday so you can enjoy 2 days of camp, uninterrupted.
• Half-day trainings will still be available the Saturday of the camp for those who prefer half-day training, and don’t mind missing half a day of camp talks.
• Tech trivia Friday! Start off the camp with a fun trivia night and test your overall geeky knowledge.
• We’re downtown, baby! Our venue this year is the Austin Convention Center, conveniently located right by the metro rail and near watering holes like Easy Tiger and The Gingerman (the unofficial post-meetup spot in Austin).

And now for the fun part!

Register for the camp

Submit a session

Get involved

Volunteer: Email us at volunteer (at) drupalcampaustin.org and let us know what you’re interested in.
Sponsor: Email me personally at cecy (at) fourkitchens.com to talk about sponsorship opportunities.
Train: Get in touch with Diana Dupuis at Astonish Design if you have any ideas or questions about training.

Stay updated

The best way to stay up-to-date is to follow @DrupalATX on Twitter or Facebook.

We hope to see you there!

—
Photo credit: jenniferconley on Flickr.