How many of us started out building Drupal sites as a hobby? Drupal used to be easy to download, install on low cost hosting, and build a site. Drupal was common for personal sites, blogs, photo galleries, forums, etc. But Drupal is rarely used for these any more.

It could be argued that we should leave these to other solutions, and let Drupal focus on bigger sites. But it is not just the loss of these sites that is hurting Drupal. People entering Drupal through hobby projects gained valuable experience about the CMS, making them more open to using it for bigger projects, or even becoming Drupal professionals. I also think that people coming to Drupal through hobby projects may be more disposed to engaging with the Drupal community, participating in the issue queue, and contributing solutions to the project.

The new Starshot initiative is designed to make Drupal easier for novice users. Could this result in a new generation of Drupal hobbyists, and could they become the new wave of Drupal professionals and contributors?

This BOF is intended to be an open discussion - with hobbyists and professionals - on attracting new hobby users, and engaging them in the Drupal community.