All Welcome at DrupalCon

DrupalCon gathers a range of citizens of the Drupal ecosystem to learn, share, and collaborate together. The value of the conference is in the perspectives, energy and diversity of experiences participants share. No matter who you are or where you’re from, you’re invited to participate in DrupalCon

DrupalCon began setting goals to overtly increase diversity starting with DrupalCon Baltimore 2017, and continues today.

The results of these prior DrupalCons are promising. DrupalCon Nashville attendee Peta Hoyes said, “This DrupalCon was the most diversely attended technology conference I have ever seen in terms of the variance of women and people of color attending and speaking. I was completely blown away.”

Submission Stats
Stats above taken from 2018 submissions and selected sessions.

 

How can you help?

  • If you are from an underrepresented group, submit a session—and let us know who you are; it helps us improve our inclusion efforts
  • Recommend speakers and/or program committee members to the conference chairs by emailing our DrupalCon Coordinator
  • Forward the session submission form to relevant affinity groups 
  • Suggest to potential speakers that they submit a proposal during our submission period, happening now!
  • Reach out to potential speakers and attendees you'd like to encourage to submit and/or attend. Via Twitter:
    • Session Submission tweet
    • Encourage to present tweet
    • Invitation to join me tweet

How do we help? 

For those submitting proposals, we suggest abstract help, and encourage use of the Drupal Support Community via Slack. The #session-help Slack channel is dedicated to session development, submission support, and proposal feedback. The volunteer Program Team's role in this process is to answer questions, provide support, and offer concrete guidance to help an array of people submit proposals.

On the session submission forms, we ask for self-identification in a number of applicable categories, specifically from individuals who identify with one or more communities in categories that include: ability, age, ethnicity, gender, learning differences, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status. We track this information in order to reflect on the process, implement additional outreach, and make adjustments. 

We also offer the DrupalCon Inclusion Fund, which is allocated solely toward attendance of participants from underrepresented groups, and is funded higher than ever for 2019 in order to assure new and different perspectives are on stage.

Submission Stats
Stats above taken from 2018 sessions.

What about during the conference? 

The onsite experience at DrupalCon is positioned to be informative, inclusive, and engaging for all attendees. Every aspect of the conference is exponentially enhanced by the inclusion of more perspectives; from contribution hubs (sprints) to BoFs; and from sessions to social activities. 

The work efforts at the contribution hubs (sprints) have a substantial and meaningful impact on the Drupal Project. The more diverse the contribution teams, the greater range of experience, viewpoints, and skill sets, leading to a Drupal crafted with many different voices. The Seattle program will also feature Inclusion BoFs, where those who identify with underrepresented groups have the option to gather. These are open-format discussions with no agenda, where attendees are encouraged to listen and discuss topics pertinent to that community. 

Beyond the program components, DrupalCon and the Washington State Convention Center aim to be safe and welcoming for all participants. Planning details include: gender-neutral bathrooms, meals that accommodate a range of dietary needs, sign language interpreters, choosing a pronoun sticker to add to your name badge, stickers to indicate your communication preferences, a quiet space to serve as a getaway during the day, lanyards to opt out of photography, a women in Drupal luncheon, a diversity breakfast, and strict adherence to the Code of Conduct - a “coding standards for people” that directs all in attendance to interact respectfully.

The Code of Conduct was generally well-received at the last DrupalCon, as one attendee stated, "I appreciate the visibility and enforcement of the Code of Conduct for those who need it."

Visit these additional resources: Drupal inclusion resource page and Dries’ recent blog post, Increasing Drupal contributions from underrepresented groups.

Please share this blog and information about DrupalCon Seattle 2019; with your support, we can reach a wider and more inclusive audience!