DrupalCamp Cemaes 2024 Roundup

They came by ferry, plane, motorcycle, bicycle, train, car, and camper. I was lucky enough to walk through the woods. In total there were nine humans and one dog at the first ever DrupalCamp Cemaes. Not quite the 30 people I was aiming for, but I couldn't be happier that the people who decided to attend were the ones who were here.

It was never really about numbers, but trying to do something a bit different in a small village which is off the beaten path. I really didn't know if anyone would be willing to come to Cemaes for a Drupal camp, and part of me still can't believe it happened. The whole thing really was a bit of a wild idea I had when first moving here, but sometimes those wild ideas are the ones worth doing.

So what happened on the day? Lots of coffee (and Yorkshire Tea) was had, a few people gave talks, lots of questions and conversations before, during, and after the talks, and one dog tried his best to sniff every corner of the village hall.

I opened the day with a short welcome and discussed a bit about why I wanted to do the camp, how I thought web independance was important in a time when big tech seems to steal everything, and how it would be nice if small villages such as Cemaes could attract remote workers. Seriously, I'd love it if some more Drupal people showed up here!

During the day four people gave talks. Rachel Lawson showed us what's possible with Drupal and GitHub codespaces, Mike Anello talked us through Drupal Starshot, Andy Broomfield demoed LocalGov Drupal, and James Shields covered contributing to Drupal.

I was hoping for a kind of unconference meets hallway track vibe, and I'd have to say that's what the day delivered. With a small group the day had a nice laid back, informal atmosphere. We all got to ask a lot of questions and talk to each other without needing to rush to the next scheduled talk. Everyone had time to top up their coffee or tea or grab a quick snack. And we all learned a lot, in person, from other people in the Drupal community. That's certainly the measure of success of any Drupal event.

Back in April I wrote about the financial aspects of the camp, so how did things pan out in the end? Well, the ticket sales didn't quite cover everything, so I'm out of pocket about £40, not exactly a huge loss. In the end that doesn't matter at all. The Village Hall ended up being a fantastic venue, Cafi Banc across the street delivered us a tasty lunch, we had beverages and snacks all day, and dinner for everyone in the Stag Inn on Saturday night was delicious. A big thank you goes out to Gwyn from the Stag as well for all of his help (and donuts)!

Thank you to everyone who attended, it was great catching up with some familiar faces and meeting some new folks, too. I still can't believe Mike is from the next town over from where I grew up! As always it's the people that make Drupal events special, see you in 2025!