Why I Love Drupal People

Image credits to http://forumone.com/blog/behind-the-curtain-the-making-of-the-drupalcon-prenote/

First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DRUPAL 8. OMG!! Go play with it, get started down our Drupal 8 Tutorial Track, then come back. This means you too Symfony people - Drupal 8 is actually pretty darn cool.

But what's even better than the release? This will sound like touchy-feely garbage, but it's true: the Drupal people. This is a special group, let me tell you why.

The First Time I Met Drupalers

The first time I met the Drupal community in real life was during a Behat talk for DrupalCon Portland. This was a new community for me, and my goal was simple: teach them something about Behat and get them excited. Bah! Get them excited? How clearly I did not know Drupalers yet. At a crucial moment, I prepared to show a feature in dramatic fashion: hoping to enliven an audience that was now two full days into a conference. But I never delivered that big moment. Instead, I flipped the slide and the entire room - packed hundreds deep - erupted in applause. I stood smiling, dumb-founded.

I've been to every DrupalCon since and DrupalCamp Mexico. And each talk is the same: people climbing over each other to take photos of the slides, packed rooms, and insightful questions. And of course, there's also the DrupalCon Prenote... one of the most ridiculous, but fun things I've ever witnessed.

When Drupal chose to integrate Symfony, that was of course great. But the people, they're better than I could have hoped for.

A few are so awesome, I have to call them out. First, our best friend Larry Garfield, the amazing people-connector Cathy Theys, Mr Drupal Console Jesus Olivas and of course, the famous mustachioed (and wonderfully generous) jam.

So, happy birthday Drupal 8! Now let's all build something amazing, together.