The notes of the DrupalCon first-timer
Although this wasn’t my first public speaking experience, it was my first time speaking at the biggest Drupal event. The most challenging part of the process for me was choosing a topic. After almost nine years of working with Drupal, I had accumulated enough development and project leadership experience to share, but every idea seemed to have already been covered. None of them really made me feel excited. I knew I needed to talk about something I was confident and passionate about to make it more engaging for the audience.
Then my husband asked, “What brings you joy? What are you proud of?” That’s when I realized: my long path in mentoring—helping others take their first steps in web development, learning Drupal, and building their confidence—was what I was truly proud of.
I felt mixed emotions throughout the submission process: excitement that I was finally proposing a session for DrupalCon, doubts about the topic’s value for such a large event, fear that I wouldn’t deliver the message concisely and engagingly (since I only had 15 minutes to speak), and, of course, the stress of having only three days to complete the submission. So you can imagine my disbelief when the session got accepted—and even more when I was chosen as a Featured Track Speaker for the Open Web community track!
Later on, when more than twenty people attended my talk, Empowering Drupal Developers: Redefining Training and Mentorship, and actively asked questions and sought my advice afterward, I felt reassured. It confirmed that the Drupal community truly cares about supporting each other and nurturing new developers. The community is clearly passionate about spreading knowledge and fostering a culture of mentorship and inclusion within their companies.
One of the biggest highlights of the event for me was witnessing Dries’ keynote from the audience. Seeing the father of Drupal casually queuing for waffles and chatting with everyone around him was surreal. It’s incredible how naturally people come together to share experiences, ask questions, and collaborate on projects. Contribution Day was another highlight for me—watching people volunteer their time and knowledge to improve and build the technology we all use and love was inspiring.
Overall, it was an amazing experience, both as a speaker and as a community member. I’m already thinking about what topic I could present at the next DrupalCon Europe. See you there!
Photos
Hero Bram Driesen, licenced as deed Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0. The original image was edited by narrowing it.
Yevgeniya’s speech Gareth Alexander, licensed as All rights reserved.
