Against the backdrop of snow-capped peaks and invigorating alpine air, attendees immersed themselves in a whirlwind of workshops, discussions, and outdoor activities showcasing the vibrant spirit of open-source technology and the beauty of the Swiss mountains.
We took this opportunity to ask Josef Kruckenberg, Product Owner at Liip and co-organiser of the Drupal Mountain Camp, a few questions.
Josef Kruckenberg, Product Owner at Liip and co-organiser of the Drupal Mountain Camp ©Patrick Itten
What are the goals of the Drupal Mountain Camp?
The Drupal Mountain Camp brings together experts and newcomers in web development to share their knowledge of creating interactive websites using Drupal and related web technologies. We are committed to uniting a diverse crowd from different disciplines, such as developers, designers, project managers, agency and community leaders.
The main highlights include:
- Pre-conference with skiing, snowboarding and co-working in Davos in the Swiss Alps
- 3 keynotes on headless CMS, open-source funding and personal development
- 3 days with workshops, sessions and exchanges around the open-source CMS Drupal
What is your involvement in this, also as a Liiper?
As Drupal Community Coordinator at Liip, Jens Vranckx and I are part of the organising team that makes the Drupal Mountain Camp happen. For this year's edition, I have been focusing on recruiting keynote speakers and inviting speakers from other countries to provide a rich and diverse line-up. I also coordinate with our marketing team, coordinate some logistics at the venue, encourage Liipers to speak, and have fun taking pictures of the event.
In our workshop, Drupal for End Users, Jonathan Noack and I compared the different ways of creating landing pages with Drupal and allowed the audience to test blökkli, our interactive, open-source page-building solution.
As a board member of the Drupal Switzerland association, I’m also organising a Drupal Local Association Updates session that acts as an exchange format for open-source leaders in countries like France, Belgium, and Switzerland.
Jonathan Noack presenting blökkli ©Patrick Itten
Which speech inspired you the most and why?
I especially enjoyed Tearyne Almandarez's talk about grit and personal development. It reminded me of how I dealt with difficult challenges in my career, how imposter syndrome can hold one back and how important it is to find clarity about where you want to go, especially if that means you have to go outside of your comfort.
What outcomes would you like to share following this edition?
The Swiss and international Drupal community had a lot to share within the days of the mountain camp.
It's inspiring to see the multitude of approaches to solve key problems, such as interactive page building with Drupal.
I'm proud of the Liip team for contributing substantially to open-source by sponsoring and co-organising Drupal Mountain Camp and sharing our knowledge in many sessions.
Conference of Jutta Horstmann ©Patrick Itten
What are the next challenges?
The Drupal Mountain Camp is all about bringing people together. The organisers will get together, do a retrospective and get ready for the next iteration. What can we do to make it more accessible? Will we do it as usual in Davos? We had a lot of good discussions already at the conference, so I’m looking forward to seeing where we take the organisation next.
For Liip, we will continue investing highly in the open-source and Drupal community. We are excited to see how the community will use blökkli and what they contribute back to it.