I was in DrupalCamp Manila 2012

I'm an accidental website builder. My work with a non-profit firm a couple of years ago gave me the chance to learn it. It was a time when company websites were becoming a fad. For a non-profit, every cent count. Getting an institutional website up and running at that time was still uncertain and seemed outside our non-profit's mission-and-vision. To save on funds, we tried to get our own website through volunteer contribution. My boss had a computer professional friend whom he invited to help us put-up one. He then assigned me to follow-up his friend on his contribution. It turned out his friend was very busy and could not give ample attention to it. His friend decided to give me a crash course on open-source softwares, web-servers, web-programming, and content-management-systems. He pointed me to online resources for more readings and self-study.

To cut the story short, I ended up building our firm's website using open-source Joomla! content management system (CMS). Slowly and little-by-little, I developed the website and learned along the way. I enjoyed adding features by downloading and uploading packages of codes from Joomla's repositories. Most of them were free.

As I gained facility in tweaking the CMS. I tried to make it behave the way my boss wanted it. I found that certain features were fairly fixed and inflexible. I started to look for other options. That was when I discovered Drupal! I was impressed by its flexibility and granularity. With the proper skill and knowledge, one can configure a website the way one wishes and make it appear very different out-of-the-box.

User-support and updates come by through volunteer contribution from more advance users. Joomla! and Drupal were two of the leading open-source cms that have a big community of users. I started to spend some time in their respective forums and bulletin-boards. I discovered that users hold face-to-face meetings from time to time. I wondered, "it would be great to meet these guys!"

In the last quarter of 2009, I got wind of a meeting of Drupal users in Manila. They called it DrupalCampManila. They had a website, www.drupalcampmanila.com. I was happy it was a free event! I signed-up. I also encouraged a long lost friend - who I discovered lately was also into website building and design - to sign up too. It was a big bargain for me and was “hitting two birds with one stone”: 1) I will meet other open-source web app users and see how they look like; and 2) I will meet, after so many years, my long lost friend and catch up with each other's life!

Fast forward to year 2012. After two DrupalCamps (Dec 2009 and February 2011) and several meet-ups, Drupal users in the Philippines held the third DrupalCamp Manila on the 25th of February at UP Marine Science Institute, Quezon City.



I was invited to volunteer and I enlisted. Perhaps, it was the volunteering “virus” I contracted way back 1995 during the World Youth Day (held in Manila) that urged me to lend a hand. Or maybe the desire to “give back” to the open-source community whose many expert members generously shared their talents to the world. I volunteered knowing I am not a php programmer yet and just a hobbyist end-user site builder. During the pre-event planning, I lent some of my time sharing my thoughts on the various options considered. I was impressed by the paid features of Basecamp as a project-management communication system.

I also volunteered to come very early to help out in the set-up. The memorable and exciting days of World Youth Day 1995 came back to me. I was edified and grateful for a number of generous volunteers who also came early, especially Gian, Czek, Jayson, Nathan, Karen, Rachel of Promet, and some members/staff of Computer Professionals Union (CPU). Chamé, who volunteered to bring her laser-printer for the event's use came not so early, but it was understandable: she came from the other side of the metropolis driving her car, the way women usually drive. Some of the advance Drupal users, Danreb, Daniel and Johan, who volunteered to be the first ones to present also came early. It was edifying to see them.

The venue, UP Marine Science Institute, was both challenging and appropriate as site for technology meets like DrupalCamps. It was challenging: the wifi internet connection was unpredictable and unreliable; the session rooms were located in unexpected places; access to the rooms was maze-like; signage had to be installed impromptu. It was appropriate in the sense that DrupalCamps are youthful, familiar, relaxed, easygoing, adhoc, informal and volunteer-run kind of event.

I also volunteered to assist in the Install Fest, an introductory clinic for first-time Drupal users to get their hands and feet wet with Drupal. I felt sure of myself thinking I'm one to two pages ahead of new Drupal users in terms of navigating Drupal's scattered configuration interfaces. Before the event, I was assuring myself I will just be tutoring a small group of newbies. When Install Fest time came, I was surprised there were a lot of fresh attendees! We had to rearrange the session room to allow more people to come in.

I attended two sessions: “Let's Discuss Git!” and “Responsive Design: Start to finish”. The first was informative for a beginner. It was something to look forward to as a Drupal user rise in expertise and start to contribute code to Drupal. The second was an introduction to setting-up a Drupal-powered site to look nice and navigable regardless of screen-size (smart-phones, tablets, netbooks and laptops).

At the end of the last sessions, everyone were invited to gather in one of the bigger rooms for the closing talks. Rachel, the super-girl of Promet who led the event, thanked the volunteers, groups, and attendees for coming. Some freebies were raffled out. Sponsor's representatives (Promet, Solid Hosting, KiteSystems, New Amsterdam Ideas, Computer Professionals Union (CPU), PHP User Group Philippines (phpugph), Turfsite Computing, Itproasia, and MozillaFirefox) came forward to give short spiels.

It was a weekend well-spent. I was awed by the occurrence where people having a common appreciation of an open-source software become friends instantly! I came to realize of the aptness of the slogan at the official Drupal website: “Come for the software, Stay for the community”. It was cool!

I would be willing to attend other open-source (such as Joomla!, Wordpress, Linux, etc.) users' meeting if there will be one in Manila or nearby. Events like these makes one learn and network with other like-minded people. I am confident Drupal-related events will be organized in the coming days. As long as my time permits, I will be there again.