Drupal Iberia 2024 was a landmark event that successfully brought together the vibrant Drupal communities of Portugal and Spain. This event marked the first significant collaboration between Associação Drupal Portugal (Portuguese Drupal Association) and Asociación Española de Drupal (Spanish Drupal Association), fostering innovation, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing within the Drupal ecosystem.
The city of Évora , a UNESCO World Heritage site, was the designated location to receive the Drupal event, as it provided a rich cultural backdrop, making it an ideal location for this significant gathering. Évora is located 2 hours away by car from Lisbon, hence traveling was part of the experience, as such, Ricardo Melicio and I took advantage of this time to share updates regarding our work projects, as well as updates about our personal lives. As we arrived at Évora, we headed to PACT - Parque do Alentejo de Ciência e Tecnologia, a modern facility equipped with state-of-the-art amenities that would support the enjoyable and productive event of Drupal Iberia 2024.
Given that this was the first Iberia edition to be held, Drupal Iberia was split into two days to accommodate the vast number of sessions that were planned. It is important to note that the talks and discussions involved renowned experts from the Drupal community that shared insights on the latest advancements, best practices, and future trends in Drupal development. Moreover, live demonstrations of cutting-edge Drupal applications and integrations were conducted, providing practical insights into their implementation and benefits.
Of the many topics presented, I would like to highlight a few that caught my attention and spiked my interest:
- Building community culture in organizations
- Local development environments (DDEV)
- Drupal 11
- Accessibility
- Drupal scalability
- Marketing personalization
- Agile Waterfall
Another great part of this event, from my point of view, was the dinner that was organized at the Bar of the University of Évora, as it provided us the opportunity to be in a completely informal environment and I was also able to catch up with old colleagues and friends of mine. Unfortunately, not all colleagues were able to attend this social event, as they needed to depart back home and this was further reflected on the second day of the event, as there were not many attendees.
To sum up, it was great to finally have a joint Drupal community event between Portugal and Spain. Drupal Iberia 2024 was an enriching experience for all attendees, fostering a spirit of collaboration and innovation. Whether you were a Drupal professional or a newcomer to the community, this event offered something for everyone. I hope further investments of the associations continue to occur, in order to provide more events like these, since sharing and acquiring knowledge with and from fellow colleagues is a great learning experience for all! It was truly an unforgettable Drupal journey!
Here’s to more future events!
