Last year, I created a presentation for DrupalCamp Atlanta called "Growing the Drupal Community". Since then, it's been my hallway track conversation of choice, and everyone I talk to seems onboard with the goal of growing Drupal. As part of my role on the Drupal Association board, I'm chairing the Community & Governance Committee. We've been having lots of conversations about facilitating community growth, and I wanted to share some of what I've been thinking.

There’s never been a better time to be a Drupal user in Canada.

Since I started using Drupal in 2008, I’ve seen anecdotal evidence that Drupal is popular in Canada. Since 2006, and probably earlier, there have been active users groups in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, that organize regular conferences and meetups. These local groups are key to the Drupal community’s culture of open source and knowledge sharing. So I wasn’t surprised to learn that Canada is fourth in the world in terms of active users on Drupal.org (behind the US, Great Britain, and India).

I spent last week hanging out with over 1000 Drupalers at Drupal Europe, the biggest Drupal event of the year in Europe. It was held in Darmstadt, Germany and brought Drupal users of all sorts from all over the world. Most attendees were from Europe, but many travelled from Asia, North America, and as far away as Australia to attend.

The administrative interface for Drupal is notoriously intimidating for content editors who are new to the platform. I do a lot of training for Drupal content editors and administrators and have witnessed this first-hand.

As you probably know, voting is currently open for the Drupal Association’s Board of Directors. The Board of Directors plays an important role in developing the Association’s strategic direction, and voting for the Board of Directors is an opportunity for members of the Drupal community to participate in shaping the Association’s future.

The best part of my job is teaching Drupal. As a Drupal trainer, I get to meet a lot of Drupalers with really different backgrounds. Some are brand-new to Drupal, some have lots of experience. Listening to them tell of their Drupal journeys, both the highlights and the low points, has given me insights into the different ways people encounter Drupal and some of the most common reasons why they love it, use it and get involved in the community (or not).

Our team realized that the most needed contribution to Drupal is also the most simple: thanking someone who has helped you. So we're handing out 1000 flowers at DrupalCon Baltimore.