On the first Thursday of every month the Association hosts an open Virtual Meetup (formerly Town Hall). These meetups are designed to provide an opportunity for the community to connect with the Association and to learn more about who we are and what we are working on, while also providing an opportunity to offer suggestions and feedback.

Today at OSUOSL's offices in Portland, Oregon a sprint kicked off to upgrade Drupal.org to Drupal 7. This sprint is a major step forward, moving the infrastructure that we all use onto the latest version of our software. We are also laying the foundation for additional upgrades on Drupal.org so we can continue to make it an amazing place to collaborate. This is step one in a major plan for Drupal.org.

One of the Drupal Association goals for 2012 is to enhance drupal.org and make it a better place for developers, site builders, and contributors to the Drupal project. Working out of the Drupal Association's office in Portland, Oregon Tyler Ward is helping us to achieve that goal.

As the Planeteers say: Let our powers combine!

aaahh.. bringing back some gold ole saturday morning cartoons into the mix.

Do you organize meetings, camps, or sprints?

Come join myself and rocking community organizer Doug Vann for the Drupal Community Leader meetup at DrupalCon Denver. In this two hour meeting and roundtable discussion we'll bring together our organizing powers to spread the power of the Drupal community throughout the world.

What can you expect?

Connect with other community organizers to exchange ideas, join forces, and collaborate on growing your community. Discussion will include how to collaborate with other organizers and how the Drupal Association can be used as a force to further camps, meetups, introduce Drupal Days and collaborate together to enhance the toolset available to community organizers and leaders. 

When and Where?

5:30pm Tuesday at DrupalCon Denver (after the last session of the day but before the party)
Drupal Association Room at DrupalCon Denver

All of us at the Drupal Association wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. The past year has been an amazing period of growth for the Association and we could not have done it without your continued support and the amazing passion you all have for the Drupal Project. Have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year, take a well deserved break and let's gear up for an amazing 2012.

Have ideas for the Drupal Association in 2012? Join our planning process, happening now. 

2011 was a big year for the Drupal Association. In our first year of staffed operations the Drupal Association was effective in a number of initiatives but didn't meet our expectations in others. It was a year of growth for us, as we learned how to navigate within and support the community and be an organization that is truly reflective of the community we support. Now with a year of learning behind us and a new governance structure we're looking forward to 2012.

This week the Drupal Association staff said goodbye to Isabell Schulz as she began her transition to other endeavours. Isabell has been a valued member of the Drupal Community and of the Drupal Association for many years and has been an absolute tremendous asset to our community. It will be dificult for us to find another person with the same strength, talent, expertise, personality, and pure awesomeness that Isabell brought to the Association.

Calling all Data Addicts! If you're like me you crave data, pure raw data that can be turned into information. At this Thursday's Town Hall meeting we're going to be taking a look at DrupalCon's attendance and trends that are emerging. Lizz Trudeau will start the meeting off with an overview of DrupalCon attendance starting with data from OSCMS in 2007 and up to DrupalCon London 2011. She'll present analysis about attendance and sponsorship, and answer any questions you have.

Key questions that she researched for the Drupal Community include: