2015 started out strong with our first DrupalCon of the year, which took place from 10-12 February in Bogota, Columbia. Nothing feels better than to bring the power of DrupalCon to a new region where attendees can revel in their love for Drupal, the community, and enjoy time together. As people listened to the Driesnote, attended sessions and sprints, and celebrated with some Tejo, we heard a lot of “this is a real Con” and “it feels so good to experience this in my own backyard”.

Sharing the gift of DrupalCon with the Latin American community was a joy for Drupal Association staff and community organizers. It wouldn’t have happened without help from Aldibier Morales, Carlos Ospina, Ivan Chaquea, Nick Vidal, and Jairo Pinzon, who helped organize the event. Conversely, it better connected the Drupal Association with this region, helping us better understand the high level of contribution as well as new ways to support this region.

263 people attended DrupalCon Latin America from 23 countries including 12 Latin American countries. 63% of attendees said that this was their first DrupalCon, which underscores why it’s so important to bring DrupalCon to new parts of the world. Attendees were primarily developers from Drupal Shops, but there was more diversity than expected. The event also attracted a higher level of beginners than expected and 14% of attendees were women, which falls between DrupalCon Europe (10% women) and DrupalCon North America (22%). Below are some demographic tables that compare DrupalCon Latin America with DrupalCon Austin.

As you can imagine, the most attended sessions were focused on Drupal 8. DrupalCon Latin America was the first event to offer translated sessions and all sessions were recorded and posted to the DrupalCon YouTube Channel. Thanks to Lingotek, 20 additional session recordings were translated, too, and can be found on Youtube.

One of the big takeaways for Drupal Association staff was finding out how many attendees contribute to Drupal. When Megan Sanicki, COO, asked in her keynote introduction presentation how many people contributed, a large number of hands went up. It explains why DrupalCon Latin America had the largest percentage of attendees attend the sprint compared to any other DrupalCon --  38.4% of attendees showed up to make a difference. Thanks to the sprint leads, YesCT, alimac, DevelCuy, jackbravo and the other 19 sprint mentors, 101 people were able to participate in the sprints.

We’re also happy that financially the event achieved its budget goals. When planning DrupalCon Latin America, we knew that hosting the event in a new region would create budget challenges. We accepted that and were willing to operate this DrupalCon at a loss. We see this as an investment in a region that will grow because DrupalCon was hosted here. Below is the high level budget and further below is a more detailed view into the expenses.

Overall, DrupalCon Latin America was a success! Session evaluations came back strong and the event received a high Net Promoter Score of 80. Also, attendees felt that they received more value than expected (see chart below).

While we hoped for larger numbers, it’s important to point out that DrupalCon Amsterdam in 2005 had about 100 attendees. When the event returned in 2014, it hosted 2,300 people. All regions have to start somewhere and DrupalCons have the power to infuse community members with a burst of energy and passion that helps the community grow. We saw this immediately after DrupalCon Latin America with the growth of Global Training Days. Last year, the region hosted a total of 7 training sessions, but right after DrupalCon Latin America, the region hosted 10 - not even ¼ of the way into the year. Additionally, three Latin American community members nominated themselves in the Drupal Association At-Large Board Elections.

We are thrilled that we were able to bring DrupalCon to new regions of the world. Be sure and attend the closing session of DrupalCon Los Angeles to find out where we are bringing DrupalCon next.

DRUPALCON STATISTICS

DEMOGRAPHIC COMPARISONS

Business (sales, marketing) Front end (design, themer) C-Level Site Builder Other (PM, Trainer, etc) Site Administrator

SESSION STATISTICS

DRUPALCON FINANCIALS