Drupal Association DrupalCon DC, Spring 2009...DrupalCon DC, Spring 2009 Washington, DC is the ideal...

JULY 17, 2008

by Development Seed

Development Seed, Inc.1534 U Street, NW, Suite 2

Washington, DC 20009

☎ (202) 250-3633

for the Drupal Association

DrupalCon DC, Spring 2009Bringing DrupalCon to Washington, DC

DrupalCon DC, Spring 2009

Washington, DC is the ideal location for the Spring 2009 DrupalCon. The city

is centrally located, fun, and a destination in itself. It’s also home to an active

and large Drupal community that’s eager to help organize, and to an afford-

able state of the art venue that could accommodate us. All of these points

and more are explained in the proposal below.

We propose having DrupalCon DC from March 2 - 6, 2009. No major inter-

national holidays or technology conferences conflict with these dates, so we

anticipate a great turnout.

I. Ideal Location

Washington, DC is a truly unique city. It’s vibrant, green, politically and so-

cially active, culturally diverse, chock full of techies, and, as the capital of the

United States, it’s historic. On top of all that, the city has all the elements

needed to make DrupalCon DC a whopping success. One of the most sig-

nificant factors is the community that already exists in the city.

Emerging Drupal Hub

Washington, DC has rapidly growing Drupal and open source communities

that are fueled by the city’s unique business makeup that demands innova-

tive technological solutions, which more and more frequently means using

Drupal. Technologists have come and continue to flock to the city to meet

this growing need. Some other open source platforms have recognized this

too. Plone is having their Fall conference in Washington, DC (although we’re

sure we can get a MUCH better turnout for a DrupalCon : ) ).

Home to Nonprofits and Politicos

Washington, DC is of course home to the federal government, but it also

provides the setting for one of the largest and most influential set of industry

groups to use open source - nonprofit, membership, and political organiza-

tions. In fact, there are more nonprofits, international development agencies,


Bringing DrupalCon to Washington, DC

I. Ideal Location

II. Community Powered

III. Organizing Team

IV. Venue

V. Program

VI. Website

VII. Budget

VIII.Conclusion

Attachment 1: DC Community

Attachment 2: Organizing Team

Attachment 3: Venue Info

Attachment 4: Budget



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charities, unions, associations, political organizations, think tanks, and

places that generally influence the U.S. government and global scene here

than anywhere in the country. These types of organizations seem to increas-

ingly dominate the pages of many Drupal showcases indicating the growing

popularity of Drupal as a platform for social and political change. In a recent

blog post, Dries reported statistics indicating that 27% of Drupal implemen-

tations recorded by a survey were for nonprofits organizations

(http://buytaert.net/mollom-usage-pattern). These organizations are hungry

for Drupal expertise and information in their quest to adopt powerful but low

cost tools. No where in the United States (or perhaps the world) is there

such a concentrated grouping of these types of organizations than in Wash-

ington, DC.

Home to Media and Bloggers

Hand in hand with politics comes media. Washington, DC is well known for

its PR machines, journalists, and media organizations. These influential

groups are avid bloggers and users of CMS. They use social media and

many DC media organizations are users or expected adopters of open

source tools like Drupal. Large publishers like Gannet (USA Today) and

Washington Post Interactive are leaders in online content management. Al-

most all major national and international media players have a presence here

in DC. The hosting of DrupalCon in Washington, DC is likely to attract the

attention of much more media and blogging here than just about anywhere

else.

Home to Technologists

Technology is a large part of the DC business culture. The Washington, DC

metro area is one of the five largest technology hubs in the United States,

due in part to the presence of the federal government supported by large

local IT consulting firms like AMS/CACI, Lockheed Martin, and Booz Allen

Hamilton. The region's internet community developed early because of the

physical presence of MAE East, the east coast hub of the internet backbone

in Northern Virginia which helped to create AOL and provide the logical



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http://buytaert.net/mollom-usage-pattern

http://buytaert.net/mollom-usage-pattern

headquarters for telecom and ISP giants like Sprint, MCI, and UUnet. These

companies, coupled with strong software companies like MicroStrategy,

SAGA, and some great universities like Georgetown, George Washington,

and Johns Hopkins, have created a brain trust of techies in Washington, DC.

During the first internet boom of the late 90's, Washington was home to

many great .com's. Today things aren’t much different. DC is still home to

many large and established technology companies, and as you’ll see in Sec-

tion II, it’s still home to many innovative start ups. These companies are all a

part of the thriving and growing tech community in the city, and they all have

a lot of energy. After hours we get together to talk shop - almost every night

of the week there’s a meetup to talk about Flickr, web 2.0, ICT for develop-

ment, and other tech topics.

By having DrupalCon in Washington, DC, we can capitalize on the strong

base of new and existing Drupal users and on the energy of the local open

source community. Hosting an event like DrupalCon in Washington, DC will

bring it more local prominence and connect Drupal developers to the huge

demand that exists in the city. This combination will expand the Drupal user

pool and generate fresh investment into Drupal software and the Drupal

community.

Weather

Athough DrupalCon DC would take place in the winter, Washington, DC’s

mild climate will make it rather hospitable. The average temperature for

March is a high of 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 Celsius) and a low of 33 de-

grees (.5 Celsius), which is much more comfortable than temperatures felt in

Boston or New York City at the same time. Also, snow and other severe

weather, although possible, are unlikely .

Getting Here

Washington, DC is easy to get to from almost anywhere. Reagan National

airport (DCA) is only a 20-minute, $1.65 metro ride from downtown DC. Al-

though it’s a national airport, it’s easy to get flights with just one layover to

almost any city in Europe, Central America, and South America. The city is



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also served by two international airports: Dulles International Airport (IAD)

and Baltimore/Washington International airport (BWI). Both are easy to get to

via train or shuttle bus and offer direct flights to many international hubs.

Washington, DC is just a short train ride away from many of the major cities

in the United States, including New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Bos-

ton, and Atlanta. Many very affordable bus routes are popping up along the

east coast of the country so it is literally possible to travel from New York

City and other cities to Washington, DC for $1 if you time it right. We’ll post

these options and explain how to get the cheapest fares on the DrupalCon

DC website.

Visas

Unfortunately traveling to the United States from abroad has gotten harder in

recent years. Currently, citizens of 27 countries can enter the United States

with just a valid passport, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Waiver_Program.

To make sure everyone who wants to can attend DrupalCon without undue

hassle, we’ll post detailed information about the visa process for people

from ALL countries on the DrupalCon DC website. Our organizing team will

also act as liaisons between consulate offices in DC and people looking for

visas to facilitate the process.

For International Travelers

Another great benefit of Washington, DC is that it’s truly an international city.

People from all over the world call it their home and tons of international visi-

tors come every year. This makes it easy for international visitors to find out

what they need to know - no matter how proficient they are in English - as

most tourist information is available in many languages. It also gives DC a lot

of character. It’s just as easy to find an Ethiopian or El Salvadoran restaurant

as it is to find an American one.



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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Waiver_Program

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Waiver_Program

Other Attractions

Washington, DC is teeming with things to do. The National Mall is an excel-

lent place to fly a kite while seeing our national monuments, the Capitol

Building, and the White House. The Smithsonian museums that line the Mall

have amazing and varied collections and all are free. The city is packed with

small art galleries with unique local and international exhibits. The National

Zoo (also free to enter) is right off the metro and boasts two pandas, a few

tiger cubs, and all the traditional zoo animals. We have several large parks

that are great for biking and wiffle ball games, and hundreds of small ones

good for lounging. There are tons of great local bars and restaurants. Per-

haps one of the bigger selling points, we’ll have a new President sitting in

the White House for everyone to greet just in time for DrupalCon DC.


Like Drupal itself, DrupalCon DC will be community powered. The Drupal

community in Washington, DC is incredibly active

(http://groups.drupal.org/washington-dc-drupalers). Our monthly meetups

draw a crowd of 50+ people. In fact, in February we started holding two

Drupal meetups a month - one focused on networking and one on technical

discussions. This has been a resounding success with more and more peo-

ple coming out for each event. There’s also an active Drupal community

based in Northern Virginia, which is just five miles from downtown DC, that

has monthly events also, (http://groups.drupal.org/northern-va-users-group).

There is a lot of overlap and coordination between the two groups that only

makes each stronger. Drupal is being taught at area high schools and col-

leges. Last year one Google Summer of Code student was from DC (Will

White), as were at least three mentors. This pool of dedicated local Drupal-

ers will be a huge asset to DrupalCon DC.

We’ve talked about bringing the next Western Hemisphere DrupalCon to

Washington, DC with several members of the local Drupal community and

have had an amazing response. Everyone we’ve spoken with is very excited



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http://groups.drupal.org/washington-dc-drupalers

http://groups.drupal.org/washington-dc-drupalers

http://groups.drupal.org/northern-va-users-group

http://groups.drupal.org/northern-va-users-group

about the possibility and has offered to not only lend their support but also

their help in whatever way it’s needed.

Below is a list of the Drupal developers who have already offered to help

organize DrupalCon DC. At this time, we’ve only spoken with a few local

developers and shops who helped come up with this idea and who have

been crucial in writing this proposal. We plan to open the discussion up to

the entire community this week. We’ll ask for their feedback, their ideas, and

their help in organizing and supporting the conference. We think that by the

end of July, we’ll be able to triple the size of this list and start laying concrete

plans on how people can help.

‣ Tom Lee, EchoDitto

‣ Chris Jones, EchoDitto

‣ Ted Serbinski, ParentsClick

‣ Courtney Miller, Floatleft

‣ Eric Mandel, BlackMesh

‣ Frank Febbraro, Phase 2 Technology

‣ Jason Wapole, Phase 2 Technology

‣ Margaux O’Malley, Grand Junction Design

‣ Greg Lavallee, C.I.T.I.

‣ Jess Snyder, WETA Public Television and Radio

‣ Mike McCaffrey, Consultant

‣ Jeff Miccolis, Development Seed

‣ Alex Barth, Development Seed

More information about each of these Drupalers is available in Attachment 1.

These people will all also be a part of the Organizing Team.



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To get a big win, you need a great team of players. We’ve started pulling to-

gether a team to organize DrupalCon DC and look forward to building on

this core over the next few months.

‣ Eric Gundersen, who will round up the DC Drupal community to help

and work with the Drupal community on the program

‣ Bonnie Bogle from Development Seed, an experienced organizer who

will dedicate about 15 hours per week in the four months leading up to

the conference

‣ Local Drupal shops who have committed man hours to organize Dru-

palCon DC. (See Section II and Attachment 1 for more details.)

‣ Groundswell Marketing, http://www.groundswellmktg.com/, a profes-

sional event planning organization that will handle conference logistics

For more information on all of these players, please read their bios in the

Organizing Team attachment.

We’re also very excited to learn from past organizers’ work. DrupalCon Sze-

ged is shaping up to be an amazing conference. We’ll work with Gabor and

other organizers to learn from their experiences as much as possible. We

plan to do the same for past DrupalCons, especially Boston.



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IV. Venue

We propose to have DrupalCon DC at the the Washington, DC Convention

Center, http://www.dcconvention.com/default.aspx. Many cities, like Boston

and Barcelona, only have large conference facilities in isolated neighbor-

hoods or move them out to smaller cities or the suburbs where there is more

space. This can cause logistical headaches and limited dining and after hour

options. Luckily our Convention Center is in the middle of downtown DC.

Its location makes the Convention Center the ideal setting for DrupalCon. It’s

only a short walk to hundreds of bars and restaurants, numerous hotels and

hostels, and many of the city’s tourist attractions (the White House, for ex-

ample). For anyone wishing to stay further from downtown or to commute in,

the Convention Center has its own metro stop on the green and yellow lines.



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http://www.dcconvention.com/default.aspx

http://www.dcconvention.com/default.aspx

It’s also a state of the art conference facility that was built just a few years

ago. It’s the premiere venue in the city, and it has hosted many top notch

conferences and events, including an Adobe Photoshop Seminar for 1,000

people, the FOSE business and government technology conference with

20,000 attendees, and the ASNE/NAA/NEXPO joint newspaper association

conference with 3,400 attendees. See the Venue Attachment for photos,

floorplans, and other information about the Convention Center.

Accommodations

All types of accommodations can be found in Washington, DC, including five

star luxury hotels, one star economy hotels, hostels, apartment rentals, and

room shares. Prices start at about $25 a night for a bed in a hostel and $100

for a hotel room within walking distance of the Convention Center, and aver-

age out around $250 a night. We’ll make it easy for out-of-towners to find a

place to stay by posting information about a wide range of hotels on the

DrupalCon DC website, along with links to make reservations online. We’ll

also negotiate discounts and hotel blocks at the most convenient locations.



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Public Transportation

Washington, DC has an easy to use, safe public transportation system. The

metro connects most destinations in the city’s center as well as National

Airport and train and bus stations. It’s affordable with all inner-city fares un-

der $2.00 and most rides costing only $1.35. Additionally, a massive bus

system crisscrosses the city and can get you to every place the metro does

not go.

However, a big benefit of having DrupalCon DC at the Convention Center is

that once people arrive at the conference, they’ll be able to walk to every

place they need to go, whether that’s a meeting, a restaurant, a museum, or

a shop for a souvenir. And if they don’t feel like walking, they can always rent

a bike. Washington, DC is home to the pilot program of public bike rentals in

the United States https://www.smartbikedc.com/smartbike_locations.asp.



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https://www.smartbikedc.com/smartbike_locations.asp

https://www.smartbikedc.com/smartbike_locations.asp

V. Program

The program will be developed closer to the dates of the conference and in

collaboration with selected track chairs and the Drupal community. Drupal-

Con Szeged seems to be doing a great job organizing the program for the

upcoming conference. We plan to discuss these efforts with the organizers

to learn as much as possible from their successes and challenges.

Pre-conference events

Space will be available for pre-conference workshops. When the venue is

finalized, we’ll post the availability and price of these rooms and if people

wish to organize meetings prior to DrupalCon, they can do so.

Keynote Speakers

Following the lead of the DrupalCon Szeged organizers, we included in the

the budget funds for three keynote speakers from outside of the community.

These expenses include their travel, hotel, and an excellent bottle of wine as

a thank you gift.

Sessions

In the tradition of past DrupalCons, we’ll ask the community to submit ses-

sion ideas and to vote on these ideas. These votes, along with the guidance

of a committee of track chairs, will determine the program.

Birds of a Feather Sessions

Two rooms will be available at all times during the conference for Birds of a

Feather sessions. One will accommodate roughly 60 people and will be set

up for one session at a time, while the other room will be significantly larger

and set up to accommodate many smaller sessions at once.



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Developer Space

In the budget we included one room that will be designated as the developer

room. This room will be set aside for this purpose for the duration of the con-

ference.

Media Room

One small room will be available for the four days of the conference for any

media representatives - including bloggers, vloggers, etc. - who are covering

DrupalCon. Also as you’ll see in the budget, we plan to videotape the ses-

sions so that people who could not attend can still benefit from them. We’d

very much like to live stream this videos and will explore that possibility.

Permanent Exhibition

Platinum and Gold sponsors will be given permanent exhibit space in central

areas of our section of the Convention Center as an incentive for sponsoring

DrupalCon. These will be strategically placed to maximize traffic for spon-

sors and utility for conference goers.

Job Fair

We plan to hold a job fair during one afternoon of the conference. With

Washington, DC’s significant demand for Drupal programmers, this will be a

great opportunity to connect programmers with clients while earning addi-

tional revenue for the conference by charging employers who wish to have a

display table. We’ll invite local students to come by the job fair and use the

opportunity to recruit student programmers to Drupal.

Social Gatherings

Some of our best experiences at past DrupalCons have been over beers

after the day’s program is finished. We want to foster that type of networking

at DrupalCon DC. There are hundreds of bars and restaurants are within

walking distance of the venue, including corner delis, dive bars, international

restaurants, and the trendiest spots. Almost all of these places can accom-



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modate large parties for dinner or drinking, and many also have private

rooms that can be used for larger private events - often for no charge at all.

We’ll post this information along with maps on the DrupalCon website so

people can head out to the bar or restaurant that best suits their needs.

We’re also planning to have two nights of organized social events. The first

night of the conference we’d like to have a welcome happy hour. We’ll seek

sponsorship for this. We’ll look into various venues for this, including the

Convention Center and several large bars and clubs, and decide which will

be the most appropriate - and fun.

We’ll also facilitate industry networking happy hours similar to those held in

Boston (two of which we organized and thoroughly enjoyed). Many places

that can accommodate private parties of around 200 people are within walk-

ing distance of the Convention Center. To make it easy for the organizers,

we’ll provide information on these venues on the DrupalCon website.

Program for Friends and Family

We know that many people may want to bring their family and friends with

them to DrupalCon and take an extended vacation after the conference. As

we mention above, there’s plenty to do in Washington, DC. We’ll organize

several tours (at an extra cost) to some of the more popular sites in the city,

and we’ll provide information on other tourist destinations on the DrupalCon

website and at the Convention Center.



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VI. Website

Once Washington, DC is announced to be the host of the Spring 2009 Dru-

palCon, we’ll get right to work building the conference website. Our goals

with the website will be to

‣ Make it simple for people to register, book accommodations, and plan

their trip to the conference

‣ Continue DrupalCon’s legacy of community driven program and birds of

a feather sessions

‣ Answer all the questions people have about DrupalCon DC

With every DrupalCon, the conference website has leapt forward. We want

to continue this trend, and to make sure that happens Development Seed

has offered to build and maintain the DrupalCon website. The organizers of

DrupalCon Szeged have really taken the website to the next level. We plan

to work with them to learn about their successes, missteps, and what we

could do to improve the DrupalCon website for DrupalCon DC.



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VII. Budget

DrupalCon DC will be a nonprofit event with any surplus being donated to

the Drupal Association. See the attached budget for an estimated budget.

Sponsorships

As sponsors of DrupalCons held in Barcelona, Boston, and Szeged, we

know how important sponsorships are to DrupalCon and to the sponsors

themselves. We’re impressed with how the sponsorship were run in Boston

and how they’re being run in Szeged and by their success in funding the

conference. We plan to talk with organizers from both events to see what

worked best, and then use that to develop our sponsorship packages. We

expect to raise a minimum of $180,000 in sponsorships.

Conference Admissions

We want to make DrupalCon DC affordable for people coming from all over

the world and from all walks of life. DrupalCon Szeged is doing this in an

interesting way by providing admission rates that more than double as it

gets closer to the conference dates. We’re excited to talk about this strategy

to find out how well it works with the Szeged organizing team. We expect

attendance to be about 1,200 people. Our goal at this time is to provide an

early bird rate of $75 and increase that incrementally to $200. We estimate

that at these rates, admission fees will raise a minimim of $137,500.

Scholarships

For some Drupal developers, going to an international conference is simply

too expensive. We plan to provide full scholarships (admission, travel, and

hotel) to at least 20 needy developers and local scholarships (admission

only) to 20 other developers. Full scholarships will be open to anyone, while

local scholarships will be for high school and college students in the area or

surrounding cities. Once the budget is set, we’ll determine if we can offer

more scholarships.



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VIII. Conclusion

We hope this proposal has gotten you excited about having the Spring 2009

DrupalCon in Washington, DC and has shown you that the local Drupal

community is prepared to organize the best conference yet. Please contact

us if you have any questions or feedback. We’re happy to talk about this

proposal and our ideas in more detail.

Also, several members of Development Seed and the DC Drupal community

will be attending DrupalCon Szeged, and we’d be happy to discuss this

proposal in more detail - or hosting a DrupalCon in general - at that time.



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Here’s some information about the DC Drupal community members

who are committed to bringing DrupalCon to Washington, DC and

playing a role in organizing the conference.

Tom Lee, EchoDitto

Tom Lee is EchoDitto's senior software architect. Over the last three

years he's served as the technical lead on Drupal projects like

Greenpeace UK, Truthout.org, and GeniusRocket.com; besides that he

spends a lot of time with Wordpress, Movable Type, and various VoIP,

embedded system, and physical computing diversions. Tom also

serves as a technical advisor for DCist.com and a blogger for

Techdirt.com, and can regularly be found at DC area Dorkbot and

Drupal meetups.

Chris Jones, EchoDitto

Chris Jones is a developer at EchoDitto, a strategy and

communications firm specializing in helping progressive organizations

connect with their audiences online. Drupal has been in is blood for two

years now. He's been able to produce work like 1sky.org and

freepress.net in little time due to the general excellence of the Drupal

code-contributing community. When not coding, he spends his time as

a volunteer mechanic at a youth bike shop in Arlington, VA. He tinkers

as much as he possibly can.

Ted Serbinski, ParentsClick

As a chief web architect, performance specialist, and interface

developer, Ted is an internationally recognized web guy for his work on

high profile client websites and his numerous contributions to the open

source, content management system, Drupal, a web framework that is

being used by Yahoo, Sony, MTV, Warner Brothers, Lifetime TV, NASA,

and many more. He has been building websites for over eight years.

DC Drupal Community

Committed to Organizing DrupalCon DC

I. Tom Lee

II. Chris Jones

III. Ted Serbinski

IV. Courtney Miller

V. Eric Mandel

VI. Margaux O’Malley

VII. Frank Febbraro

VIII. Jeff Wapole

IX. Jess Snyder

X. Greg Lavallee

XI. Mike McCaffrey

XII. Jeff Miccolis

XIII. Alex Barth

Currently, he is the Chief Technology Officer for ParentsClick, a startup

company focused on helping moms connect, learn, and share with one

another. Before ParentsClick, he was the first employee of Lullabot

where he helped to grow the tiny company into very well recognized

Drupal consulting and educational company. While there, he was the

lead architect of Sony Musicbox website, co-architect of the MTV UK

website, and sole architect of Leo Laporte’s Netcast Network TWiT.

Additional clients he worked with on numerous scalability, performance,

and architectural issues include Lifetime TV, The Seattle Times, Our

Brisbane (Australia), Songbird, and many more.

An Ivy League trailblazer, Ted created his own degree at Cornell

University to better understand information technology and how it

relates to business. He graduated with a B.S. in Engineering, with a

declared major of Information Science, Systems & Technology and a

minor in Computer & Electrical Engineering.

When he’s not busy coding and building web sites with his Macbook

Pro, Ted can be found in the garage working on his 1997 BMW M3.

During the warmer summer months, he can be found racing around

various tracks across the country in excess of 100mph. Off the track,

Ted enjoys being an avid wine connoisseur, preferring smooth Pinot

Noirs and well balanced, crisp, fruity Rieslings. He currently resides in

Arlington, VA.

Courtney Miller, Float left

Courtney Miller has been developing Drupal sites for nonprofits since

2003. Her work in this area began when she moved from Atlanta to

Amsterdam where she began volunteering with ASCII, a free public

Internet space, and became absorbed in learning about open source

software and how it can be applied to the nonprofit sector. She began

working with Tactical Technology Collective, was asked to partner with

Marieke van Dijk and Auke Touwslager of Anderemedia to build a new

web site for the organization using Drupal, and the work of Floatleft

began.

DC Drupal Community


I. Tom Lee

II. Chris Jones

III. Ted Serbinski

IV. Courtney Miller

V. Eric Mandel


VII. Frank Febbraro

VIII. Jeff Wapole

IX. Jess Snyder

X. Greg Lavallee

XI. Mike McCaffrey

XII. Jeff Miccolis

XIII. Alex Barth

Previously, Courtney worked for IBM, implementing web sites for the

IBM Intranet and Internet, and for a start-up web software company,

WebTone technologies, as a Technical Analyst. Her interest in nonprofit

technology services began back in 1995 when she started volunteering

with the Georgia Justice Project, an organization she has continued to

support as a volunteer. She has a degree in Industrial Engineering from

the University of Florida.

Eric Mandel, BlackMesh

Eric Mandel is the CEO and co-founder of BlackMesh, a provider of

information technology solutions for small and mid-sized businesses.

Eric has been active in the Drupal community for the last year and is

currently an active member in both the DC Drupal Community and one

of the founding members of the recently started Northern Virginia Drupal

Group.

Since 2003, Eric has led the strategic direction of the company, building

a strong base of global, diverse customers and growing the company

by 100 percent each year. With over 15 years of experience, Eric is an

authority on building, implementing, and maintaining a wide range of

technologies, with experience at various levels of software development

and in-depth knowledge of existing and emerging methodologies.

Prior to BlackMesh, Eric served as development manager at Andrew

Corporation, where he managed the maintenance and support of their

E911 Emergency Cellular Location solution, and at ScoreBoard, Inc.,

where he built the service support team, managed and developed the

Planet ScoreBoard client portal, and over saw ScoreBoard’s IS-136

product from version 2.5 to version 5.2. Eric also held programmer,

manager, and developer positions with High Performance Technologies,

Inc and Walcoff & Associates, Inc.

Margaux O’Malley, Grand Junction Design

Margaux is one of the co-founders of Grand Junction Design. She is

responsible for overseeing all client projects, procuring new work, and

basically keeping all of GJD's clients happy.

DC Drupal Community


I. Tom Lee

II. Chris Jones

III. Ted Serbinski

IV. Courtney Miller

V. Eric Mandel


VII. Frank Febbraro

VIII. Jeff Wapole

IX. Jess Snyder

X. Greg Lavallee

XI. Mike McCaffrey

XII. Jeff Miccolis

XIII. Alex Barth

She graduated from Carleton College in 1997 with a degree in Latin

American Studies and Spanish. A year teaching and a year working in

the (very much) for-profit sector made it clear that she needed to be

doing something toward making the world a better place and

championing such progressive causes as affordable housing, human

rights, and preserving the environment. Since then she's worked with a

variety of nonprofit groups to further these causes, using Drupal as a

tool to empower them in their efforts.

Her personal focus is on environmental sustainability. She enjoys

spending as much time as possible outdoors. In her family and in Grand

Junction Design, she makes every effort to consider the environmental

impact of each action and decision, and to teach her children to do the

same.

Frank Febbraro, Phase 2 Technology

As the Chief Technology Strategist at Phase2, Frank Febbraro is

primarily interested and involved in software, technology, and integrating

new techniques and practices with proven methods and approaches. A

combination of inherent understanding and real world experience

enables him to attack challenges with a creative eye. He prides himself

on innovation and a business-savvy approach making his ideas a

powerful tool for Phase2 clients.

A founding partner at Phase2, Frank plays a significant role in

determining the company’s vision. His specialties include emerging

technology implementation, agile software development leadership

application and technology integration, full application life-cycle

management, and technical mentoring.

Jeff Wapole, Phase 2 Technology

Co-Founder and Managing Partner Jeff Walpole leads the strategy,

partnering, and business development efforts for Phase 2 Technology.

Jeff has also been instrumental in recruiting and managing staff,

overseeing contracting efforts, and establishing company processes. He

serves as a strategist for many of our closest client relationships.

DC Drupal Community


I. Tom Lee

II. Chris Jones

III. Ted Serbinski

IV. Courtney Miller

V. Eric Mandel


VII. Frank Febbraro

VIII. Jeff Wapole

IX. Jess Snyder

X. Greg Lavallee

XI. Mike McCaffrey

XII. Jeff Miccolis

XIII. Alex Barth

Jeff brings 15 years of IT, software, and consulting industry experience

to managing the firm. Before co-founding Phase2 in 2001, Jeff worked

for Olympus Group, Inc. where he served as a member of the

company's management team and was in charge of program areas

focused on custom web software development for sports and

technology clients. Jeff has also worked at several local software

companies and the systems integration firm SRA International.

Jeff holds a Masters in Business Administration, with a concentration in

the Management of Global Information Technology, from the Kogod

School of Business at American University and an undergraduate

degree from Tulane University. Jeff is highly active in local and national

technology groups and serves as a board member of the non-profit

community technology center, the Capitol Hill Computer Corner.

Jess Snyder, WETA Public Television and Radio

Jess Snyder is the Web Systems Manager at WETA, the flagship public

broadcasting station of the nation’s capitol, and is currently knee-deep

in the relaunch of weta.org on the Drupal platform. In addition to its

television and radio activities, WETA also produces a number of

nationally-focused informational websites on topics such as literacy

and learning disabilities. Brainline.org, a comprehensive guide to

preventing, treating, and living with traumatic brain injury, is the latest in

this string of projects and will be a Drupal-powered site. Prior to joining

WETA, Jess served in a variety of roles at the Morino Institute, a non-

profit organization that explores the opportunities and risks of the

Internet and the new economy to advance social change.

Greg Lavallee, C.I.T.I.

Greg is experienced in web and database development, and has special

interest in Open Source solutions. Greg joined Community IT Innovators

in an effort to find a place to put his technical skills to work without

having to sacrifice his values and he enjoys working with CITI because

he's been able to do just that. With CITI, Greg has been able to use his

knowledge of databases, data analysis, web design and application

development to help nonprofits and other ethical institutions to achieve

DC Drupal Community


I. Tom Lee

II. Chris Jones

III. Ted Serbinski

IV. Courtney Miller

V. Eric Mandel


VII. Frank Febbraro

VIII. Jeff Wapole

IX. Jess Snyder

X. Greg Lavallee

XI. Mike McCaffrey

XII. Jeff Miccolis

XIII. Alex Barth

their goals. Prior to working with CITI, Greg consulted in electronic

discovery with LECG and in healthcare litigation with Navigant

Consulting, Inc. with a focus in database development and data

analysis. Greg graduated from the University of Maryland, College park

with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics.

Mike McCaffrey, Consultant

Mike McCaffrey is a freelance web developer who has been living in

Washington, DC for more than five years. He was introduced to Drupal

in early 2006 when he attended one of the first Washington, DC Drupal

meetups. Inspired by the community, he started to use Drupal for more

and more of his web projects, until eventually it became the foundation

for much of his professional work. Some of his recent clients include

Architecture for Humanity, the Environmental Working Group, and the

Conservation System Alliance. Mike also organizes the monthly Drupal

Labs, which are the more technical counterpart to the monthly meetups.

Jeff Miccolis, Development Seed

Jeff is a resident hacker and bug fixer extraordinaire for Development

Seed. Whenever we find a glitch in a tool or an issue that we just can’t

resolve, we bring it to Jeff and he finds a way to fix the code to solve the

problem. Jeff looks at problems from the long view and therefore finds

solutions that fix the problems - for good. Whether it’s a cross browser

bug, an onslaught of spam, or something we’ve never seen before, we

count on Jeff to nail the details so our tools work smoothly.

Since joining Development Seed in 2005, Jeff has been developing

almost exclusively on Drupal. He’s been a lead developer in Organize

Groups, Context, Spaces, and other rmodules.

Alex Barth, Development Seed

Alex has an amazing talent for figuring out how to make tools work

better. He uses this skill to improve our news analyzer Managing News,

of which he’s been the lead developer from its conception, and to

devise smart workflows for multilingual websites.

DC Drupal Community


I. Tom Lee

II. Chris Jones

III. Ted Serbinski

IV. Courtney Miller

V. Eric Mandel


VII. Frank Febbraro

VIII. Jeff Wapole

IX. Jess Snyder

X. Greg Lavallee

XI. Mike McCaffrey

XII. Jeff Miccolis

XIII. Alex Barth

Before joining the team, Alex managed information technology for

Fundación Casa de los Tres Mundos, a development and cultural

promotion organization in Nicaragua. While working in the country, he

became involved in the Central American open source community. His

curiosity makes him regularly leave the realm of mere coding. In 2006,

he conceived and organized a traveling exhibit depicting life in

Nicaragua and in its sweatshops that toured in Nicaragua and Europe.

Alex also has a penchant for utopian automatons. He helped build the

most human-like robot ever made (it drank beer), a pancake catapult,

and a spherical virtual reality interface.

DC Drupal Community


I. Tom Lee

II. Chris Jones

III. Ted Serbinski

IV. Courtney Miller

V. Eric Mandel


VII. Frank Febbraro

VIII. Jeff Wapole

IX. Jess Snyder

X. Greg Lavallee

XI. Mike McCaffrey

XII. Jeff Miccolis

XIII. Alex Barth


Below is additional information about the committed players on the

Organizing Team for DrupalCon DC. If you have any questions about the

team that are not answered here, please just ask us.

Eric Gundersen

Eric will help out with many of the big picture elements in planning

DrupalCon, and as someone who’s been to four (not counting the

upcoming one in Szeged where he’ll be a chair in the Growing Drupal

track) DrupalCons now, he’s well prepared to take on that role. He’ll help

provide advice and feedback on most elements in the planning, and

he’ll facilitate getting our ideas back out to the Drupal community so

they can weigh in. He’ll also work with Bonnie to get members of the DC

Drupal community to jointhe planning committee. He already drinks with

a lot of them during the week, so he’ll be able to bring them in to

participate in almost any way that we need them.

Eric Gundersen, the president and lead strategist at Development Seed,

designs communication plans and crafts creative and effective

approaches to solving real world communications problems for clients.

This work, combined with his knowledge management work, leads to

designing innovative online applications and ground-breaking uses of

the Drupal platform for projects like Managing News, custom intranets,

and public/private group spaces for membership organizations.

Eric joined the Drupal community four years ago. He has also helped

grow the large and very active Drupal community in Washington, DC. He

helps lead its monthly meet-ups and arranges other community

gatherings to help potential users understand the platform and help

Drupal developers get to know each other better.

I. Eric Gundersen

II. Bonnie Bogle

III. DC Drupal Community

IV. Professional Event Planner

Organizing Team for DrupalCon DC

Lead Organizer: Bonnie Bogle

Bonnie is the person behind most of the events we organize at

Development Seed. She organized the two Industry Networking happy

hours we led at DrupalCon Boston, and she sets up our monthly Drupal

Meetups here in DC.

Organizing is in line with Bonnie’s bigger role at Development Seed.

Essentially, she’s our stage manager. She runs everything behind the

scenes, from keeping the business running smoothly to making sure

our team members are well taken care of. When she’s not busy with

running the business, Bonnie’s a communications strategist that we

deploy for ourselves. As a regular contributor to our blog and others,

Bonnie analyzes how organizations are communicating online and,

through research and firsthand experience, develops strategy guides

and best practice reports to help our clients best utilize online mediums

and push and pull strategies to spread their messages. She then puts

these to practice on our own blog.

Before coming on board at Development Seed, Bonnie ran the online

communications of NTEN, the Nonprofit Technology Network. While

there she helped facilitate NTEN’s annual Nonprofit Technology

Conference.

DC Drupal Community

The DC Drupal Community is incredibly strong, and very large with more

than 330 members. We’ll tap into this community to help plan

DrupalCon DC and make the conference is truly community driven -

locally and within the entire Drupal community. Many local Drupal shops

and individual developers have already committed to helping organize

DrupalCon DC. See Attachment 1 for more information about the

community behind DrupalCon DC.

We’ll reach out to the entire DC Drupal community - as well as the

greater Drupal community - to help plan DrupalCon DC and make sure

it’s the conference that the community wants and needs. After all, we

have to be true to our open source philosophy : )


I. Eric Gundersen

II. Bonnie Bogle



Professional Event Planner

To do the heavy logistical lifting that comes with organizing a big

conference you need an expert. We’ve found one. Groundswell

Marketing has planned other 1,000+ people events in the technology

field in Washington, DC, and this experience will help them make

DrupalCon DC a huge success. Most notably, Groundswell Marketing

planned the Nonprofit Technology Conference in Washington, DC in

2006 (and, well every Nonprofit Technology Conference for the past

eight years). The event drew more than 1,000 attendees and went very

smoothly. The company comes very highly recommended from Bonnie

Bogle, who worked with them behind the scenes to run the Nonprofit

Technology Conference last year. Bonnie has been in touch with the

head of Groundswell and they’re excited about the possibility of helping

to plan DrupalCon DC. In addition to the Nonprofit Technology

Conference, they’ve worked several LinuxWorld Conferences.


I. Eric Gundersen

II. Bonnie Bogle



Attachment 3: Venue Details

The Walter E. Washington Convention Center first opened its doors in 2003. It was built to replace the former

Convention Center to offer a larger conference space in the city. The new Convention Center is 2.3 million

square feet, making it one of the largest centers in the United States. It its first year of operation, it hosted more

than 1 million people at various events.

The Convention Center is centrally located in downtown Washington, DC. It has its own metro station - Mount

Vernon Square/Convention Center - on the yellow and green lines and is near many hotels, restaurants, and

tourist destinations. As you can see in this photo, the Washington Monument, which sits on the Mall along with

most of the city’s national monuments, is just blocks away from the Convention Center.

The Washington Convention Center is the premiere meeting space in Washington, DC. Here’s a look at the

inside of the facility.

The Convention Center has a wide variety of rooms that will accommodate the many different sessions we’ll

want to have at DrupalCon DC, including a general session with all attendees, sessions by track, birds of a

feather sessions, and a general hacking space.

Here’s a look at one of the meeting rooms available at the Convention Center:

Below, you’ll see the floor plan of the second floor of the Convention Center, where we propose hosting

DrupalCon. You can find more floorplans, photographs, and information about the Washington Convention

Center on its website, http://www.dcconvention.com.

http://www.dcconvention.com

http://www.dcconvention.com

Attachment 4: Budget for DrupalCon DC

Please note that while this is an estimated budget, we have taken care to include numbers that are as close to

accurate as possible. Most of these figures come directly from the venue (Washington Convention Center) and

the professional event planning organization we’ve been working with.

Item Cost per day Cost per four days

Venue

General Session Room, hold 912 $2,425 $9,700

Birds of a Feather rooms, one holding 180 for small

groups and one holding 80 to 120 for a large session

$2,210 $8,840

Session room A, holds 180 people (up to 440 depending

on set up)

$1,730 $6,920

Session room B, holds 252 $780 $3,120

Session room C, holds 160 $390 $1,560

Session room D, holds 252 $770 $3,080

Developer room, holds 60 $380 $1,520

Media room, holds 30 $180 $720

Total for Venue (Prices may change based on room

availability)

$8,865 $35,460

Job Fair Cost

Exhibit hall for job fair for one day $12,430 n/a

Total $12,430

Equipment

Internet - top of the line $3,000 $12,000

AV equipment for all rooms $3,745 $14,980

Videotaping of all sessions $4,000 $16,000

Total for Equipment $10,745 $42,980


Conference Materials

Signs - welcome, etc. $1,200

Programs for 1,200 people $12,000

Nametags for 1,500 (media, job fair, attendees, etc.) $350

Tote bags for attendees $4,620

T-shirts (can likely find for less) $12,000

Maps, other information $4,000

Miscellaneous expenses $10,000

Total for Materials $44,170

Catering

$15 meal voucher for Convention Center and nearby

restaurants

$18,000 $72,000

Coffee and water provided all day $2,400 $9,600

Total for Catering $13,200 $81,600

Staffing

Professional event planner for pre-planning $12,000

Staffing at event, AV, mgmt., registration desk manager

(staffed by volunteers), etc. - minimum of 5 paid people

working conference

$5,537.50 $22,150

Travel and lodging for professional event planning team n/a $6,000

Organizing committee expenses $1,000

Total for Staffing n/a $41,150


Program

Travel, hotel, and gift for 3 keynote speakers from

outside of the community ($2,200 each)

$6,600

Total $6,600

Scholarships

About 20 full scholarships including travel, hotel, and

admission (range from $325 to $15,000 depending on

hometown)

$20,000

20 local scholarships of admission only $1,500

Total $21,500

TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENSES $285,890

Revenue Stream Estimated Amount

Sponsorships $180,000

Admission fees $137,500

Job fair entrance for companies $15,000

TOTAL ESTIMATED REVENUE $332,500

TOTAL ESTIMATED PROFIT $46,610

Profit will be used to provide additional scholarships and possibly fund a

welcome happy hour for all attendees. Additionally, once all costs are

fixed, we will determine if there is enough money remaining to reduce the

conference admission or provide discount hotel rooms. All remaining

profit after DrupalCon will go to the Drupal Association.

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