By: Luke Anderson
We can’t believe it, but it’s already been almost a month since MidCamp 2015! We’re late…we’re late…for a very important recap!
Breakthrough was proud to be back at MidCamp this year as a Gold Sponsor, and we were thrilled to see so many enthusiastic Drupal folks from all over the Midwest back in Chicago for four days of trainings, sessions, networking, sprints, socializing, and beer. There were no less than nine of us at UIC that weekend (including our newest hire, Brian), and hopefully you were there too! As we continue to build our Drupal team, we’re already committed to sponsor MidCamp 2016, so we can also continue to help build this tradition of welcoming the Midwest’s Drupal community to Chicago.
Perhaps the highlight for the Breakthrough team this year was the session by our very own Jack Franks, Automated Testing in Drupal with Behat. Lots of familiar faces and some new friends sat in on Jack’s session to hear him talk about his passion for making Drupal projects great by embracing Behat. If you missed his session at UIC, please feel free to check out the recording – and don’t forget to leave Jack your feedback at joind.in.
Speaking of new friends, the Breakthrough team enjoyed getting to know Drupal professionals from places like Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Ohio, and even Ontario, in addition to our old friends and neighbors from right here in Illinois. While the Mad Hatter may have hijacked the camp’s logo and Twitter hashtag, the community vibe was undisturbed. It was great to see Drupal folks doing what we do best – building relationships and helping each other. Whether you chatted with us at our table, or shared your thoughts on your favorite module at a coffee break between sessions, or raised a pint with us at Moxee, thanks to all of you for being a part of making MidCamp such a fantastic event. And even if you haven’t had a chance to connect with any of us in person, please feel free to contact me at luke.anderson@breaktech.com to find out more about how we can help each other use the power of Drupal to make something great.
Several other members of Breakthrough’s Drupal team pitched in individually as well: “mad” props to Eric and Will for helping to build the MidCamp 2015 website, for example. A few of us volunteered with the organizer team, including some onsite duties like setting up signage and selling t-shirts, and the Sunday sprint included contributions from Eric, Brian, and Jack.
We’d also like to thank the rest of the sponsors for making this growing event financially possible, but there are many more people involved in making MidCamp a reality than simply the folks writing the checks. Avi, Andy, George, Anna, Alina, Kevin, and several other volunteer organizers kept things running smoothly for hosting 300 of our favorite colleagues. Cathy kept the sprinters moving, making a great platform even greater, and Tiffany exhorted all of us to chip in together and make Drupal 8 a reality as soon as we can. And behind and between it all, Andrea directed everyone’s best efforts to make this vision of a robust Midwestern DrupalCamp a reality.
We look forward to seeing you at MidCamp 2016, coming back to Chicago next spring!