Category News
Publication date
28 February 2025

Annertech is a proud sponsor of DrupalCamp England

Time to read 6 minutes read

The first DrupalCamp England is taking place this weekend, and Annertech is delighted to be sponsoring it! We'll also be a sponsoring pair of funded scholarships, including travel and accommodation, for next year’s event.

This weekend is an exciting time for Drupal enthusiasts, as DrupalCamp England 2025 is set to take place in the stunning Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge on 1 March. The university will play host to approximately 150 attendees, who will enjoy a fantastic programme. 

“We are thrilled that DrupalCamp is back in England, and we are really happy to be able to sponsor it,” said Annertech’s Managing Director Stella Power. 

“We have many UK-based clients and Annertechies – including Frontend Developer Tony Barker, who is one of the organisers of DrupalCamp England. We know first-hand that local Drupal communities benefit greatly from Drupal events, and this renewed event is a welcome addition to our calendar.” 

As well as coming on board as a Bronze sponsor, Annertech is also sponsoring a pair of funded scholarships for next year’s event. 

“We’re really excited about seeing new people getting involved in Drupal. Sponsoring scholarships means that we can support a couple of people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to come because of the expenses of travel and accommodation,” said Stella. 

One of the organisers’ goals with DrupalCamp England is to get more people involved with Drupal and to create opportunities for people. 

“The support from our sponsors has allowed us to keep ticket prices low but some people obviously need that extra bit of support, and it’s wonderful to be able to have this in place” said Tony. 

The blue lion logo of DrupalCamp England.

Reinvigorating England’s DrupalCamp scene 

Although this isn’t the first DrupalCamp to be held in England, it’s the first one organised by the DrupalCamp England CIC, and will be the first in England since the London event in 2020. 

“DrupalCamp London was a thriving event prior to the pandemic” said Tony. 

“In-person events were not able to happen for a while. A group of us decided it was time to see if we could regenerate the event, in part because there is a spark around Drupal with the new artificial intelligence and Drupal CMS developments. 

“It also follows on the success of the first DrupalCamp Scotland at the end of last year, which was also a bit of a catalyst, and gave us more encouragement for the possibility of an event in England.” 

While the event has been in planning since October, it was important that the organisers had the proper administrative functions in place. 

“We had a narrow window of just a few weeks to the event date itself to be able to confirm the details and put tickets on sale. With interest registered in the months leading up to the confirmation, it has been quite something to see the flurry of activity in the last few weeks,” said Tony. 

Highlights 

What better place to host the first DrupalCamp England than the beautiful surroundings of Cambridge University.

“It’s an amazing venue,” said Tony. “For our inaugural event, it was important for us to secure a venue with facilities that could help us realise our vision for the day. It will be fitting for the calibre of speakers.“

Cambridge University's buildings are reflected in the glass exterior of its modern law building.

DrupalCamp England 2025 is being held at The Faculty of Law, on the Sidgwick site campus of the University of Cambridge. Picture: Daniel Bates

“The selection process of the speakers was really tough,” said Tony. 

“I think it’s fair to say for everyone on the panel that we were taken aback by the number of fantastic session proposals. It really highlighted to us the appetite for the event. We have organised speakers into two tracks – technical and non technical – so there should be something there for everyone, for developers and non developers.” 

Speakers include 

  • Baddý Sonja Breidert, co-founder of international digital software agency 1xINTERNET, who will deliver the keynote – an update about Drupal CMS.
  • Mark Conroy, a Drupal core maintainer and the frontend lead for LocalGov Drupal, will be talking about his career as an open source developer. 
  • Jamie Abrahams, co-founder of FreelyGive and co-lead of both the Drupal CMS AI initiative and the AI module. He will be doing a live demo of the latest AI innovations. Drupal’s artificial intelligence integration is one of the most exciting developments in Drupal, and Jamie’s presentation is going to be fascinating. 
  • Emma Horrell and Gareth Alexander are the Drupal CMS track leads for user experience and accessibility. Emma will talk about how applying user-centred ideas can make a Drupal to be proud of. Gareth will give attendees a guided tour of the recipes included in Drupal CMS to see if there are any new build techniques or "Best Practices" that can be used elsewhere. 

The event will also feature LocalGov Drupal – the CMS created on Drupal for councils. LocalGov Drupal is a great Drupal success story, and more and more councils are moving their websites to this platform. Finn Lewis, the project’s technical lead, will be doing a talk about rewarding contributions in LocalGov Drupal. 

And there will also be a video appearance from Drupal’s founder Dries Buytaert. 

Conclusion 

Annertech is proud to be a DrupalCamp England sponsor. Drupal events have so many benefits, for both end users and organisations that use Drupal, and we are thrilled that this event has been reintroduced to the calendar. 

Want to see what else is happening at DrupalCamp England?

 For more information about the event, check out the programme of events. 

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Alison Visser Head of Content

After more than two decades in journalism, Alison now collaborates with Annertech's clients to ensure that their content is the best it possibly can be.