Starting a local Drupal community

• When did you start the DrupalCampNE meetups?
  • Started due to meeting a friend Richard at DrupalCons in Paris, Copenhagen and Denver and saying how crazy it was that we met at DrupalCons across the world but not in the North East where we’re both native. So we setup a meeting and promoted it on twitter and with some others we knew had at least dabbled with Drupal. We had 6 people at our first meeting and that happened in a pub which was to set the stage for the future meetups which have all been held in pubs.
• I’ve thought about how cool it would be to start a local camp, but we don’t have a lot of people even coming to our meetups. What have you (or other organizers) done to get consistent attendance to events?
  • Consistency… Mixup of talks and social but always keep it social so expectations are not too high. For the camp we needed there to be a few people interested and then had backing from my company to allow us to dedicate time. Dedicated time has been vital.
• How large is a typical meetup? What’s the average attendence?
  • We get anything from between 5 - 20 people attending but its really a mixup again, depends heavily on the day to some extend (holidays etc.) but also on if there is a talk. Our WP vs Drupal talk got a LOT of people :)
• How far do people travel to get to your meetups?
  • We’ve had people doing a round trip of 100 miles before because there is no meetup in the North of the North West… but usually people come from Newcastle or there abouts. We lose a few people since its too far for them to come for sure.

DrupalCampNE

• When did you start organizing a Drupal Camp for the North East of England?
  • August 2013 - started asking/checking about venue
  • Went to other camps in UK to promote and to share info
  • November 2013 - announced the date around DrupalCamp North West
• What were some of the challenges you faced? Were there any unexpected ones that stick out to you?
  • Local attendees
  • Sponsors
  • Cancelled talks
  • Outsourcing - Venue
• What went really well for you? How did you plan for it?
  • The feelings of collaborating - fresh eyes were really liberated.
  • The venue was loved
  • The talks by Morten and Holly Ross
• What advice would you give to someone who’s planning a camp now? Or will be soon?
  • Plan really well in advance
  • Find a great venue and try to get it for free :)
  • Have the freedom to make decisions - keep a small team?
  • Get sponsors early!
  • Get speakers early!