Mountain Camp 2027 — Planning Weekend Notes¶
Date: March 2026 Status: Work in progress — brainstorm phase
Attendees¶
| Name | Slack |
|---|---|
| Dan Lemon | @dan2k3k4 |
| Guzman Bellon | @guzmanb |
| Jens Vranckx | @Vrancje |
| Josef Kruckenberg | @dasjo |
| Sinduri Guntupalli | @sindurig |
Weekend Goals¶
- Define the vision for Mountain Camp 2027
- Establish a new way of working using AI tools to facilitate and automate the camp organisation process
- Review and update tools we are already using
- Clarify target audience
- Define growth strategy
🎯 Theme — Decision Needed¶
The main theme is not yet defined. Candidates:
| # | Theme | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open source on top of the mountains | Location-anchored, clean, timeless |
| 2 | Connecting people, open minds | Warm and human, but quite generic |
| 3 | 10 years anniversary of Drupal Mountain Camp | First edition was 2017 — this is more a frame/occasion than a theme in itself. Works best layered on top of another theme. |
| 4 | Humans with AI in the loop | Most distinctive for 2027. Aligns with Dries interview concept, Swiss AI weeks collaboration, and the team's internal AI tooling goal. Strong candidate. |
| 5 | Own, sense, craft and grow together using open source on top of the world | Rich but too long for a theme — could inform copy/narrative instead |
Working hypothesis: Theme #4 ("Humans with AI in the loop") combined with the 10th anniversary frame is the strongest combination for 2027. It's forward-looking, authentic (you're organising the camp with AI tools), and creates a clear story for the Dries interview.
Open question: Does the team want to commit to AI as the central theme? It shapes the CFP, Dries interview, visuals, and all marketing.
✅ Tools Inventory¶
| Tool | Purpose | Action needed | Followers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign Monitor | Email marketing | Review | — |
| Google Drive | Document/information storage | Review | — |
| Slack | Communication hub | Review | — |
| GitHub / drupal-switzerland | Website & repos | Review — https://github.com/drupal-switzerland/ | — |
| X | Social — @mountaincampch | Review — https://x.com/mountaincampch | 483 |
| Social — showcase page | Review — https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/12977460/ | 446 | |
| Social — @drupalmountaincamp | Review — https://www.facebook.com/drupalmountaincamp | 290 | |
| Social — @drupalch | Review — https://www.instagram.com/drupalch/ | 138 | |
| YouTube | Video content | Review — https://www.youtube.com/@DrupalSwitzerland | 67 |
| Mastodon | Social — @mountaincampch | Review — https://drupal.community/@mountaincampch | 64 |
| Bsky | Social — @drupal.ch | Review — https://bsky.app/profile/drupal.ch | 53 |
🤖 AI Tools & Automation¶
Core pain point: Limited human resources in the core organising team. Goal is to focus available time on maximum-value work (e.g. onboarding new members, strategic decisions) and offload repetitive work to AI.
Approach: Identify the top time sinks in the organising process and match them to automation opportunities.
Possible automation candidates to discuss: - Sponsor outreach and follow-up - Social media content creation / scheduling - Session logistics and CFP processing - Email communication drafts - Content repurposing (talks → clips, blog posts, etc.) - Memory/testimonial content from previous editions
Still to define: Specific tools and workflows to adopt.
👥 Target Audience¶
Attendees: - Drupal community — experts and newcomers - Primarily developers, but also: project managers, designers, agency owners, freelancers, clients
Sponsors: - Hosting companies - Agencies
📈 Growth Ideas¶
1. Dries Buytaert (confirmed)¶
Dries is confirmed to attend DMC 2027. Still to define: exactly what format/role. Current idea: An interview format tied to the main conference theme. This is a major pull for the existing Drupal community and a strong marketing hook.
2. Collaborate with Swiss AI Weeks¶
Partner with AI-focused events in Switzerland to reach a new audience and reinforce an AI-themed edition.
3. Document the memories — organic content campaign¶
DMC has 5 editions of great raw material (images, videos). Use this to:
- Create short-form video content (Reels, Shorts, TikTok)
- Gather and publish attendee testimonials/statements about their experience
- Activate past attendees to share excitement about coming back
Goal: Show how the camp brings people together, build anticipation, grow awareness beyond the existing community.
🔓 Open Decisions for the Weekend¶
- Confirm main theme — strong candidate is "Humans with AI in the loop" + 10th anniversary frame
- Define Dries' format — interview? keynote? panel? what topic?
- Map AI automation priorities — which tasks eat the most time, what to tackle first
- Team growth — how many new members to onboard, which roles, how to recruit
- Testimonial/shorts campaign — who owns it, what's the format, timeline
- Swiss AI weeks collaboration — who to contact, what the partnership looks like
📝 Notes¶
- DMC 2027 will be the 10th anniversary (first edition: 2017)
- The team's internal use of AI to organise the camp is itself a story worth telling — authentic alignment with an AI theme