The following blog was written by Drupal Association Signature Supporting Partner, FFW.

The final Global Training Day of 2018 has come and gone, and it was a great effort. FFW provided a free, in-person Website Building with Drupal training the whole day on Friday, November 30 in NYC, and had a great time. Here’s our take on the event, and why it’s important to support Global Training Day.

What is Global Training Day?

Global Training Day is a quarterly event where Drupal organizations and communities around the world offer free or reduced cost training to introduce new people to the software and the community. Global Training Day gives everyone, everywhere, a chance to learn about Drupal and share their knowledge and build the project together.

Whether you’re evaluating Drupal for your organization, or you want to learn more about how the CMS works from a developer’s perspective, events like Global Training Day are a great way to get an introduction to the Drupal CMS and wider Drupal community. At FFW, we’ve often seen that the clients who get the most return on their investment by switching to Drupal are the ones who engage with the wider Drupal community through contributions and events, which is one of the many reasons why Global Training Day is such a great initiative.

Why should my company provide training?

Because the health of the community is vital to the health of the project, FFW offers free Drupal training online every other week on Drupal and other topics. We’ve found that providing free training -- both during global training days and year round-- is a great way of giving back to the Drupal community, and we’re proud to have provided more than 180 free training classes, both in-person and online, since we started our training program back in 2011.

Our NYC Global Training Day event was held in our usual posh training space in SoHo. We had people come in from Vermont, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Brooklyn! Everyone in the group was either planning or working on a new Drupal 8 project or a migration and experience levels ranged from totally new to Drupal to somewhat familiar with earlier versions. Participants were developers, content managers and project managers and worked in several healthcare, media, and not for profit organizations. We’re grateful for their awesome feedback and look forward to seeing all the great things we know they’ll do with Drupal. 

Do I have to wait for the next Global Training Day for free Drupal training?

Not at all! There are training events going on around the world every day, and you can find free and low-cost training near you on www.Drupical.com or by visiting www.groups.drupal.org and joining a local group. You can also join FFW for free Drupal training online every other week. We hope to see you in a class, and can’t wait to introduce you to the amazing things that the Drupal platform and community have to offer.

About FFW: FFW creates award-winning digital platforms that help teams connect better with their tools, their colleagues, and their clients. FFW offers Drupal development, digital strategy, and design services in addition to extensive free and paid training opportunities. FFW has been a trusted partner to over 500 clients since 2000, and is a part of ICTA, a communications group listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.