Help Us Plan DrupalCon in India

By megansanicki on 25 November 2014

Indian flag DrupalCon is an important community event that brings a diverse group of Drupalers together under one roof to share knowledge, grow skills, and strengthen community bonds. As an organization, it is very rewarding to facilitate these experiences around the world.

In the past, our attendance data has shown that DrupalCon is primarily a regional event, attracting attendees from nearby countries and drawing in some great international speakers, trainers, and community leaders. Knowing this, the Drupal Association is committed to hosting DrupalCon in regions other than just North America and Europe.

In 2015, this third DrupalCon is in Bogota, Colombia. In 2016, we want to host DrupalCon in India and this blog explains why. Can you tell us your thoughts on this host country and which city you think should be the next DrupalCon location?

How do you pick locations?

The Drupal Association Board sets the staff’s direction with vision and strategy and they asked staff to come up with a list of possible countries in regions outside of North America and Europe that are viable DrupalCon Locations. They provided us with selection criteria that supported their strategy, which included in no particular order:

Popularity - People want to visit the host location to site see.
Strong local community: Size of the camp in the proposed city / # of camps in a country
Size of Drupal business community - # of Drupal businesses within that country and region
Ease of doing business with a country: Easy to set up a financial entity so we can collect ticket sales revenue and pay vendors in local currency.
Local Support: The community reached out to the Association, requesting a DrupalCon and offering to help produce it.
Inexpensive travel - This gives insight into the average cost of lodging in the city
Visa: Easy to get a visa or one is not required to enter a country.
Strong business environment - The number of Fortune 500 companies in that region
Community survey: Where does the community want to go?

After researching locations and ranking countries and cities based on the above criteria, several places bubbled to the top. Latin America and specifically Bogota, Colombia was a clear leader, which is why we are hosting DrupalCon 2015 there. India was ranked second over other possible locations.

What makes India a good host country?

DrupalCamp Deccan 2011 India has an impressive number of Drupal leaders, contributors, businesses, and end users. This country drives the 2nd highest amount of traffic to Drupal.org (Unites States had 1M sessions last month, while India had 450,000.) DrupalCon in India can highlight this country’s Drupal strength to the global community while conversely showing the local community how they can contribute more back to the Project.

More specifically, India ranked high because it has several mature camps and many local communities throughout the country. Producing DrupalCon outside of North America and Europe requires a strong partnership with community leaders who can help us with logistics. Plus, a DrupalCon needs power in numbers to make it financially worthwhile and effective, so a large community base is key.

In India, technology conference tickets are usually very inexpensive, so a DrupalCon in India ticket price will need to cost much less than the standard DrupalCon ticket price. Because of the cost of putting on conferences, having low ticket prices means the event will be funded through sponsorships. India has a strong Drupal business community and many are already pledging sponsorship to make the event financially viable.

Which host city is best for you?

We would like to thank Rahul Dewan, Jacob Singh, Mayank Chadha, Rachit Gupta, Ani Gupta, Hussain Abbas, Chakrapani R, Sunit Gala, Venky Goteti, and Shyamala Rajaram and other community leaders for determining the financial feasibility for hosting a 1,000 person DrupalCon in their city. After several discussions, we decided Bangalore, Mumbai, and Delhi are our three most viable host cities. Now we need your input in picking the city where we will host our first DrupalCon in India. Below is a chart summarizing their key findings.

Which city should host DrupalCon and why did you chose that city? (e.g. travel distance, travel cost, ideal hotel cost, preferred venue(s), community size). Please use comments to tell us.

	Bangalore	Mumbai	Delhi
Venue Recommendation: (based on 1,000 attendees, 1 keynote room, 6 session rooms, 4 BOF rooms)	Manpho Convention centre The Lalit Bangalore NIMHANS Convention centre (OSI days happens here)	Grand Hyatt Mumbai Renaissance Powai Films Studios. (under consideration)	The Ashok, New Delhi (more info) Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, Greater Noida Hyatt Regency, Gurgaon
Catering (lunch and coffee/tea break per day)	Rs.500 per person per day ($8)	Rs 2,460 - 3,075 per person per day ($40 - $50)	Rs 2,460 per person per day (tax inclusive) ($40) Rs 2,100 per person per day (tax inclusive) ($35) Rs 1,400 per person per day (tax inclusive) ($25)
Hotel Room Cost	2KMs from the Venue Manpho Hotels (3-star) Rs. 3,500 per night ($57) Lalit (5-star): Rs.7,500 + tax per night ($121)	Grand Hyatt Rs 9,275 per night ($150) There are 50+ options around Grand Hyatt for all price points, between Rs 1,545 - 7,420 per night ($25-$120) Renaissance Powai Rs 11,130 per night ($180)	Rs 8,000 per night ($120) - 2 seater room Rs 11,000 per night ($180) - 3 seater room Rs 9,000 per night ($140) - 2 seater Rs 8,000 per night ($120) - 2 seater Other 3* hotel option (~5km) from the venue - Rs 2,500-4,000 ($40-$80)
Travel to city	From Delhi By plane - Rs 9,275 RT ($150) From Bombay Plane Rs 7,420 ($120) Bus: (20hr) Rs 3,090 ($50) Train (20 hr): Rs 3,710 ($60) From Hyderabad Mostly Bus and train(overnight journey - 8hrs). Plane: Rs 7,730 ($125) Bus: Rs 3,710 ($60) Train: Rs 3,710 ($60)	From Delhi Plane (2 hrs) Rs 8,040 ($130) Train (16 hrs) Rs 4,950 ($80) From Bangalore Plane (1hr40) Rs 7,420 ($120) Train (24 hrs) Rs 3,710 ($60) From Hyderabad Plane (1hr10) Rs 5,570 ($90) Train (10 hrs) Rs 4,330 ($70)	From Bombay Plane (2hr00): Rs 7,730 ($125) Train Rs 2,475 ($40) From Bangalore Plane (2hr30): Rs 9,275 ($150) From Hyderabad Plane (2hr00): Rs 10,820 ($175)
Camps	None - Meet Ups, Mini-camps and Trainings Only	500+ attendees	350+ attendees (consistently for past 3 years)

Indian flag image from Wikipedia.

DrupalCamp India image credit to Dries' blog.

File attachments:

india-2011-drupalcamp-deccan-attendees-900x1350.jpg

1024px-Flag_of_India.svg_.png

Comments

jibran

he/him

Urdu

Toronto, Canada

commented 25 November 2014 at 18:33

Yay!! DrupalCon is coming to our region. Please choose Dehli. I can take a bus from Lahore, Pakistan to Dehli.

dipen chaudhary commented 26 November 2014 at 00:53

Yay!

There is a Drupal camp Delhi in Jan (10th and 11th), see if you can visit. It'll be so awesome to have participation from Pakistan not just in Drupalcon but in camps and do let us know of your camps.

--------------------------------------------------------
Dipen Chaudhary
www.qed42.com ( Drupal development services specialize in social networks and other user generated content platforms )
www.dipenchaudhary.com

gargsuchi commented 26 November 2014 at 03:56

Awesome.

Please do join us for Drupal Camp Delhi!

megansanicki commented 6 December 2014 at 20:26

Hi Jibran,

Thanks for letting me know. It's great to hear that you would travel from Pakistan to this event.

Stay tuned!

Megan Sanicki

Associate Director

Drupal Association

Megan Sanicki
Executive Director
Drupal Association
twitter: megansanicki

muhammad.tanweer commented 5 September 2015 at 20:51

This is great news. Over the past, DrupalCon have only been organized in Europe or American regions which is obviously quite far from the capacity of many people from this region financially. Now that its coming to India, I would love to join the event. As far as I can think, the best place for someone from Pakistan should be Delhi.

Also, can someone please inform about the ticket price of DrupalCon? Or is that not yet decided? Also, what are the main requirements to get a grant or scholarship? Thanks in advance

megansanicki commented 25 November 2014 at 19:16

Hi Community,

Please use comments to tell us:

- Which city are you most likely to travel to and why?

- Which city is the best one to attract Drupalers from all over India and why?

- What is the hotel nightly rate that you are willing to pay if you have to travel to DrupalCon?

- Anything else!

Thanks,

Megan Sanicki

Associate Director

Drupal Association

Megan Sanicki
Executive Director
Drupal Association
twitter: megansanicki

ankit agrawal commented 26 November 2014 at 05:34

Reaching Delhi is more convenient as there are direct flights for Delhi even from small cities, also metro acts as a catalyst for the nearby cities like Noida and Gurgaon.

In Delhi we have Drupal camps being successfully organised every year and lot of people from different cities as well actively particpated in the event making it a good choice.

Regarding the hotel nigtly rate, I guess the fare to be around Rs. 1500 to 2500/night should be fine.

ifrik

she/her

commented 26 November 2014 at 15:02

How will you organise that people will get conference visa for India?

Building websites for a better world

megansanicki commented 6 December 2014 at 20:27

Hi ifrik,

That's a great question. This is a detail we need to work out for sure. I'll do some research into that.

Best,

Megan

Megan Sanicki
Executive Director
Drupal Association
twitter: megansanicki

nashkrammer commented 4 December 2014 at 05:01

Hi @megansanicki,

Since Mumbai being the commercial hub, turn outs will be large. The community response in Drupal Mumbai Camps has also been enormous.

I wouldn't mind travelling to any other metropolis to attend the DrupalCon India.

Mumbai Hotel nightly could be anywhere starting 1500/- per night to 5000/- and more near airport .

Best Regards

Avinash Shukla

Senior Software Engineer

(Intelliswift Software India Pvt Ltd)

rishi.kulshreshtha

He/Him

English

Portland, Maine

commented 4 December 2014 at 06:05

Yay DrupalCon 2016 is in INDIA!

Mumbai would be so cool for the DrupalCon India. I'm pretty much sure that travelling, staying and food all will be super cool and comfortable here. There are many alternatives for the basic need of food and shelter as nashkrammer has mentioned above.

I would also like to add that TRAVELLING in Mumbai is also providing you many alternates. You can opt a pre-hired cab from http://merucabs.com/ or similar; else you can also hire the local cabs or rickshaw which is really affordable. If you want to travel by public transport then you can surely go with the BEST buses, local trains (this wouldn’t be preferred but you can consider this as a choice) and especially Mumbai METRO’s.

Apart from that currently there are many web development organizations which are looking for such event especially from Mumbai, here is a small scenario of the DrupalCamp which was recently help in Thane (near Mumbai) organized by TCS, Axelerant and others (http://drupalcampmumbai.org/). Where Jeffrey A. “jam” McGuire has provided us the keynote which was very helpful, indeed this event was on Google Hangout also.

Probably, we can still contact many of the organizations for the same and I’m pretty much sure everyone will love the climate of Mumbai because it’s very pleasant and stays normal for the whole year.

Regards.

hemangi.gokhale

she/her/hers

English

Portland, 🇺🇸

commented 4 December 2014 at 06:26

Yes, I agree with you totally, it’s very good to see that DrupalCon 2016 is in INDIA but it’s great if the Con is going to happen in Aamchi Mumbai!

Staying is Mumbai is not as difficult as other cities, you’ll get many options here. Travelling, food and all other basic needs are also just perfect.

It’s going to be really fun and informative as we’re going to get a vast knowledge and knee techniques of excellent development for which Drupal is famous, guys I’m with Mumbai.

Best Regards.

megansanicki commented 6 December 2014 at 20:28

Hi nashkrammer,

Thanks for letting me know. Do you live in Mumbai? Also are you saying hotels should be near the airport?

Thanks again and stay tuned.

Megan Sanicki

Associate Director

Drupal Association

Megan Sanicki
Executive Director
Drupal Association
twitter: megansanicki

nashkrammer commented 10 December 2014 at 09:08

Hi Megan Sanicki,

Yes I live in Mumbai. Mumbai international and domestic airport are one of the busiest in Asia. There are several 2-5 star hotels within 6kms radius. Here is a website for hotels near mumbai airport.

parag23 commented 4 December 2014 at 05:59

1. I would like Mumbai because I live close by.

2. I think Mumbai would be the best as It is the best city and everthing is available at a cheaper rate than other cities.

3. I think Rs 1500 - 2000 would be ok.

megansanicki commented 6 December 2014 at 20:29

Hi pt2312,

Thanks for commenting. That input is very helpful.

Megan Sanicki

Associate Director

Drupal Association

Megan Sanicki
Executive Director
Drupal Association
twitter: megansanicki

garfield7 commented 4 December 2014 at 06:27

Mumbai would be best...Great connectivity to other cities...great place.

megansanicki commented 6 December 2014 at 20:31

Hi garfield7

Thanks for your input. Do you live in Mumbai? Also can you tell me what hotel rate is most feasible for community members traveling to DrupalCon?

Best,

Megan Sanicki

Associate Director

Drupal Association

Megan Sanicki
Executive Director
Drupal Association
twitter: megansanicki

garfield7 commented 21 January 2015 at 10:20

Hi Megan Sanicki,

Yes I live in Mumbai, I think most feasible hotel rate would be ranging from Rs. 1700 to Rs 3500.

http://www.travelguru.com/hotels/india/maharashtra/mumbai/hotels-near-ch...

Regards

ashishdalvi

English

Mumbai

commented 5 December 2014 at 06:07

HI @megansanicki,
I prefer MUMBAI would be the best location for DrupalCon, It have large number of active drupal comminuty. Even it is very near from pune, so they add the strength to mumbai community
Drupal Strength :
As per your chat summarizing mumbai have large number of active drupal developers

megansanicki commented 6 December 2014 at 20:32

Hi Ashish.Dalvi,

Thank you for your response. Do you live in Mumbai? If the event were in Delhi or Bangalore, would you attend? I'd love to hear why or why not.

Best,

Megan

Megan Sanicki
Executive Director
Drupal Association
twitter: megansanicki

ashishdalvi

English

Mumbai

commented 10 December 2014 at 11:46

Hi @megansanicki,

I leave in mumbai but i have stayed in south india for 4 years. I would definitly choose mumbai over delhi and banglore because of following reasons,

1. Weather :

Mumbai : Climate in mumbai is very pleasent across all the seasons. +1

http://wikitravel.org/en/Mumbai#Climate

Delhi : Client extremly varies in summer and winter -1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Delhi

2. Transport

Mumbai : is a central hub of India, It is near to pune, banglore, chennai, hyderabad, delhi ( Major tech cities of india ). Even Traveling inside mumbai is cheaper than any other cities, It have Good network on Local Train, Metro train, mono rails and local Buse transport +1

Delhi : Travelling is expensive as per the survey report presented by you. -1

I would prefer Mumbai but i can travel to any city in India to attend DrupalCon :)

Thanks a lot for selecting India for DrupalCon 2016, Excited to attend DrupalCon.

mayurjadhav commented 10 December 2014 at 10:15

Mumbai will be the best location for DrupalCon.

bappa.sarkar commented 10 December 2014 at 10:46

I spend 5 years in Delhi and 2 years in Mumbai as a Drupal developer. But frankly speaking I found passion in organizing Drupal event only in Mumbai. Not only drupalers are interested in community work but their companies also encourage their employees to participate. This is very unique in Mumbai. I am trying my best to answer your questions

- Which city are you most likely to travel to and why?

Ans: If you devide India in horizontaly, you see Northern India and Suth India. Mumbai will be on the horizontal line so close to any part of India. But Delhi is in far north.

- Which city is the best one to attract Drupalers from all over India and why?

Ofcourse Mumbai. please see http://goo.gl/wTxYyU

- What is the hotel nightly rate that you are willing to pay if you have to travel to DrupalCon?

I will pay arround ₹1000 to ₹2000. And there are hell lot of I can see right now in goibibo.com

- Anything else!

Any session or conferrence's succes depends on the host, their interest and their passion. And I dont have any doubt in Mumbai and Mumbaikers. I felt it in my last Drupal camp Mumbai.

Thanks,

Bappa

gargsuchi commented 26 November 2014 at 03:55

Delhi. And I am not saying this because I am from Delhi.

Some reasons:

The Drupal community is Delhi is really strong. The annual DCD (Drupal Camp Delhi) has been quite consistent in getting 350+ people to gather from all over the country. And we are expecting ~500 people this January (http://2015.drupalcampdelhi.com/)
Delhi can be quite an inexpensive option, we might need to look at more options for the hostin of the event.
There are lots of "touristy" places for travellers in and around Delhi (Taj Mahal is just about 200 kms away - and is certainly the top most tourist destination for many of the international travellers)
The food scene in Delhi is legendary.
Being the capital of the country, the city is quite accessible for national as well as international travellers.

gargsuchi commented 26 November 2014 at 04:49

Oh - and forgot - The Delhi Metro is on of the best options for travel within the city.

megansanicki commented 6 December 2014 at 20:34

Thanks gargsuchi,

I appreciate the well articulated point. If DrupalCon were in Mumbai or Bangalore, would you go? Can you tell me why or why not for each city? (And I won't hold you to it. I am just gauging interest).

Thanks,

Megan

Megan Sanicki
Executive Director
Drupal Association
twitter: megansanicki

gargsuchi commented 14 May 2015 at 15:48

Yup - will go to Drupalcon even if it is in Mumbai or B'lore.

pavithra.raman commented 26 November 2014 at 05:18

Delhi or Mumbai:

Good national and internation connectivity. Via Road, Rail and Air. if its Mumbai, maybe you could try landign via a Cruise too, so Water gets added to the list.
Local transport, lodging options are easy to get. Depending on your budget, you can get boarding and transportation very easily.
Huge communities in Delhi and Mumbai. Big events. And... Lot of corporates in these 2 places, with their Drupal, non-Drupal, Sales and support teams.
Some of the famous and biggest universities and technical institutions like IIT-M and IIT-D. FOSS groups in these institutions are very active and usually pool in to get us volunteers for the Camps.
Mumbai, Pune, Vadodara, Ahemdabad - good IT hubs. Same with Delhi/Noida/Gugaon, Lucknow, Jaipur.
Places to travel: Delhi - lot of historic and national importance, Agra, Lucknow, Jaipur nearby. Mumbai - Well Mumbai is itself enough, huge party scene, the city that never sleeps, one of the safest places in the country. Marine Drive, Colaba wow. And GOA is nearby. So is the entire Konkan beach strech and the Western Ghats.
Food: Well, I shall test Delhi out for that in December. Mumbai -- From exotic international cuisines to local Mumbai street food, from the luscious dinner at the Taj to well the Chaat wala at Juhu beach. The variety is enormous.
Oh.. And last. Not had any communication issues with locals at these places. Even friendly to foreigners.

perennial.sky commented 26 November 2014 at 06:53

1. I would prefer Delhi amongst other locations suggested - mainly because of easy traveling, good connectivity with North India which is also good for tourism (Taj Mahal being the highlight). Delhi and Mumbai both have many drupalers. but Delhi is a bigger IT hub and we can easily get more volunteers.
2. I think hotels in the range Rs. 2000 to Rs. 5000 will be decent.

@kki

megansanicki commented 6 December 2014 at 20:35

Hi akashjain132,

I appreciate the feedback. Are you from Delhi?

Also if the event were in Bangalore or Mumbai, would you attend? Why or why not? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,

Megan

Megan Sanicki
Executive Director
Drupal Association
twitter: megansanicki

perennial.sky commented 28 April 2015 at 13:20

Hi Megan,

I'm from Jaipur which is close to Delhi.

Definitely I will attend the event even if it is in Bangalore or Mumbai. I was not recommending Delhi because I am close to it but because Delhi is a more comfortable place for the large chunk of Indian audience.

- Delhi has very good connectivity and it is cheaper than Mumbai for most of the daily activities.
- Delhi is becoming IT Hub of India with more and more technology being adopted in the NCR region.
- Delhi also has the most number of Drupalers (could be verified by the attendees of Drupal Camps)
- Delhi is also the best when it comes to food :)

@kki

dgoutam commented 26 November 2014 at 07:35

Its a long due and thanks to all drupal leaders for their effort to bring drupalcon to india.

mbigul commented 26 November 2014 at 08:20

Nice to hear about. All the best :)

quardz

Tamil

commented 26 November 2014 at 08:47

Certaily bangalore, As it is the tech capital of india and more open source lovers stays.

Drupal Theme generator

megansanicki commented 6 December 2014 at 20:36

Hi quardz,

Thank you for your feedback. Do you live in Bangalore?

Also, if DrupalCon were in Mumbai or Delhi, would you attend?

Thanks,

Megan

Megan Sanicki
Executive Director
Drupal Association
twitter: megansanicki

quardz

Tamil

commented 3 March 2015 at 11:12

Yes im living in bangalore, wont come to mumbai or delhi, reason is they are too clostly for most indians.

Drupal Theme generator

beautifulmind

he/him

Gujarati

Dubai

commented 26 November 2014 at 11:03

Please also consider Ahmedabad!

Business friendly, attractive location, connectiity, inexpensive travel, etc

In addition, State Government can also help, if asked.

Regards.

Regards.
🪷 Beautifulmind

megansanicki commented 6 December 2014 at 20:37

Hi beautifulmind,

I appreciate the feedback. I'm not sure we can consider more cities at this time, but please keep telling us your thoughts.

Thanks,

Megan

Megan Sanicki
Executive Director
Drupal Association
twitter: megansanicki

mayur.pimple commented 26 November 2014 at 13:29

I prefer Mumbai.

drupaledmonk commented 26 November 2014 at 14:54

Can you change Bangalore to Bengaluru.

There are few wrong numbers in terms of duration

Hyderabad to Mumbai by train on average takes 15hrs and not 10 hrs as mentioned.

I would prefer Bengaluru. There was a camp organized in Hyderabad to which Dries attended in 2011, which was organized by people from Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai as well. Also Bengaluru is closer to Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi which have a good number of Drupalers.

My second preference would be Mumbai.

megansanicki commented 6 December 2014 at 20:38

Hi drupaledmonk,

I appreciate the corrections and will talk to the team about making them.

Which city do you live in or closest to? I'm curious given your preference.

Thanks,

Megan

Megan Sanicki
Executive Director
Drupal Association
twitter: megansanicki

abhishek.kumar commented 26 November 2014 at 16:48

I prefere Delhi, as a city is always buzzing with life. You can never get bored in the capital as there’s always something or the other happening in town. It offers a great platform for performances, gigs, plays, recitals, exhibitions, and talks etc. Delhi is the best place to organise this event.

• Delhi is the biggest hub of Drupalers & Open Source lovers accross the country.
• Easy to travell from anywhere in India.
• Near to neighbour countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and China.
• In terms of Costs and Tourist places, Delhi and Mumbai both are quit similar.

gauravvdeshpande commented 27 November 2014 at 04:57

Mumbai would be best place in terms of connectivity in all perspective

gaurav.goyal commented 27 November 2014 at 10:52

All three places are great..:)

harshil.maradiya commented 27 November 2014 at 12:06

The Drupal community is Mumbai is really awesome. The annual DCM (Drupal Camp Mumbai) has been quite consistent in involving more than 350 folks . And we are expecting 500 people this Feb-2015
Mumbai considered to be economic hub for India and Mumbai have maximum numbers of fortune 500 company .there is really good connectivity with other cities of India (Banglore,Pune,Delhi) minimum daily 4 to 5 flights available.
Its safe
Maximum all top companies headquarters are located in MUMBAI
Being Economic HUB of country accessibility of every thing will be very easy

saurabh.dhariwal commented 27 November 2014 at 12:12

Easy access for national and International visitors!!

A Midway between North and South India!!

ruchirashree commented 27 November 2014 at 12:40

I prefer MUMBAI..

RuchiSingh commented 27 November 2014 at 12:43

MUMBAI it is for me!!! :)

pawandubey commented 27 November 2014 at 13:22

It will be great if we go for Mumbai, where we can get the large no. of participation and also the folks can get the public transportation very easily with cheaper cost :)

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