The Drupal community movement carries on to all corners of the globe with volunteer-run, peer-taught Drupal Camps! The Raincity Studios crew will proudly participate at events coming up in Vancouver, Canada, Sydney, Australia (for the entire Asia/Pacific region) and now, a newly-announced camp in Shanghai, China in conjunction with Open Source Camp Shanghai.

Last Saturday offered one of those long waited sunny afternoons here in Shanghai, but we still found a way to preserve our CRT tan. Last March 15 was our third SHDUG meet-up and we managed to share with more than 30 people our interest in Drupal at Yomovo's office, thanks to our host Mr. Gao Hong.

The atmosphere was a bit geekier than usual yesterday evening at the Abbey Road in Shanghai. As our fellas in Vancouver are getting ready for the upcoming SXSW and Drupalcon, we held in China an event at least as important; beer, finger food and a Wifi connection, we were sure that the ones that answered Raincity Studios' invitation to our geek meetup would be satisfied.

Jacob Redding, John Zhu and myself are proposing a session for the upcoming drupalcon in Boston, March 2nd to 6th 2008.

SESSION OVERVIEW

China is beginning to adopt Drupal and since its slated as the next “India” in terms of an outsourcing hub what does this mean for the Drupal world. Join this round table discussion on the state of Drupal in China. Who is using Drupal? What companies are there? How does Drupal fit into the country’s development? Why is Drupal in China important? What are the barriers to entry for a business or a developer?

TRACK

Marketing and Business but also Community and Core. Drupal in China is as much about building a community as it is about business.

AGENDA

• Things will start off with introductions of some of the Drupal shops in China as well as an overview of the state of Drupal and OSS in China.
• We’ll discuss the current community in China and how developers are connecting with each other to work on projects. The use of drupalchina.org, groups.drupal.org, IRC, etc.
• An overview of the translation work being done to help promote Drupal within China.
• The floor will always be open for questions and comments.

GOALS

We hope to encourage discussion about the use of Drupal within China and bring to light some of the challenges and rewards when working with the country as many of the challenges faced in China are faced in other countries throughout the world. If you are interested in how China is using Drupal and who the players are and if China is right for you or your business attend and share your thoughts and opinions.

Please take a second and vote for our session

Raincity Studios' China vision is taking shape with the inaugural meet-up of the Shanghai Drupal User's Group.

The Raincity Studios Shanghai squad and friends at Shanghai PHP user group rallied together to sponsor the "SDUG" event. This afternoon-long event, at The Net Circle's hip office, featured experienced speakers and peer interaction for over 60 people this past Saturday, January 26th, 2008.

While we toiled here on eastern edge of the ocean, our new colleague Charlotte took studious notes to recreate an agenda of learning and interactions.

Scales took some snaps as well so check out Shanghai Drupal Users Groups.