Way back at DrupalCon Chicago the local team created a new track called Core Conversations. The purpose of this track was to focus squarely on the interests of core developers and those interested in keeping up with the bleeding edge of Drupal development. Crazy ideas and wild rants were encouraged, as long as they were focused and discussion and finding solutions. Since then Core Conversations have been a part of every DrupalCon.

Exciting news out of DrupalCon Portland! We've got the scholarship recipients selected for this year's event! The Drupal Association scholarship committee received a enormous amount of applications and interest for this year's DrupalCon with an astounding number of applications submitted.

The DrupalCon scholarship program allows Drupal Community members, who would otherwise not be able to attend DrupalCon, to benefit from the DrupalCon experience as the Drupal Community benefits from each scholar's attendance.

Action heroes like Jack Bauer can save the world in less than 24 hours. You may not be an action hero, but you are a Drupal expert! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to submit a session to DrupalCon Portland before February 15th at 11:59PM PST.

Early Bird Registration is still open for DrupalCon Portland all the way through March 15! Be sure to get registered early since you'll save $100 and get in on all of this action we've got going on in Portland May 20-24, 2013. On March 16, the prices will go up to "regular" admission level, but you're still going to get to see our amazing keynote speaker, Karen McGrane along with, of course, Dries Buytaert!

DrupalCon Portland is just around the corner (May really isn’t that far away) and early bird registration has already begun, but if visiting Portland in May isn’t enough to get you registered, then let’s see if we can entice you with some of the amazing “Featured Sessions” we’re offering to all attendees!DrupalCon Portland is set to have multiple featured session for every track: Business and Strategy, Community, Frontend, User Experience (UX), DevOps, Site Building, Coding and Development, and Government, Nonprofit, and Educati

So you think you are pretty awesome at all things Drupal, but you’ve got one area that you just want to share with the world (or the fine people attending DrupalCon Portland)? Have you presented a Drupal-related training that attendees thought was awe-inspiring? Do you have the insight into a certain aspect of Drupal that you know will help others?

We are pleased to announce Karen McGrane as a DrupalCon Portland keynote speaker. As a leader in user experience and design, Karen is a big fan of Drupal. She recently released a book, Content Strategy For Mobile by publisher, A Book Apart, and was featured in Forbes magazine earlier this month.

Registration is now open for DrupalCon Portland, taking place May 20-24, 2013 at the Oregon Convention Center. Early bird pricing of $400 is available through March 15. On March 16 the price goes up to $500. Combo passes for WebVisions and SymfonyLive are also now available!

DrupalCon Portland is now accepting session submissions! If you want to present a session in Portland, now is the time to start thinking about what this year's theme, "Building Bridges, Connecting Communities” means to you.

Just announced: DrupalCon Portland, Symfony Live and WebVisions will co-locate their May 2013 conference in Portland, Oregon. The DrupalCon Portland site is now live and the theme for DrupalCon Portland, “Building Bridges, Connecting Communities” is an ideal complement of this co-location. We can each help grow each other’s communities with knowledge sharing and participation.