What we’ll be up to at DrupalCon Vienna

Get ready, Drupal fans! DrupalCon Vienna 2025 is just around the corner, and the Annertech team is packing our bags and our brains for an unforgettable week. We're not just attending; we're sponsoring, volunteering, and speaking in four dynamic sessions that are set to educate, entertain and maybe even settle a frontend feud or two.

DrupalCon is always a highlight on the Drupal calendar, and we have been counting down to this year’s conference since last year’s.

This week will see hundreds of people make their way to Vienna in Austria for a few days of fun, learning, contributing and socialising for DrupalCon Europe 2025.

As usual, Annertech will have a strong presence at DrupalCon Europe – we love to give back to our community and share what we’ve learnt over the past year.

From being a gold sponsor of the event and sponsoring the contribution room to speaking and volunteering, this is what we will be up to this week in Vienna.

1. Sponsoring

Annertech is proud to be a gold sponsor of DrupalCon Europe. We are delighted to be able to give back to the community financially, as well as through code and personal contributions. 

2. Speaking

From a lighthearted style showdown to a compassionate look at the psychology of work, and a glimpse into Drupal’s futuristic theming, our talks promise to be essential viewing. 

Come and join us at DrupalCon Vienna 2025 for three dynamic sessions covering frontend battles, the psychology of shame and the cutting edge of Drupal theming with Declarative Shadow DOM!

The ultimate frontend death match

Prepare for a playful, yet highly informative, clash of coding titans! On Tuesday 14 October at 2.45pm, frontend and full-stack devs should head to Room 6 (Hall G1) for BEM vs Tailwind death match: A lighthearted battle to the (front) end. 

In a session reminiscent of a classic pop culture rivalry, Tony Barker will pit the structured methodology of BEM against the utility-first approach of Tailwind CSS in a series of head-to-head challenges. 

Attendees will get to see the strengths and quirks of both approaches in action, moving beyond mere theory to practical case studies. The best part? You'll be the jury! 

Come ready to laugh, learn, and vote for the ultimate victor, proving once and for all the adaptability of Drupal and its vibrant community.

From Starshot to LocalGov Drupal: A year connecting communities

Tony’s rounding out our session line-up on Tuesday from 5.05pm to 5.15pm on the Open Stage in the Exhibition Hall - with a fantastic look at the bigger picture of contribution and community building. 

Join us for “Inside a year connecting communities: from Media Management in Drupal CMS to leading LocalGov Drupal development” with our very own Tony Barker.

Tony's journey over the past year has been a deep dive into two vital communities: leading the Media Management Track for the Starshot initiative and acting as the Lead Developer for LocalGov Drupal. What he discovered is powerful and simple: we're all wrestling with the same core challenges. This isn't just a tale of technical work; it's a guide on turning that cross-community insight into real-world action.

You'll get an honest look at how to build and maintain momentum through contributions, the tricky balancing act between chasing quick wins and laying down a solid long-term vision, and how to actually make things happen while keeping wellbeing, engineering excellence, and real-world constraints in mind. 

This is a personal story about growth, collaboration, and how embracing "working in public" strengthens both the products we build and the organisations we work for. Come and learn how our most robust and clever solutions spring from connected communities.

Deconstructing shame: Imposter syndrome’s bigger sibling 

Beyond the code, we’re diving into the human element of working in tech. 

On Thursday 16 October at 9.15am in Room 7 (Hall G2), join John Albin Wilkins for Imposter syndrome’s bigger, badder sibling: shame. We often discuss imposter syndrome and burnout, but shame – a hidden, powerful driver of work struggles like procrastination and poor problem-solving – remains mostly in the shadows. 

This is a candid and compassionate session for anyone who has felt "not good enough" and wants to understand the underlying causes and, more importantly, what to do about them. 

John will clearly differentiate shame from imposter syndrome, explain how it impacts your professional relationships, and provide actionable strategies for healing and personal growth.

The future is now: Declarative Shadow DOM and Drupal theming

Later on Thursday 16 October, at 4.15pm in Room 1 (-2.32), John Albin Wilkins is back to give us a peek at the future with Declarative shadow DOM and the future of Drupal theming. 

Drupal theming is poised for a significant upgrade, and John will explore how modern, component-based architecture can be seamlessly integrated into Drupal’s core rendering system using Declarative Shadow DOM and Single Directory Components. 

This is the session for themers and developers ready to make Drupal "cool again" by marrying server-side rendering with cutting-edge Web Components. 

You'll learn the intricacies of Declarative Shadow DOM and get to join a collaborative Q&A with other cutting-edge themers, positioning you at the forefront of the next evolution of Drupal's frontend.

3. Volunteering 

It's not just about donating money to help make this DrupalCon great. Annertechies are involved in various other ways. 

• Developer Juanluis Lozano was a track team member on the Drupal CMS track.

• Developer John Cook is heading up the volunteer team again.

• Managing Director Stella Power was on the DrupalCon Vienna 2025 Advisory Committee, co-chair of the Community Support Committee, and also chair of the Social Event Committee. She also wrote the questions for Trivia Night - a highlight on the DrupalCon itinerary. 

• Annertechies will also be volunteering at Trivia Night (see Point 4).

4. Trivia Night 

Trivia Night has become a popular highlight on the DrupalCon calendar.

Of course, we'll be leading the charge when it comes to organising Trivia Night – the Annertech team has taken this popular social event at DrupalCon under our wing, and we love coming up with questions around the world’s best digital platform, and literally running the event. 

You’ll see us running around in our Annertech T-shirts, organising answer sheets, on the judging panel and – of course – Director of Technology Alan Burke will be on the mic again as quizmaster.

Trivia night takes place on the evening of Thursday 16 October, so get your teams together and get ready for one of the most popular events on the DrupalCon calendar!

5. Our new look

We have 30 Annertechies making their way to Vienna ahead of DrupalCon, and we will be holding our annual Annertech Day over two days prior to the conference. This will consist of presentations, workshops and discussions, as well as lots of celebrating. 

One of the biggest causes for celebration will be our redesigned website. We spent a lot of time working on this project and are really proud of it. It will be reflected in our booth design too, so swing round and check it out.

Conclusion: Let the games begin

We genuinely love everything about DrupalCon. It's the perfect blend of technical inspiration and community connection. From learning about the latest technology and development practices to sharing our own hard-earned knowledge, the energy is infectious.

And, of course, we're already looking forward to the legendary evening social events and the highly anticipated trivia night.

The full DrupalCon Vienna 2025 programme is a real cracker this year. Have a good look through, mark off the sessions that whet your appetite, and make sure to reserve your spot for the Annertech talks. We'll see you in Vienna!