Drupal 8 Arrival Was One to Watch

Last week, we celebrated (or Celebr8-ed in the parlance of the day) the launch of Drupal 8. We had cake, we had champagne, we had a couple of speeches...

And we had a video.

It was all part of a co-ordinated effort to create a virtual "wave" that would wash over the social media world to usher in the arrival of the newest version of the Drupal Content Management System. The idea was that, at 11 a.m. local time, Drupal shops would re-tweet a launch message and share a video that they created welcoming Drupal and showcasing why it's important to them.

We decided we wanted to show Drupal's roots in the Forest City! 

You may have caught us, driving around town a week before, visiting some of London's more well-known locations, dashing out of a car, braving the wind, and hoping desperately that the rain would hold off. After all, it's hard to hide a giant stuffed echidna.

(And, yes, we know "who" the mascot actually is -- we all played Sonic. Shockingly there are not a lot of Echidna-based mascot costumes around...)

It was a bit of fun -- and we're dying to know where Url's photos have gone. (While we were shooting at Fanshawe a couple of students asked to take pictures with the mascot -- even posing it in a "Home Alone"-esque pose at one point. Why? Who knows?)

From Australia to Iceland; from Canada to Senegal, from the United States to Ukraine, and all places in between Drupal enthusiasts, companies, and developers shared their welcome message and expressed why they were excited about Drupal 8's arrival. You can watch other videos at celebratedrupal8.com.

If you want to learn more about how the Celebrate Drupal 8 celebration came together, check out Paul D. Johnson's blog.

We're excited about the opportunities that Drupal 8 will provide us as we continue to grow our business. And we're thrilled that Digital Echidna is able to help put the Forest City -- and Canada as a whole -- on the Drupal map.