Sandstorm's Speaking at MidCamp 2025

Three female-presenting people and one male-presenting person in front of a large blue inflatable droplet, all smiling at the camera.

Let's connect at MidCamp 2025

SUMMARY
MidCamp (short for Midwest Drupal Camp) is an annual event that brings together developers, designers, and Drupal enthusiasts to share knowledge, build connections, and contribute to the Drupal community. It’s a space to learn new skills, discover best practices, and collaborate with peers.

This year’s event will feature Dries Buytaert, the founder of Drupal, and promises to be an unforgettable experience packed with collaboration, creativity, and inspiration. We are excited to present two sessions at MidCamp in Chicago.

There are two opportunities to hear your favorite Sandstormers speak:

(1) Unlocking the Hybrid Drupal Solution for Custom Software Development
(2) Leveraging the Best of Drupal to Support the World's Greatest Minds

Unlocking the Hybrid Drupal Solution for Custom Software Development

In this session, we'll explore how to leverage a hybrid Drupal solution to build custom software that combines the power of Drupal with modern frontend frameworks like ReactJS or VueJS. Rather than going full headless or decoupled, this approach allows Drupal to handle most backend work and core pages, while JavaScript frameworks are used for highly interactive, app-like components. By taking advantage of Drupal’s out-of-the-box capabilities—such as user management, database setup, and content control panels—you can streamline development and create dynamic experiences. We'll dive into how this hybrid approach works, showcasing Aleaquo, property management software that integrates Drupal and VueJS to manage property insurance for clients as well as insurance providers, making traditionally complex, paper-drive processes more efficient and user-friendly.

Key takeaways include gaining confidence in Drupal as the right choice for such a tech stack versus building a fully custom solution, and understanding how this approach can lead to greater development efficiency. You’ll leave with practical insights into creating engaging, scalable custom software combining the strengths of both Drupal and frontend javascript frameworks.

John Brooks

VP of Engineering

Leveraging the Best of Drupal to Support the World's Greatest Minds

In this session, discover how we partnered with the Milken Institute, a global think tank, to transform their Drupal website, improving UX, taxonomy, and delivering highly valuable research to the users who need it most - and fast.

Learn how user research drove decisions about content priority, cross-linking, categorizing, and hierarchy, and how we used what Drupal does best to power a site that delivers time-sensitive and highly sought-after event recordings and research for end users. We'll also review what we heard from content administrators and how we improved their experience to meet their needs of frequent updates and tight deadlines.

Key takeaways include best practices for managing complex Drupal architectures, the importance of user research, and lessons learned in refining taxonomy and empowering in-house teams. Whether you're facing similar challenges or want to deepen your Drupal expertise, this session offers practical insights into balancing design, technology, and content strategy.