Building the Drupal Community in Vietnam: Seeds for Empowerment and Opportunities

With almost 90 million people, Vietnam has the 13th largest population of any nation in the world. It's home to a young generation that is very active in adopting innovative technologies, and in the last decade, the country has been steadily emerging as an attractive IT outsourcing and staffing location for many Western software companies.

Yet amidst this clear trend, Drupal has emerged very slowly in Vietnam and all of Asia as a leading, enterprise-ready Framework (CMF). However, this is changing as one Drupalista works hard to grow the regional user base.

How it all started

Tom Tran, a German with Hanoian roots, discovered Drupal in 2008. He was overwhelmed by the technological power and flexibility that makes Drupal such a highly competitive platform, and was amazed by the friendliness and vibrancy of the global community. He realized that introducing the framework and the Drupal community to Vietnam would help local people the opportunity to access the following three benefits:

  • Steady Income: Drupal won’t make you an overnight millionaire, however if you become a Drupal expert and commit to helping clients to achieve their goals, you will never be short of work. Quality Drupal specialists are in huge demand across the world and this demand won’t stop any time soon as Drupal adoption grows.
  • Better Lifestyle: You are free and able to design a work/lifestyle balance on your terms. You can work from home or contribute remotely while traveling, as long as you continue to deliver sustainable value to your client. Many professionals in less developed countries like Vietnam have never imagined this opportunity-- and learning about this lifestyle can be very empowering and inspirational.
  • Cross Cultural Friendships: In spite of national borders and cultural differences, Tom has established fruitful partnerships between his development team from Vietnam and clients from across the globe. Whether clients are based in California, Berlin, Melbourne or Tokyo, his team has successfully collaborated on many projects and often became good friends beyond just project mates. These relationships can only grow thanks to the open Drupal community spirit and the way it connects peoples from all regions and cultures from around the world.

Tom started by organizing a Drupal 7 release party in Hanoi in January 2011. Afterwards, he reached out to Drupal enthusiasts in the region and organized informal coffee sessions, which have contributed to the growth of a solid, cohesive community in Vietnam.

Drupal Vietnam College Tour

With help from a Community Cultivation Grant, Tom put on workshops every three months at Vietnamese universities and colleges in 2012. By showcasing the big brands and institutions using Drupal, a diverse series of use cases demonstrate that the demand for Drupal is high, and that the Drupal industry is a great place to be. A three hour hands-on session walks students through the basics of sitebuilding with Drupal-- and it's at this point that most students get hooked.

March 2012
First ever Drupal Hanoi Conference at VTC Academy, with 120 visitors (facebook gallery)

June 2012
Hello Drupal workshop @ Tech University Danang (gallery)

 

July 2012
Drupal Workshop @ FTP-Aptech (fb gallery, fpt aptech news)

 

September 2012
Drupal Workshop @ NUCE (gallery, Nuce news)

 

November 2012
Drupal Workshop @ FTP University (gallery)

 

December 2012
Drupal Workshop @ Aiti-Aptech (gallery)

 

December 2012
Drupal talk & sponsorship for PHPDay.vn 2012 (local images 2x)

The results was an overall increase in members and growing everyday. Stats in 2014:

What’s next?

Tom is currently planning to organize the first DrupalCamp in Hanoi / Vietnam in late 2014. Today Drupal Vietnam has only roughly 1300 members, (less than LA DUG) but with a growing pool of software engineers graduating each year, this country is set to become a relevant resource of highly skilled developers, provided high quality training is affordable and access to jobs can be facilitated. Things look very bright in Vietnam!

Supporters

About

Tom is founder of Geekpolis, a software company with a development center based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Geekpolis focuses on high-quality managed Drupal development services for bigger consultancy agencies. Currently the team is comprised of 25 engineers.

To get involved, contact Tom at:

Original Article: