Drupal GovCon 2025 Offers In-Person Training Sessions

Drupal GovCon is set to return August 14 and 15, 2025, with a full slate of hands-on training sessions aimed at developers, project managers, and digital teams working in government and beyond. The two-day event will be held in person at The Stamp Student Union on the University of Maryland, College Park campus, offering immersive workshops on topics ranging from Drupal site building and theming to advanced AI integration and front-end architecture.

Training begins Thursday with a full-day session led by Chaz Chumley focused on building front-end components using Storybook. The workshop emphasizes scalable, maintainable design systems and modern workflows for efficient front-end development. That same morning, project managers and scrum masters can attend a half-day training led by Jeramy Gatza of Digital Polygon on using AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot to enhance Agile project management within WebOps environments. The course will cover backlog preparation, automation, and testing strategies.

Thursday also includes two beginner-level options. Rod Martin of DrupalHelps will teach the Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Drupal, where attendees will learn the fundamentals of building a Drupal 11 site. In the afternoon, Drupal Forge’s Salim Lakhani and Will Kirchheimer will debut GovCMS, a new compliance-first platform aimed at streamlining the development of government websites. Another Thursday session, led by Ashraf Abed of Debug Academy, will help intermediate and advanced users prepare for the Drupal 11 Back End Specialist certification exam.

On Friday, the focus shifts to AI and design systems. Amazee’s Matt Saunders and Rod Martin will lead a full-day training on integrating Drupal AI into editorial workflows. Participants will learn how to configure the tool, build prompt-driven automations, and apply ethical AI principles, including transparency and accessibility. For developers and designers looking to sharpen their styling skills, Wes Ruvalcaba will teach a full-day CSS course. The session aims to demystify layout strategies, debugging techniques, and custom properties, offering practical CSS knowledge for real-world projects.

Friday’s schedule also includes a half-day session from Bixal’s James Mejia and Ray Estrada on how to create and maintain a design system. Drawing on their experience with the U.S. Web Design System, the trainers will walk attendees through building components using StorybookJS, Twig, and USWDS. The session is accessible to non-developers and emphasizes practical approaches to system maintenance and documentation.

For the first time since the pandemic, GovCon training will be entirely in-person. Organizers have also introduced certificates for Professional Development Units (PDUs) and Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) for select workshops. Training access is limited to registered GovCon attendees, and seats are expected to fill quickly.

For full details and registration, visit https://drupalgovcon.org/training