Clay Shirky, Jared Spool, and Dries Buytaert to Headline DrupalCon Chicago 2011

We are proud to announce that Clay Shirky, Jared Spool, and Dries Buytaert will be appearing as the keynote speakers for DrupalCon Chicago, which will be held March 7-10, 2011. As some of the leading minds in today’s ever-expanding new media landscape, these speakers will inform, engage, and inspire DrupalCon attendees.

Clay Shirky
Writer, Consultant, Teacher on New Media and the Internet
With new technology permeating every aspect of our daily lives, it is important to recognize the impact it has on society. Acclaimed author, consultant, teacher, and Internet visionary Clay Shirky has devoted his career toward exploring the social and economic influences of technology. Shirky is the author of several books, including “Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations” and the recently-published "Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age". Shirky’s work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Wired, among others.

Jared Spool
CEO and Founder of User Interface Engineering
Innovation is born out of the quest for usability. Usablility makes our lives more productive, safer, and happier. This has been Jared Spool’s quest since 1978 when he began working in the field of design and usability. Spool is the founder and CEO of User Interface Engineering, the largest usability research organization of its kind in the world. In addition to speaking about usability at more than 20 conferences every year, Spool is a faculty member at the Tufts University Gordon Institute and is author of the book “Web Usability: A Designer’s Guide”.

Dries Buytaert
Drupal Project Lead
Dries Buytaert is a man of many interests. He holds a doctorate in computer science and engineering. He is a photographer. He is a husband and father. He is Belgian. However, you may know him best as the original creator and project lead for the Drupal open source Web publishing platform or “the reason there is a DrupalCon in the first place”. In addition to serving as the president of the Drupal Association, he is also the co-founder and CTO of Acquia, a company that offers hosting, technical support, and services for the Drupal platform, and the co-founder of Mollom, a web service that helps identify content quality and stop website spam.

About DrupalCon Chicago
DrupalCon is an international event that brings together the people who use, develop, design, and support the Drupal platform. DrupalCon Chicago 2011 will feature dozens of curated sessions and panels from some of the most influential people and brightest minds within the Drupal community and beyond, as well as countless opportunities for networking, code sprints, informal conversations, and more.