Filling the Gap - Bringing Drupal to the Design Community

This session will be co-presented by myself and Mark Boulton. What will we cover?

Why (as a developer) should I care? (What's in it for me?)
Trying to underline the broader scope of the Drupal community- Drupal is used by plenty of people who don't contribute, don't follow along- how do we as a community address their needs and concerns? Not just designers, either, but designers' clients too (end users).

Why is the design community important? What value is there in addressing their needs?

What's the issue, really? (It's more than theming...)
Ease of theming isn't the only thing keeping designers from choosing Drupal- it's a lack of understanding about what makes Drupal different/better.

How designers think- mapping models
Comparing Drupal to other popular content management systems- what does Drupal do that others do. How can we map the Wordpress or Expression Engine way in a way that Drupal-newbs will understand?

Usability tests & war stories
Hear from leading designers- what problems do they have w/ Drupal? What problems do they see for their clients? What advantages?

Reaching out (How can I help?)
How do we inform designers about Drupal's strengths? How do we address its weaknesses moving forward?