At the second annual Magento Developers Conference, over 100 attendees basked in the sun on the beautiful Balearic Island of Ibiza . They buried their feet in the sand and swam in the Mediterranean Sea. They took boat rides and ate lavish meals; drank cocktails, danced and mingled. They had their fun in the sun but for the most part, in the true spirit of the conference, the developers did what developers do. They coded. They developed.

They developed their expertise, putting to use a program with more than fifteen speakers. Magento co-founder and CFO Yoav Kutner, members of the Magento Core Team, and many Magento partners enlightened the crowd with a range of topics. They wowed the many in attendance with presentations on new releases, the full capabilities of Magento’s open source platform, its best uses, and what’s in store for the future. Creating the biggest stir on the island were the lectures covering what can be expected for Magento 2, which is currently under development. MDP attendees were impressed with Magento’s focus on improving the core and performance as well as Magento’s willingness to consider community input for new features and enhancements.

Attendees developed their skills by comparing notes and success stories with other developers. We were happy to see many Magento community members from last year working together with first time MDP attendees to share and hear what’s new in Magento product development. At the Hack-a-thon event, a favorite amongst attendees, four teams worked together for four hours to produce four extensions now available on Magento Connect. At MDP attendees did not just learn, they created.

All the jet skis, the music and the sightseeing. Developers crave not these things. They came here for the coding. To evolve. But I am sure all the glitz and glamour of Ibiza, Spain was a nice bonus.

We would like to thank Thomas Fleck and his team for organizing this wonderful event. Thank you to the amazing speakers. And a special thank you to all of the attendees. Everyone helped make Magento Developers Paradise 2011 a huge success.

We hope to see you next year!