Brandon Weaver Apr 29, 2023

One thing that is non-obvious to a lot of folks, and is the reason I'm not jumping to restart a conference over here:

They cost a _lot_ of money, and it's real easy to bankrupt the person hosting them if you're not careful.

My goal is to help build a sustainable ecosystem that can foster conferences for decades to come, not a few years until the current leads burn out.

I believe Ruby Central plays a crucial role in helping to make this a reality.

Show threadBrandon Weaver Apr 29, 2023

The other half of this equation are the people.

You have to have a critical mass of attendees to make a conference a reality, and that means consistently attended meetups and events to prove that mass.

You also need organizers and volunteers capable of leading that large of a group. It's not trivial to head up a 1500+ person conference, and we need to acknowledge that.

Show threadBrandon Weaver Apr 29, 2023

For me I believe this starts locally through meetup organizers, and organically grows from there.

Meetup organizers become local conference organizers over time, perhaps eventually even regional ones and expanding from there.

That takes time, and we need to cultivate and invest in those leaders.

Show threadBrandon Weaver 
I'm not saying it can't happen, but that we want this to be sustainable and carry on for generations beyond the initial organizers, and that investment is constant and ongoing.
Apr 29, 2023 at 2:23amWeb
Show threadNoel RappinApr 29, 2023
@baweaver so, one thing that happened in many places was that the original meetup/conference organizers burned out and for whatever reason there was no succession.
Show threadBrandon Weaver Apr 29, 2023
@noelrap Yeah, that's one of the biggest issues: there's very rarely a succession line or people ready to take up that mantel next.
Show threadRichard SchneemanApr 29, 2023

@baweaver @noelrap I’ve seen this in action. At lone star there was a handoff but then the person who took over quit after one year.

With keep ruby weird we didn’t have anyone knocking down our door and also were protective of the brand. It’s really hard to give up something personal if you don’t know how well it will be implemented.

I would recommend a one day, single track conf for anyone looking to start.

Show threadRichard SchneemanApr 29, 2023
@baweaver @noelrap One semi-surprising element: there’s very little in it for the conference organizers. Less recognition than speaking. Definitely not a financially motivated act. You don’t even get to enjoy your own conference because you’re there running it.
Show threadRichard SchneemanApr 29, 2023
@baweaver @noelrap lots of the long running confs have secondary drivers. They’re consultancies looking for work (and have a plethora of people on hand) or they’re a book publisher or they have external funding or motivation some other way.
Show threadChelsea KaufmanApr 29, 2023
@Schneems @baweaver @noelrap I totally understand those motivations but I also think there are people out there who are passionate about community building. I, for one, prefer organizing to speaking. I don’t do it for the accolades, but rather for the pride in facilitating conversations around a mission I believe in.
Show threadNoel RappinApr 29, 2023
@Schneems @baweaver What happened in Chicago is that the consultancy that ran the user group and regional conference got bought by another consultancy that proved to be less motivated to keep them both going.
Show threadChelsea KaufmanApr 29, 2023
@Schneems @baweaver @noelrap Succession planning is difficult but possible with the right structure. I also totally agree that it’s hard to turn over something that you put so much work into but my hope is if I go into it with that intention it might be easier. There’s a lot of us on the Ruby Central board who are looking at these things with the long term sustainability in mind as we build more systems.
Show threadLucian GhindaApr 29, 2023

@Chels @Schneems @baweaver @noelrap

Thank you all for this thread and writing.

As someone now just starting to organize a #Ruby conference, I did not think about all these points.

They all feel very true to me!

Show threadAbby PhoenixApr 29, 2023

@Schneems @baweaver @noelrap

Hi y'all. ;)

I'm stepping out of lurking while reading this conversation to say two things:

1. you're (basically) all right.

2. I've been thinking and chatting about so many of these exact same things lately with some other organizers. I'm fascinated by where we all are and where it's all going.

If any of you ever want to chat further, I'm game!

Show threadBrandon Weaver Apr 29, 2023
@aphoenix @Schneems @noelrap there are some efforts at the Ruby Central level, and of course some of us who are eager to start things up again, so would love to chat. @Chels would be great here too.
Show threadAbby PhoenixApr 29, 2023
@baweaver @Schneems @noelrap @Chels Obviously, with sensitivity to the fact that I don’t work for Ruby Central anymore and am just offering my own thoughts… I’d love that! Just DM me.
Show threadsoaprootApr 29, 2023
@baweaver @noelrap I have observed that a "generation" in the context of an annual conference historically has often been about 7 years (Atlanta Linux Showcase, Golden Gate Ruby, probably others). Beyond that, "succession" in the sense of a seamless turnover of organizers and volunteers might be feasible but I'm not sure I have an opinion about that versus finding a whole new group (and somehow making it sufficiently easy for them).