Episode 39: Organizing Technical Conferences

Organizing Technical Conferences TableXI is now offering training for developers and products teams! For more info, go to http://tablexi.com/workshops. Get your FREE career growth strategy information and techniques! Summary I've been attending technical conferences for years, and I've always wondered about the hidden challenges involved in putting a conference together. In this show, four of the best conference organizers I know join me to share their secrets and stories. Marty Haught, organizer of many conferences including RubyConf and RailsConf, Jen Remsik and Jim Remsik, who organize the Madison+ family of conferences, and Leah Silber, who organizes EmberConf and RustConf. Learn about budgets, picking talks, and managing facilities and vendors. Guests Marty Haught: President at Haught Codeworks, Director at Ruby Central organizing RailsConf and RubyConf Jen Remsik: Director of People Operations at Adorable.io, Organizer of Madison Ruby Jim Remsik: President of Adorable.io, Organizer of Madison Ruby. Leah Silber: CEO at Tilde Inc.. EmberConf, RustConf, and RailsConf Organizer. Author of Event Driven: How to Run Memorable Tech Conferences. Notes 03:12 - Getting Things Right and Having Empathy for Attendees 11:16 - Budgetary Aspects 14:53 - Planning Conferences in Other Cities 18:22 - Putting the Program Together and Selection Processes 29:25 - Crafting a Conference Proposal 31:12 - Encouraging and Enabling Attendee Interaction 40:03 - Conference Mentorship 41:26 - Words of AdviceSpecial Guests: Jen Remsik, Jim Resmsik, Leah Silber, and Marty Haught.