Hello, all. Some of you might cringe at the idea of 'Yet Another Tech Conference', but I will plead with you to read me out here for a minute.
We have been blessed | spoiled | overwhelmed | fatigued - pick your devil, by the amount of Javascript conferences that have sprouted along. There is a need for it and it definitely helps our community as a whole feel more connected, vibrant and more important move forward.
The flip side of it though is that I personally feel like, though the content and events have been getting better, the largest portion of our community - beginners to early intermediates - are being completely left off.
I remember the first time I went to the jQuery conference and John Resig himself was there with speakers such as Nicholas Zakas, Paul Irish, Alex Sexton etc... I was in awe to see these amazing individuals sharing their craft. But when the dust settled, and I went back to my studio apartment I came to one big realization: dude I totally suck at this, I could not relate or begin to comprehend the level in which these people were navigating.
I, fortunately, stayed with it but subconsciously was avoiding to go through another one and feel like a plain idiot when it seemed so obvious to the rest of the world.
Long story short, I want to create a different feel to this great community event model. The idea has been in my head for a while, but I was very inspired by the tinyconf model and Sid's article.
I want to mirror that model with those at the early stage or who just started to figure it out as the main audience.
What do you think??
Top comments (4)
Sounds like an interesting concept. Making it a conference that is small enough to meet everyone and build a relationship seems really intriguing to me. I know our company hosted a BarCamp and it was a memorable experience.
Indeed the compact size has the relationship angle as a direct benefit. I also feel like some presentations are sometimes rushed because when you have a line up of great speakers going in depth can be challenging.
My suggestion is to make video of conferences and sessions on subjects/topics which can be shared. Sort of conference available for online followers.
Yes the online aspect is key as long as the interactive aspect can be preserved. The webinar software have come a long way but are yet to trump the face to face experience.