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We have Mr. Coby Randquist here with us today. Thank you for your patience.
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As mentioned, I organize several conferences, so I'm used to getting up here for introductions rather than presentations. This is actually my second non-lightning talk presentation at a Ruby conference.
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I wanted to start by thanking the organizers for inviting me. I operate behind the scenes much more than I do on stage, so I truly appreciate being given this opportunity.
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Prakash mentioned that the Ruby community in India has particularly benefited from the accessibility Confreaks has provided to various conferences, primarily in the United States. A large part of this is due to Chad Fowler's support when we launched Confreaks. In 2007, we approached him about recording events, and he was open to the idea, even partnering with Microsoft to secure sponsorship for the event, which was the primary video sponsor that year.
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Let me jump back to my slides for a moment. My name is Coby Randquist, and I’ve been involved in software development and team management for about 25 years. My career began with BASIC and Business BASIC on UNIX, where I originally wrote software for construction companies.
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I later migrated to Visual Basic and spent a significant amount of time working with Microsoft tools. I was mainly focused on the Microsoft ecosystem for over 16 years before switching to C#. Eventually, I discovered Ruby, which shifted my path.
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In addition to software development, I enjoy community building; I like bringing groups of people together to engage in their passions. Over the last year and a half, I’ve also become involved with the OpenStack community, which is a platform for building cloud computing solutions.
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I’m thrilled to be at the first regional conference in India. When I first got involved with the Ruby community, I thought it was amazing how many regional conferences were happening, unlike other communities. For example, Python has PyCon, their primary national conference, but there aren’t recurring regional Python conferences—the Ruby community is active nearly every weekend with conferences happening globally.
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You'll notice a picture of the truck on the screen; one of my passions is rock crawling. It's essentially a heavily modified truck that navigates challenging terrain at a slow pace. As for my talk today, I didn’t provide an abstract—a fact I regret—so I will cover my early experiences in the Ruby community, how Confreaks started, and touch on open source software and its significance.
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So, how did I get started? While working for a company called vehix.com, which specialized in consumer automotive research and utilized the .NET framework, I discovered Ruby. I honestly don’t remember how I stumbled upon it, but I loved it right away.
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However, there was no way I could convince my management to make the switch to Ruby. We had just transitioned from Microsoft Visual Basic to the .NET framework, and there was no chance we would change direction again. So, I set Ruby aside. About six to eight months later, I wanted to teach my kids more about programming.
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At that time, Windows machines did not come pre-loaded with programming languages—in fact, I was using Windows full-time when I realized this. When I first started with computers, you booted directly into BASIC on a Commodore 64 or a VIC-20, which was the interface to your computer. I wanted to find a programming language for my kids, so I turned back to Ruby.
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I found Chris Pine's book 'Learn to Program.' The computer in the picture is a Sun Sparcstation 10. Parenting six girls is an adventure; my youngest set of twins is now 17 while my oldest set just turned 21, and my eldest daughter is 23. I built a small lab to teach my kids programming.
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I purchased several used Sparcstations, installed Linux, and got Ruby running on them. While none of my kids actually pursued software development, that was the early 2006 phase of my journey into Ruby. At that time, I began reevaluating my professional life at vehix.com, deciding that I wanted to use Ruby in my work.
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In 2006, my options began to diminish, so I decided to quit my job and start a consulting business. My goal was to create software solutions for clients who didn’t care about the technology I was using. This way, I could implement Ruby and Rails without needing to justify my technology choices—I just needed to provide effective solutions.
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After being self-employed for about two months, I heard about RubyConf through the local user group in Utah. At that time, I was living in Salt Lake City, close to Denver, which is just a short flight away. I attended RubyConf in 2006.
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Chad Fowler and various other speakers blew my mind with their presentations. At the end of the conference, I felt overwhelmed, and I wanted to watch the talks again, but the resources to do so were limited. Back then, we only had a few recordings available from attendees who were filming with their laptops aimed at the stage.
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This experience planted the seed for Confreaks. After returning from the conference, I discussed the experience with others including Mike Moore, who organized the Mountain West Ruby Conference in Salt Lake City.
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In 2007, Mike and I discussed the idea of recording the event, which marked the genesis of Confreaks. He collaborated with me and my partner, Carl Youngblood, to figure out logistics for recording the conference.
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We borrowed cameras and a frame grabber to get started. During that time, most recordings were done on tape, which meant lengthy post-production processes. The first time we recorded, we spent about 60 hours converting footage from tape to digital.
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In the same year, we also recorded Ruby Hoedown, and each time, we improved the process, ultimately establishing Confreaks as a company and further developing our capabilities in recording and post-production.
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By 2008, we recorded seven conferences, one of which was O'Reilly's Tools for Change for Publishers. This year marked a shift as it was our first deviation from strictly software development conferences.
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Though we were still primarily focused on the Ruby community, we became more open to other topics. This transition also came during a time of economic uncertainty.
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In late 2008, after the economic downturn, I searched for stability and decided to join Yellowpages.com, a subsidiary of AT&T at the time. I moved to Southern California in pursuit of this regular income.
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There was a significant culture shock in Los Angeles, and I was surprised to find that, despite the larger population, there were fewer Ruby meetups than in Salt Lake City. I made it my mission to create a local meetup, which ultimately became a regular gathering.
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Running a successful meetup requires consistency—picking a date and time where people can reliably show up and engage with one another. This allows the community to form connections.
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2009 marked significant developments for Confreaks. With Mike's encouragement, we transitioned to high-definition video and began capturing slides at full resolution, significantly enhancing our video content quality.
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Our team attended multiple conferences that year, and we began recording more regional events than ever before, entering a new phase of growth.
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By 2010, I purchased high-definition equipment and recorded the L.A. Ruby Conference, which was productive not only for our team but for the local developer community.
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My experience in L.A. reinforced the concept that regional conferences could empower local communities. The interactions that happen outside of structured talks provide immense value.
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By late 2010, I decided to move toward new opportunities. As my family has connections on the Oregon coast, I sought to transition to a Ruby-focused role there. I found a position with G5 in Bend, Oregon.
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While running Confreaks, I focused on ensuring our production quality improved and staff support increased. 2011 saw the addition of full-time team members to assist with conference coverage.
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In 2013, we expanded further, recording 23 events. I was excited to see regional conferences sprouting up in communities such as Burlington, Vermont, where small gatherings showed that a committed group could achieve great results.
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Throughout this journey, I also transitioned back to AT&T, where I worked on cloud computing projects with a focus on integrating Ruby into larger enterprise solutions.
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Part of my focus at AT&T involved advocating for and utilizing open source software, which I believe can lead to greater flexibility and responsiveness in project work.
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One of the key points I want to convey is the importance of investing in our own developers rather than relying solely on external vendor support.
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By hiring core developers in open source projects, we can build our solutions and ensure that we're directly involved in improving and maintaining the technologies we rely on.
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Lastly, I encourage everyone to consider what skills you can offer to your communities and how you can contribute to the projects that are important to you. Becoming involved in open source can come in various forms, and even organizing meetups can create incredible value.
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To conclude, understanding why you do what you do is pivotal. Reflect on what you're striving for and consider how your work aligns with your passions and goals.
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The barriers in the information age are largely self-imposed. It takes dedication and the willingness to commit time and effort to foster growth, whether in personal projects or community initiatives.
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Developing dedication is the key to making valuable contributions and driving positive change. Thank you all for your time.
