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Hey.
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Next up, we have Kerri Miller and Jeremy Flores. They're going to talk about running your own conference.
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They run Open Source Feels in Seattle and will share their experiences.
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I don't know if you've heard, but this is the last Mountain West conference.
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I've had some people ask me why we're closing it and why we're not doing it anymore.
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When I say 'we,' I mean in a royal sense; it's just me who is closing things down.
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But I love this. This marks the tenth year of my life where we have gathered in the spring as Rubyists.
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We’ve shared amazing talks, connected with one another, and I would love to see this continue next year; I just don't want to run it.
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It's time for someone else to step up and organize a conference, and I hope that there's someone here today or watching online who will take on this challenge.
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There's been talk about why not continue under the Mountain West name, and that's intentional on my part.
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I don’t want any comparisons because, for me, Mountain West is a way to relive RubyConf 2005.
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Show of hands, who was at RubyConf 2005? Three people, right? Well, for me, that memory matters.
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That's why it is the way it is; I'm chasing what it meant to me.
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Everyone in this room has a different experience of what touches them about the conferences they attend.
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If someone else organizes a conference, it will have a different feel, and people will react to it differently. That's what I want to happen.
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So that's why we're closing it; we're not going to do this anymore, and I would really like to see someone else take it on next year.
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I love coming to Salt Lake and doing this, and I'm happy to help, but I'm not going to run it anymore.
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That said, this is the third time we've tried to get Kerri on stage, and life has intervened.
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But this time, she’s here, and Jeremy is also here as our partner.
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Jeremy kind of showed up unexpectedly, but he’s super cool, and I like to listen to everything he says.
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Thank you, everyone, for coming! I look forward to what you guys have to say. I’m going to touch this—
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The shock is real, and you could see it was electricity in action.
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Kerri and I are going to laugh at our own jokes for most of this, so I hope that's okay.
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Formal introduction: my name is Kerri Miller. I’m a developer at GitHub based out of Seattle.
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This is my really good friend Jeremy, who is also a developer and teacher.
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I currently teach at Ada Developers Academy, a year-long nonprofit, tuition-free school for women and underrepresented groups in tech.
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As Mike mentioned, this is actually the third time he's asked me to speak here at Mountain West.
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The last two times, something came up the week beforehand, and I couldn't make it.
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So when he invited me again, I said 'yes' without hesitation.
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When I considered what I wanted to talk about, I thought it would be fitting to discuss the idea of running a conference, which is both fun and a bit scary.
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None of us really knew what we were doing except for Jeremy.
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But I felt I couldn’t give a talk without bringing Jeremy along on the journey.
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So for today, we’re going to share our experiences of organizing our conference, Open Source and Feelings.
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Before moving to Seattle and getting that off the ground, I organized Steel City Ruby in Pittsburgh for a few years.
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Did anyone attend Steel City Ruby back in the day? I know Aaron did, so that's great.
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So arriving in Seattle, I decided I wanted to do more organizing, and we came up with a ridiculous name for our conference.
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Speaking of ridiculous names, I want to take a moment to show you my pet.
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This is PJ Higgins JSD; that’s his actual official registered name.
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People ask me what the 'TJ' stands for, and I say it’s for TJ Hooker.
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And when they ask about 'Higgins,' I explain that Higgins was the butler from Magnum P.I.
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It’s so obvious, and also 'TJ' stands for lots of other fun things, depending on my mood.
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This is Rosa; she doesn’t have a fancy name; she is simply Rosa.
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She’s my best friend and the best part about knowing me is getting to hang out with Rosa.
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Now, we are two of the members of the organizing committee for Open Source and Feelings.
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The first event took place last October in Seattle and it was a whirlwind experience.
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We're primarily focused on conversations and inquiries into the intersection of technology and the humanities.
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This means that tough discussions are welcome, and it’s primarily a soft topic conference.
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We're looking into how technology intersects with our lives, our identities, and how we interact with others.
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We hosted many great talks on community organizing, civics, open-source software, and government.
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We are currently looking for submissions for the 2016 event, so if this sounds interesting to you, check out OSFeels.com.
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We also have early supporter tickets priced at three times the normal price, which is a bit odd.
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Typically, early bird tickets come with a discount, but we decided to do things differently.
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Those who are most excited about our conference are also the ones who can afford to come.
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That extra funding helps pay for speakers and acts as seed money to manage overall costs.
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We managed to put together a two-day technical conference for 200 people.
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The base ticket price was $55. Some people speculated that it would be a horrible conference due to the cost.
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People often ask to see our spreadsheets and how we kept costs low; we will discuss that in detail soon.
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When Jeremy asked me to join the organizing committee, I thought it would be challenging, but it would also be a lot of fun.
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We had no real idea of where we were going, but we recruited a great team.
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When I say 'we' during this presentation, it isn’t just Jeremy and I; we had an entire team behind us.
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We will discuss team dynamics and what conference organizing truly looks like.
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You might think it’s all fun and energetic, but in reality, it involves a lot of coffee and early mornings.
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This was us meeting for breakfast before an 8 AM registration, around 7 AM!
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We do want to recognize the incredible team that made Open Source and Feelings possible last year.
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Besides Jeremy and myself, we had Strand McCutchen, Bree Dodson, Utah Kate Newman, Christina Hartberg, and Whitney Rose Levis.
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We also have new organizers this year; Brenna Flood is joining us, along with Sameh El-Akl, and I hope I pronounced that right.
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We work with each other online and keep track of the conversations through Slack, where we conduct our organizing meetings.
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So, the first thing to figure out when planning a conference is: why do you want to run it?
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It could be anything—a meetup at your company, a casual lunch and learn, or a full-blown conference.
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Ask yourself if you feel obligated or if there are larger reasons like building community, giving back, or becoming involved.
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Consider how your skills might contribute beyond traditional notions of open-source software.
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As a GitHub user, I understand how significant contributions are, so aim to get those green dots of participation in your community.
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When determining the reason behind your conference, take the time to write it down and create a mission statement.
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It’s like the elevator pitch for your startup, and having that clarity will serve various purposes.
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It helps pitch to sponsors and contributors, and it becomes a guiding reference for all decision-making related to the conference.
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Our mission is more than just a code of conduct; it's a statement of our ideas and values.
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This serves as a benchmark to determine if our actions help or hinder our objectives.
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Step two is to find a venue that complements your audience and mission goals.
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The venue plays a significant role in shaping your conference experience.
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It influences the attendees you attract and the discussions that develop during the conference.
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I personally favor venues with distinct gathering spots that promote conversation and interaction between talks.
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Create a list of essential features when evaluating venues and compare each option against it.
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You can check out our checklist at OSFeels.com.
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We evaluated about a dozen venues in Seattle before settling on Broadway Performance Hall in Capitol Hill.
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Here are a few things we considered when evaluating a venue.
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Accessibility is a top concern; consider if the venue has necessary stairs or elevators.
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Make sure there’s wheelchair access and adequate seating.
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Consider the audio and video capabilities as well—whether they're built-in or if you’ll need to provide your equipment.
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Budget for the correct technical resources and ensure they’ll meet your needs.
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Catering is another aspect to consider; many venues have preferred caterers, so knowing their policies helps.
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What are the rules regarding food at the venue? Do you need to obtain a banquet license?
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The checklist we publish on our site is incredibly useful to assess these various considerations.
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Once you have a venue, securing funding is crucial.
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Everything associated with the conference incurs costs, so it’s essential to find sponsors.
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It's crucial to be prepared for rejection; many potential sponsors will not have the budget.
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Create a spreadsheet of potential sponsors based on past conference sponsorships and local businesses.
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Get creative with sponsorship opportunities. Some companies will pay upfront, while others might want to sponsor specific aspects, like a coffee bar.
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During last year’s event, New Relic sponsored our travel assistance fund.
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They expressed interest in supporting our mission.
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Jeremy will elaborate on creating a budget and more about our financial management.
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It's vital to protect your investments, which means forming an LLC.
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Doing so allows you to handle other people's money and provides some protection if things go wrong.
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Forming an LLC is relatively easy and can often be completed online.
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Next, you'd want to hire an accountant early on to avoid tax issues down the line.
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They'll help keep you compliant with local laws, such as sales and amusement tax.
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It is critical to set up a bank account for your LLC to manage funds properly.
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Keep conference funds separated from personal funds to avoid issues later.
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Your accountant will appreciate it, and you'll have a clearer overview of what's happening with the budget.
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To secure the interests of the venue, you typically need to obtain event insurance.
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Choosing a provider takes just a quick phone call, typically costing around $100.
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Our two-day single-track conference for about 300 attendees only needed $90 to insure.
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It’s essential to look at the minimums set forth in the venue contracts regarding insurance needs.
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All decisions made should be financially viable; the goal is to avoid being in debt or losing money.
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Understanding what your costs will be is critical, so open a blank spreadsheet and start researching.
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List down everything either costs or brings in revenue and create a functional budget.
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Keep this budget accessible as it’ll inform major decisions throughout the planning process.
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All decisions during team meetings should be framed in terms of the available budget.
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Now that you have the basics down, let’s move on to selecting presenters.
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Choosing presenters can be challenging, but it’s essential to develop your conference identity.
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Decide on the format of your conference early on; this will influence everything else.
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Will your conference be single or multiple tracks? Can your venue accommodate a dual track?
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We found that a single track worked best to keep everyone engaged and participating.
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Once you've set your format, it’s time to launch your Call for Proposals (CFP).
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It’s a vulnerable moment as you broadcast your mission and invite speakers to participate.
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Be as transparent as possible about your expectations for the speakers.
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Provide detailed information about the format and length of their talks.
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We offered clear guidelines on the types of topics we wanted to engage with and our code of conduct.
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A lot of speakers appreciated this upfront information; it helped them prepare.
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We also published a wish list of desired talk titles, which helped guide prospective speakers.
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This approach helped frame submissions and allowed us to shape a better experience for attendees.
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One of the hardest things about organizing a conference is managing relationships among organizers.
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Each individual brings their unique vision, experiences, and anxieties to the project.
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Balancing everyone's emotions can become complicated, especially when conflict arises.
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We approached this conference like software developers approaching a new project.
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Our organizing meetings resembled sprint planning, with asynchronous communications flowing in Slack.
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Hierarchy in tech can facilitate decision-making, but a lack of it can lead to chaos.
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As all efforts were volunteer-driven, accountability for missed deadlines was a challenge.
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In the months leading to the event, we faced difficulties with decision-making and communication breakdowns.
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This led to people acting independently without communicating their plans.
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For instance, Kerri ordered attendee badges without clearing it with anyone, and Utah proposed turning all restrooms gender-neutral.
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While some decisions were positive, others led to strained relationships and tedious task ownership.
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After the conference, we conducted a formal retrospective, hiring a facilitator to improve our future collaboration.
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We discussed what went right and wrong so we could maximize successes and minimize failures.
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One key takeaway was to establish an organizer code of conduct.
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This should address acceptable and unacceptable behaviors among the organizing team.
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It provides a limited formal structure to discuss and resolve disagreements.
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Mindful communication, including being aware of each other's preferences, is vital to effective coordination.
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Documenting decisions is crucial; if it's not recorded, it isn't decided.
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Being specific with documentation helps build accountability, especially when assigning tasks.
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Empower your team members by fostering a supportive decision-making environment.
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Work on building a sense of ownership and responsibility.
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My role as the signatory on the bank account made me a bottleneck for financial decisions.
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Now, I encourage budget discussions framed in terms of reasoning and support for specific items.
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This has enabled everyone to feel more empowered when making decisions.
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While planning, draw from successful elements of your favorite conferences.
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Decisions should align with your mission; consider inclusivity for all attendees.
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For instance, we opted not to offer Wi-Fi after assessing costs and understanding its necessity.
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We also imbued the local community into our event by hosting it near vibrant neighborhoods.
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Ultimately, the goal was for attendees to celebrate their experiences together.
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After all is said and done, our hope is that attendees will use this information to run their own conferences.
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Whether it’s about technology, communication, or community, these events are integral to driving change.
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Thank you for your time! Now, we can shift to questions.
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We’ll also provide links to the resources mentioned during the talk—if you’re interested in learning more, please reach out.
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One common question is how we attracted attendees; the answer is a program of effective outreach and word of mouth.
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We had influential speakers engaged in extensive social media outreach, promoting the event within their communities.
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We also compiled a large spreadsheet of community groups and mailing lists, facilitating continuous outreach.
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In addition, we provided a half-price ticket for anyone who proposed a talk, encouraging more engagement.
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We continued to promote widely and invited local clubs and colleges to join.
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We encouraged our core community to become champions within their networks and share information about the event.
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As a result, we developed a rich array of talent for our first year.
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To answer another question regarding the choice of LLC over a nonprofit status: We would love to pursue a 501c3!
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However, it’s a lengthy and costly process, often taking years to establish.
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It’d be great, but our priority right now is ensuring the conference runs smoothly.
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Establishing connections with local nonprofits to explore the possibility of operating under their umbrella may also be beneficial.
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We want to optimize sponsorship deals and connect with a wider range of potential sponsors.
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Organizing such events does cost time and resources; engage communities actively, and you’ll see improvements.
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Develop a trusting relationship with potential sponsors and keep them engaged throughout.
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Foster a sense of community within tech and non-tech circles to attract a diverse audience.
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Remember that building a conference takes time, but the results can be rewarding!
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We appreciate your engagement today, and we look forward to the new possibilities ahead.
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Thank you for your time and interest in our journey and work!
