Parent Driven DevelopmentEpisode 029: Organizing ConferencesAndy has organized RedDotRubyConf, still organizes Brighton Ruby, and has spoken the past few years at RubyConf.Andy also puts out an email newsletter, with one Ruby/Rails technique delivered with a ‘why?’ and a ‘how?’ every two weeks. It’s deliberately brief, focussed & opinionated, and called One Ruby Thing.Chris helps to co-organize Ruby For Good.Systems, systems, systems. Staying in the speaker hotel during crunch time. Getting paid helps.Having no co-organizers = no extra communication challenges.Relying on your partner.Staying local helps.Having a venue.Andy runs Brighton Ruby as a single track, one-day conference of 300-400.Ruby Central conferences by comparison are up to about 1,000 attendees and multi-track over 3-4 days.Ruby For Good is about 80 people, but has less of a conference feel because it's groups of people hacking on different projects over a few days.Benefits the career.Meeting, networking, and making friends.Feel-good factor.Prioritization.Time frees up as kids have gotten older. Kids on stage are cute.Teenagers can help volunteer!Osmosis of exposure. This is what mom/dad does!Showing that work does not necessarily equal drudgery.The best track at any conference is the speaker track.Coaching, mentoring, and cheering on first-time speakers.Repetition of putting on conferences over the years = it gets easier, more fun, and less stressful.Atomic HabitsWe all have tried them. We all have opinions. We are definitely open for sponsorship. Email us! 👇🏻Speak.Volunteer.Conference Scholar/Guide Programs. i.e. Ruby Central'sCommunity MeetupsAndy's kids learning empathy from movies. (#Genius)Chris forgot to pack his son's main lunch entreé and left it in the microwave! (#Fail)Josh's daughter revealing she has a video clip of the two of them from when she was very little and being fond of watching it often. (Genius)KWu's son fell and hit his head 🤕. (#Fail)Follow & SupportPlease follow us @parentdrivendev on Twitter or email us at [email protected]. Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com.Support us via Patreon and get access to our our Slack Community.PanelChris SextonKWuJosh PuetzAndy Croll