Four things I would change about (nearly) every tech conference

As in-person conferences return, I thought I would write down a few things that I think would improve any event, particularly tech conferences.

I've written about stuff like this before, and some of it is self-serving, but hey, here we are!

Shorter talks, more office hours

Talks form the core of any conference: in general, talks, and the credentials of the folks giving them, are why folks show up to conferences in the first place.

That said, I'm not 100% convinced that we have achieved alignment on how talks at conferences work. In particular for technical content, talks are not the most efficient way for folks to learn new things. As Apple has shown us (and will probably not go back to the old way), pre-recorded videos are much more scaleable, and much more flexible. Pre-recorded videos can vary in length to match the content, and of course folks can watch them, and re-watch them at their own pace.

I still believe that there's huge value for getting together in-person, I just wish that there was pre-recorded content for most of the big ideas at a conference. Many conference staples: keynotes, stories, launches, Q&A sessions really benefit from being in the room, and I think that they should be part of the mix, but in general I would prefer fewer sit-down-and-concentrate sessions, and if we're going to go theatre-style, I'd prefer what I sit down and watch to be more theatrical.

Make expo halls more fun

Expo halls always disappoint me. The main reason is that I'm usually not the target market for an expo hall. Expo halls are trawlers: companies cast a wide net, get exposed to hundreds and maybe thousands of people usually with two goals: sell to them, or hire them.

If you have to have an expo hall (and I know, sponsors are often the main source of income), the most effective expo "booths" that I've attended neither attempt to sell to me directly, nor to pitch a job to me. The best expo booths know that building a relationship is the key to acquiring a lifetime customer or attracting someone to come and work. Building a relationship is not transactional: the first step shouldn't be "look at my product" (unless asked), nor should it be "hey we're hiring" (unless, again, asked). The first step should be: join us for a fun experience.

The problem is that doing this is going to be unique to every event, situation and audience, and requires care and attention. Still, if a conference managed to convince sponsors to put that level of relationship-first attention into expo halls, we'd all be better off.

Acknowledge, embrace and improve "The Hallway Track"

"The Hallway Track" is this mysterious part of conference attending often fondly referred to that, in general, organisers acknowledge, but don't really do much more than exist to embrace and encourage it. Many people say it's the best part of attending conferences, and that makes sense. Outside of talks, if you go to a JS conference and you’re excited about JS, chances are you’ll meet a bunch of people excited about JS.

The problem is that The Hallway Track, on the whole, is entirely left up to participants themselves. Sometimes, anxiety kicks in. Sometimes, it's impossible to know whether the people you meet want to even be talked to.

In the shows that I've organised, I've put a lot of thought on how to encourage mixing of people in a way that doesn't feel forced. Going back to the first point: running speaker office-hours is a great way for folks to get together and chat in a relaxed, focussed environment, but there are lots of ways to encourage serendipity. Things I've done in the past include organising meals, moving people about on a variety of transport (buses, trains, boats and even helicopters), and maybe the simplest of all: putting lots of space in between talks.

If the hallway track is what folks value and remember, I think it's important to recognise that and do everything to make it as awesome as it could possibly be.

Go all-in on inclusive first

Inclusive-first event design means designing your event around folks who would traditionally be marginalised. Some of this is changing, and to a certain degree, your venue choice will determine what accessibility you can offer, but I have three good actionable examples:

1. Default to vegetarian (even vegan) food, with meat as an option. I don't want to harp on about this, but the simple fact is that all meat-eaters eat vegetables, but not all eaters eat meat. There's a restaurant in Dublin called Nutbutter that embraces and does this really well, and is a good model to follow. You’ll need to bring your caterers with you on this, but it will be worth it. Also: vegetables at their best are always better than meat at its best. Don't @ me.

2. Default to non-alcoholic recreational activities, with the option of a bar for those who want to take the understandably easy route of a few drinks. Strange Loop, for example, hosts its pre-party in City Museum, which is literally a house of fun. Drinks are available, but they're an aside to the merriment, and they even have rooms full of board games to play. At the Team Tito office party a few years ago, we did cocktails which were all visibly similar, and the menu was laid out with "Alcohol free" on the left, and "Free alcohol" on the right. That still makes me titter.

3. Live-stream or provide an online-only experience Post-Covid, this is even stronger advice, and is probably the biggest takeaway that we learned during the pandemic. Even though I've concluded that there is no replacement for gathering in person, there will always be a cohort of folks who can't travel for whatever reason. We have the technology now to create awesome online experiences, and there's not a one of us who hasn't dabbled in live-streaming or simply uploading recordings. It should be table-stakes these days.

Inclusive-first isn't about degrading anyone’s experience: it's all about bringing the experience up to a level-par for everyone. I would argue that approaching things this way is actually overall better, because you end up with more people who are more comfortable.

Finally, since you’ve read this far, it would be remiss of me to say that if you need a safe, simple space to post pre-recordings, live-streams and schedules for your event, look no further than our live-streaming platform Vito, which was designed with these principles in mind.