Join Friendly.rb in September 2024

Here is why you should come to Friendly.rb Ruby Conference in September (18-19 September, in Bucharest, Romania).
I am one of the co-organizers so I will be subjective. I also like and participate in other #Ruby conferences, so you should check them out, too. https://rubyconferences.org is a great place to discover new conferences.

Let's talk about Friendly RB!

Here is how it was last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqohP-Ydy_Y

1️⃣ It's a two-day conference with a relaxed schedule and a maximum of 130 participants

We have generous breaks, a warm and comfy venue, and good coffee.

This means plenty of time to listen to talks, connect with new Ruby developers, and make new friends. You don't have to rush to go to the next session or miss a talk because you want a deeper chat in the hallway. We are ensuring there are enough breaks so everybody can meet everybody, hoping to create a strong sense of community.

This, I believe, is one of the most valuable aspects of every in-person conference I've attended: meeting new people, forming connections, and engaging with those who inspire me or help me grow.

2️⃣ We are planning on 20 September 2024 (Friday) a group activity

This is not part of the official schedule, but if you come to Bucharest and can stay on Friday, you should make sure you remain.

A group activity is a great way to form deeper bonds and discuss your ideas. But can also just be a relaxing activity with people that share your passion for the Ruby programming language.

Last year we made a 1-day trip to a city in the mountains, where we did a bit of walking around, visited a castle, ate traditional food and had such a great time. It is an opportunity to get to know more people in a more natural context. The discussions were about Ruby but also about life, food and anything else.

This year, we are thinking about doing something in the same direction. Details remain to be shared close to the conference as we put the last pieces together.

3️⃣ The talks are a very good mix of technical talks with entrepreneurial subjects

The technical talks will help you expand your knowledge about Ruby, Ruby on Rails, and Hanami (security, and a lot more deep dives).

The talks about startups and SaaS will inspire you to launch your project or increase your involvement in your company's product.

If I were asked to pick 1 or 2 talks, it would be so hard for me to do so. I plan to watch all the talks; each one feels it will bring me a perspective or some ideas that I look forward to discovering:

Talks about Ruby and Ruby Gems
Talks about Web Frameworks with Ruby: Rails and Hanami
Talks Entrepreneurship
Talks about Performance and Security

This year, we are hosting a panel about "Ruby at scale" with amazing speakers, and I look forward to facilitating it.

4️⃣ Speakers

We had a lot of CFPs, and if we could, we would have picked all.

The speakers at Friendly.rb are a mix of people you know from the community and people speaking for the first time at a conference.

Due to my work curating the Short Ruby Newsletter, I think I interacted with articles or posts shared by each speaker. They are people who are contributing to the Ruby community, each in their own way.

They are all people you want to meet, talk to, and befriend. I will take every chance to speak with them after their talks and connect. Going to a smaller conference is the perfect chance to meet and greet them without putting too much effort into chasing them through a big crowd.

Checkout the full schedule on our website https://friendlyrb.com

More info to plan your trip

And if you want to plan your visit to #Bucharest, we have a section with valuable resources for participants:

You can discover more resources to help you plan your visit at https://friendlyrb.com/bucharest

Why you should participate to Friendly.rb in September 2024