Sustaining Conferences
Overview
Keeping conference organizations healthy over decades.
The generational challenge
Getting younger people involved is harder now.
Why:
- Fewer ICT students
- Schools have fewer IT teachers
- Education system struggles to prepare IT professionals
Regional differences:
- Asia has more younger people in both staff and attendance
- Europe shows aging in volunteers and attendees
How people enter:
- Non-technical people often get involved through someone they know
- Example: FOSSASIA’s organizer came in through community, not technical background
Recruitment
- FOSDEM approach - Ask best volunteers to join staff. Word of mouth. May miss people who don’t attend.
- Intentional recruitment - Better than just hoping people show up
Building intergenerational teams
- Give younger people real work, not grunt work
- Pair new members with experienced ones
- Document everything so learning isn’t dependent on one person
- Include new people in planning, not just execution
Different models:
- COSCUP: Multiple leadership generations. Requires trust in newer leaders.
- PyConf Korea: Deliberately change members every 5 years. Harder transition but forces documentation.
- OpenFest: Wait for someone to do badly, motivated people take over. Risky but works.
- DevConf.IN: Seniors and juniors on small teams. Track good performers for core team.
Keeping young people engaged
- Give them projects they care about
- Help build portfolios and recognition
- Social stuff matters - awards, gatherings, not just meetings
- Include them in decision-making
Visibility and recruitment
Young people are on YouTube, TikTok, trending platforms. Not blogs.
- FOSSASIA - On all trending platforms, creating and sharing content
- DevConf.IN - University and company partnerships
- OpenChain - Write about experiences, people see it
- Challenge: Make open source visible where young people are without compromising values
Organizational transitions
Important: Even if someone critical leaves, you survive. Takes more work, quality drops temporarily, but you’re fine.
FOSSASIA model for moving locations:
- Core team stays constant
- Find local team members in new country
- Core team teaches locals
- Some locals get recruited to core team
- Process repeats, grows international team
The hard parts
- Admin work - Accounting, contracts, compliance. Everyone hates it. Critical but hard to delegate.
- Generational preferences - Older people want tight groups. Younger want different social dynamics. Both valid.
What works
- Documentation - Saves you when people leave. New people onboard fast.
- Intentional recruitment - Don’t just hope
- Delegate and trust - Even when risky
- Regional adaptation - One approach doesn’t work everywhere
- Be visible - Go where young people are
- Inclusion takes work - Doesn’t happen by accident
- Expect change - People and demographics change