Of the Rejekts, by the Rejekts, for the Rejekts: Lessons from organising a community conference
summary
Case study of Cloud Native Rejekts describes a b-side conference launched in 2019 that gives KubeCon‑worthy submissions a second chance, runs free registration in Salt Lake City, and hits roughly 200 attendees on day one. Planning stresses a clear budget and a single decision‑maker, narrow audience scope, external program committee to avoid bias, optional tools like Pre‑Talks or Sessionize, local community outreach, vendor negotiation and delegated roles. The model shows repeatable impact via word‑of‑mouth and measurable attendee growth.
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chapters (11)
- 0:00Introduction and inspiration
- 1:02Origin of Cloud Native Rejekts
- 2:24Core concept and brand story
- 12:39Audience poll and sponsor importance
- 14:26Financial underwriting for conferences
- 20:24Tenets of starting a community conference
- 23:36Building blocks of audience and scale
- 27:54CFP process and program committee
- 32:56Big picture insights and delegation
- 36:09Final thoughts and promotion
- 36:33Q&A session
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