Almost two weeks ago dotNetConf took place, right here at the Internet. Sessions were broadcasted live and published on Youtube. It was a two day conference, with a total of 17 different sessions and speakers from at least three continents and a whole lot of different time zones.
The broadcasts were about 45 minutes long with ten minute breaks between the sessions. Everything was recorded with high quality video and audio that made it possible for everyone to follow the sessions in full screen mode. To be able to arrange a conference like this you would need great Infrastructure, sponsors with a lot of cash and a huge team. Right?
Yes, no and no. Yes, dotNetConf had really good Infrastructure. But no sponsors and a very small team.
- How's that possible?
I think dotNetConf is really about Passion. And Fun. And Free. People passionate about what they do. Coding at work, coding after work, coding talks, coding in thoughts (coding in sleep?). People who want to learn new and cool stuff, share insights and all of this because it is fun! People who love what they do and they'll even do it for free.
- Dude, nothing's for free.
Okay, the guys that arranged dotNetConf most likey has spent a huge amount of their own time making this happen. And about $10 (!) for hosting the web site on Azure. With passion, time and $10 you can create a space where 2.400 people join live talks, demos and chat rooms. I think that is amazing.
Thousands of people from all over the world registered to the event. A couple of weeks later there is now a long tail of daily page views at the dotNetConf Youtube channel. As being one of the speakers I am stunned by the positive feedback I've got after my session. Thank you!
Here's the recording from my session Rediscover JavaScript. Please contact me if you have any questions or feedback about the presentation.
If you like the presentation style and level, you might be interested in checking out the video Quick Start: Test Driven Development from aspConf 2012.