What is Devcon?
Now that we’re well into the new year, our Devcon team wanted to share some of our thoughts on what’s to come for Devcon this year. With new goals guiding this year’s efforts, we have learned from the successes and challenges of recent years, and we will provide some initial details of what lies ahead.
For those new to the Ethereum family, Devcon is the only annual gathering hosted by the Ethereum Foundation, and it dates back to a small meetup in Berlin (ÐΞVcon-0) about a year before the network launched. For some members of the Ethereum ecosystem, Devcon is a family reunion of sorts, while for others it’s a big stage on which to talk about the latest advancements in content ranging from technical research to software releases. apps and more.
Over the years, it has become clear that Devcon also serves the community in other ways. As we plan for Devcon 6, we are working to define these goals and ensure Devcon achieves each of them:
1. Collaboration and knowledge sharing
Devcon is a place where a lot of work gets done. This is an opportunity to be in the same room as everyone else in the community working on a specific problem. It is essential that participants can find a meeting space, a space to talk, stop in front of a whiteboard and get to work.
2. Teach, communicate and generate new ideas
Devcon is a chance to learn and teach! People come to Devcon to understand advancements in the Ethereum space and share what they’ve learned over the last year with a wide audience, both at the event and online.
3. Use our biggest stage to send a message
Devcon is a crucial opportunity to communicate with the world about Ethereum. As the largest conference in our industry, the broader technology space and large organizations are paying attention to Devcon. Let’s show them what we’ve accomplished.
4. Use Ethereum-based technology via “dogfooding”
Devcon is a conference organized by and for our community and it should use tools built by our community where possible and beneficial to participants. In the spirit of educating our community and supporting Ethereum-based projects, Devcon is expected to allow attendees to directly experience products built on Ethereum.
5. Develop the Ethereum ecosystem
Devcon is an opportunity for each of us to engage with those from other teams and communities, both Ethereum and blockchain related teams and newcomers from other industries. In recent years, we have collaborated on stage with UNICEF and Internet Archive and become part of the zero knowledge community. Many people unfamiliar with the Ethereum ecosystem attend Devcon, and although it is a developerrun away defraudconference, they should feel welcome and inspired by our incredible community by the end of the week.
Listening and learning
Our ecosystem has matured and is constantly improving, and we know Devcon must keep pace. In this regard, the entire team initially wanted to send a THANKS for your constructive feedback which we are confident will help lead to the best event we have organized to date.
Specifically, Devcon’s planning (dc⟠vi) focused on 6 key areas to provide a better attendee experience.
More specifically, we sought to find a place with:
- modern WiFi infrastructure and connectivity
- Improved crowd flow, meeting space and stages
- in-house and simple catering options for participants of all needs and diets
We have also taken a close look at internal processes and are excited to talk about these topics soon:
- an improved programming and scene selection process
- fairer and more diverse ticketing systems
- more integration of ecosystems (dogfooding)
Briefly answering some of them, modern, high-speed WiFi infrastructure will facilitate streaming capability for a global Ethereum user base that deserves to watch every step live and workshop experiences for participants. No matter how many friends are there, they will have access to ways to connect.
Over the past two years, the Devcon speaker application process has become decentralized with a multi-track process and over 50 reviewers. This year, our goal is to improve the experience for all applicants, gauge participant preferences for step selection assistance, and more.
Our goal is to provide the best possible experience for all participants, while staying true to the roots of Ethereum. This year we believe we are on track to make this goal a reality and we hope you will all be involved.
What’s next
We are well underway in planning the first Devcon in which the eth2 beacon chain is active and ether is staked! In addition to the improvements listed above, we are planning an event with continuous dogfooding, a smoother ticketing process and much more – all of which will be described in future articles.
As for this year’s region, the Devcon 6 search began before Devcon 5, with the understanding that the further along we are in terms of planning, the smoother the process will be for all participants. After listening to community feedback and conducting an extensive search for venues in over 10 cities, we are confident we have found a region and venue that is truly event worthy and meets all of the goals stated above for help make this event a reality. the best Devcon ever.
We will announce the location of Devcon 6 soon — keep an eye out for it EF Blog to learn more about site selection, get early application information and much more.
Update (03/27/2020): Out of respect for those within and around our own community who are currently dealing with the ongoing global health crisis, our team has decided to temporarily pause scheduled Devcon announcements, discussed for the first time above. Although more news will follow and our planning continues, we appreciate your continued patience and hope everyone is taking action to stay safe!
We hope you’ll be as excited as we are and somewhat surprised when we share more information in the next Devcon update over the coming weeks 🌎. These updates will arrive a little earlier than in previous years, so check back often!
For now, thank you once again to all our participants for joining us in Osaka, to the presenters, to the supporters who made the event possible, and to you (the community) for your feedback over the past few months.
Moving forward while remembering…
Looking for clips and more from Osaka? We have some albums and playlists to share that you might want to check out! Check out the photos and videos below!
Next, we know the discussions were widely shared, but if you’re looking for something specific or for your presentation (the main stage and breakout room playlists), check out the links below!
Main steps
Events and highlights:
Devcon had its fair share of highlights, including major announcements on Eth2, presentations on eWASM And Eth 1x progress, a famous appearance by the world’s most famous dog, Kabosu (the original “Doge”), and much more. It’s really wow.
photo credit: Alex van de Sande
And if you missed the keynote, click here for a opening from Osaka cityTHE unveiling of the UNICEF Crypto Fundand more.
Most importantly, Devcon remains focused on the developers and researchers who make Ethereum what it is, and our own team will continue to learn from you all. This goal of never-ending improvement will help ensure that dc⟠vi is the best Ethereum gathering yet, and we hope to see you all there.
🦄
—
devcon team
