In this episode, Kevin McDonald, Chief Commercial Officer at Web Summit, and Maarten Balliauw, Developer Advocate & Team Lead in .NET Advocacy at JetBrains, give you a sneak peek into the world of IT events, reflecting on its past, present, and future.

JetBrains Connect is a series about technology, people, and learning. It brings experts and thought leaders together to talk about important topics from across the technology landscape.

Share your thoughts and requests for future topics in the comments below, or reach out to us on social media with #JetBrainsConnect and @jetbrains.

00:00 Welcome to JetBrains Connect
01:23 Introductions
5:25 What tech conferences were like in 2019
7:28 Why participate in conferences? Perspectives from attendees, speakers, sponsors, and organizers
10:44 The pandemic’s impact on in-person conferences
12:19 Shift to online-only: what has worked out for virtual conferences
15:49 Is the audience burned out?
20:15 Did the online-only format succeed?
23:20 What’s the future format of IT conferences?
24:51 The role of sponsors
32:06 Discussing findings from the JetBrains Market Research and Analytics team
41:56 The paradox of accessibility
44:15 Making the decision to go online: Web Summit’s experience
46:30 Speakers’ perspectives on online conferences
52:00 Key takeaways from Maarten and Kevin

Kevin McDonald
https://twitter.com/KevinMcDIRE
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-mcdonald-01067731/
Web Summit’s 2021 Trailer: https://vimeo.com/568807172/7589f7e47a
Web Summit chosen as the winner of UFI’s (the global association of the exhibition industry) annual sustainability awards: https://websummit.com/blog/sustainability-award-events-partnerships-ufi

Maarten Balliauw:
https://twitter.com/maartenballiauw
https://github.com/maartenba
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maartenballiauw/

Paul Everitt:
https://twitter.com/paulweveritt
https://github.com/pauleveritt
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paeveritt/

Categories: #JetBrainsConnect #Conferences #ITEvents

#developer