The Minimum Viable Conference
summary
Builds a two-day single-track 200-person, $55 ticket conference (Open Source and Feelings), funds it with sponsor checks (Honeybadger/star wrote seed checks, New Relic underwrites travel), and runs the CFP on Blinder CFP (homegrown). Organizers create an LLC, hire an accountant, buy venue liability from Triple Triple and Triple and keep a live budget spreadsheet; no paid Wi‑Fi, dinner is low-cost takeout, shirts for speakers only, and a retrospective with a facilitator fixes organizer-process failures.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (12)
- 0:00Introduction
- 2:54Open Source and Feelings organizers
- 10:00Why run a conference
- 11:46Choosing the venue
- 14:36Securing sponsors
- 17:45Legal and financial setup
- 24:57Conference format and speakers
- 31:25Organizer relationships
- 41:04Budget and feature decisions
- 49:30Food, swag, and experience
- 53:22Minimum Viable Conference
- 54:08Q&A








