Guntram Bechtold@guntrambechtold
We officially hand over @AgentConf to a new organizing team at @callstackio.
10 events. 7 years. Hundreds of engineers from around the world in Dornbirn.
In November 2016 I had an idea: a React conference in Vorarlberg. No budget, no team, no track record. Eight weeks later, 100 developers stood in the Raiba Im Rheintal in Dornbirn. Christoph Pojer from Facebook opened the stage. Max Stoiber called it "the most epic conference ever."
What started as a local idea became something we never could have imagined:
AgentConf became one of ten official Facebook JS conferences worldwide. Core engineers from Facebook, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Amazon, and SoundCloud came to Vorarlberg -- not Berlin, not Vienna. To Dornbirn. And then skiing in Lech.
We sold tickets at EUR 1,400+ to people who had never heard of Dornbirn. At the same time, Martin, 17, a vocational school student, scraped together his euros for a Super Early Bird ticket. Both sat on the same chairlift in Lech.
That was the core of Alpine Conferences: no gatekeeping. World-class content. And an environment you cannot manufacture -- conversations at 2,000 meters, apres-ski with the people whose open-source projects you use every day, friendships that last for years.
In 2018, WorkerConf joined the family. Node.js, backend, infrastructure. Summer instead of winter. Hiking instead of skiing. Same principle: deep technical content combined with the nature that makes Vorarlberg unique.
During the pandemic, we adapted -- digital formats, goodie boxes shipped to your door, a bike challenge where every meter generated donations to Open Collective. Not perfect. But honest.
2023 was the final AgentConf. Kent C. Dodds ran a React workshop. 16 speakers on the single-track stage at Spielboden. Two days in Lech. A fitting end.
What remains:
The conviction that a region like Vorarlberg can hold its own on the global tech map. Not by imitating Silicon Valley. But by building something of its own.
A network of engineers who met in Dornbirn and now build products together, run companies, and drive open-source projects forward.
Proof that premium events can be built and sold internationally from a small Alpine region -- when the format, content, and community are right.
The conferences are now in new hands. The community stays.
--
Thank you to everyone who made this possible:
Team & organization:
@tomsvogel -- co-founder and partner in crime from day one. Daniel Rotter -- co-organizer and developer at Sulu/MASSIVE ART. Phuc -- you welcomed the community on stage. arkulpa GmbH -- content curation and speaker lineup since the very first edition. Nina Broell -- photography. Pia Pia Pia -- aftermovies.
Speakers across the years (AgentConf & WorkerConf):
Christoph Nakazawa (@cpojer), Max Stoiber (@mxstbr), Nik Graf (@nikgraf), Kent C. Dodds (@kentcdodds), Sara Vieira (@NikkitaFTW), Nadia Makarevich (@adevnadia), Glenn Reyes (@glnnrys), Jani Evakallio (@jevakallio), Vladimir Novick (@VladimirNovick), Monica Lent (@MonicaLent), Jan Monschke (@thedeftone), Svanlaug Ingolfsdottir, Patrick Stapfer (@ryyppy), Brent Vatne (@notbrent), David Khourshid (@DavidKPiano), Balint Erdi, Tereza Sokol, David Shedrick, Mike North, Andrey Okonetchnikow, Mats Bryntse, Saskia Vola, Nacho Martin (@nacmartin), Johannes Schickling (@schickling), Tejas Kumar (@TejasKumar_), Daniel Thompson-Yvetot, David Leitner, Michael Bromley (@MichaelBromley), Michael Arnaldi, Lisi Linhart (@LisiLinhart), Shivay Lamba (@HowDevelop), Konstantin Tkachuk, Onur Kasimlar, Johannes Moser, Mika Naylor, Matteo Collina (@matteocollina), Tomas Della Vedova (@daborelvedor), Tierney Cyren (@bitandbang), Tracy Lee (@ladyleet) -- and every other speaker I cannot name individually here. Every single talk made a difference.
Partners & sponsors:
Massive Art, valantic, Fusonic, Blum Group, illwerke vkw, Prisma, Xata, Herburger Reisen, Spielboden Dornbirn, Conrad Sohm Dornbirn, Stadt Dornbirn, Marke Vorarlberg, Chancenland Vorarlberg, Wirtschaftskammer Vorarlberg, FHV - Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences, Dornbirn Tourismus.
#AgentConf #WorkerConf #AlpineConferences #OpenSource #Vorarlberg #React #JavaScript #NodeJS #TechCommunity #Dornbirn #Lech #Arlberg #SoftwareEngineering
