RubyFringe presents... FutureRuby — Leaders of Tomorrow, Today!

posted by meghann on February 19th, 2009

RubyFringe was a highly successful conference in July of 2008. We had the audacity to do things a little differently: a single track, small (150 attendee) format with an insane speaker list and memorable parties each night left a lot of people wishing they’d come. It was a hugely positive moment in our lives, and we’re really proud: we still have everyone’s Polaroid snaps on the wall here at Unspace.

Almost immediately people wanted to know when the “next RubyFringe” was going to be. Once the smoke cleared and the conversations continued, it became clear that there was a momentum and we wanted to initiate a follow-up. However, we don’t want to fall into the same trap that has made other conferences feel overgrown and predictable. RubyFringe was a one-off event, and whatever comes next will have to stand on its own.

Comic crafted by the ingenious Nick Wolfe of Name Removed fame. We love Nick!

The fringe of today is the mainstream of tomorrow.

Let’s face it: we Rubyists have a lot to figure out, and we’d better get on that if we don’t want Ruby to fall victim to partisan politics or the whims of venture capital. We might feel like we’re a long way from Ruby being regarded in the same light as Java, but in 1994 Java was considered subversive. That wasn’t that long ago!

FutureRuby is an opportunity to prepare for the future by learning from the mistakes of the past.

So what’s the deal? It’s still early, but the big picture is that we’re taking everything that worked well at RubyFringe, tightening up some loose ends, and adding more cool shit. This is not a repeat of RubyFringe events. Don’t come expecting the same things in the same places!

• Parties and nightly entertainment, three nights in a row
• FAILCamp is back with a vengeance, and an adorable sailor suit
• “More better than” swag that you’ll be proud to wear in public
• The return of the companion track for partners and secret lovers during the conference
• An amazing two nights of lunches and dinners that you’ll photograph and tweet about
• Loving attention to all of the details, like excellent wi-fi, transit passes, and no paid presentations

The devil and the details

FutureRuby will take place July 9-12th, 2009 and returns to the swanky Metropolitan Hotel in downtown Toronto, Canada. The official website launches on Friday, March 6th with all the flashy pomp and touchy details. Tickets go on sale 11am Monday, March 9th.

We’ve decided to go with a flexible cost structure this year, keeping the early bird price the same as last year:

Early Bird: $700.00 ENDS APRIL 20TH
Regular: $800.00 ENDS JUNE 15TH
Rush: $900.00 ENDS JUNE 29th
Walk-ins: EPIC FAIL - NO EXCEPTIONS!

So there you have it! We hope to see you in July. If you have questions or ideas, drop us a line at futureruby@unspace.ca.