I remember that there used to be a conference about Elm every year, like Elm Europe, for example. I found the talks very interesting and I watch them from time to time on YouTube. I’ve noticed that there will be a small, private meetup this year. It’s pretty sad to see this transition…
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Covid had a huge impact, and then a lot pf people who were running them ended up having families and now have small children to care for. Some also moved on to other things. It’s not really just an Elm thing.
Maybe you could start a conference?
I think, though not sure, that the small conf in Europe this year isn’t a transition away from big confs but a transition to something instead of nothing.
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Elm Camp is a global unconference – we’ve got attendees coming from all over! 
I’ve noticed that there will be a small, private meetup this year. It’s pretty sad to see this transition…
Just to set the record straight, at no point was the thinking “oh, we need to make Elm conferences smaller and more private”. Elm Camp is small because we worked backwards from a venue opportunity and because it’s a first for us, so we wanted to ease into it. We also polled for a larger event venue option, but the Elm community voted in favour of the Denmark location this time around. (PS: Finding venues is surprisingly hard, if anyone has recommendations I’m all ears)
We’ve had lots of traditional Elm conferences in the style of “pay lots of money and travel far to sit and listen to something you could watch on youtube later for free with the same effect” – an unconference seemed a cool way to explore an event with a greater focus on a big reason people seem to go to these events: to engage and socialise with others.
That said – if anyone is seriously considering running an Elm Conference, I would be happy to support it!
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Honestly, personally, unless it was both outside and masks required, I wouldn’t be comfortable going to one until we have covid better under control. Two different friends of mine in just 2023 have new life-altering chronic illnesses thanks to covid infections they got this year. Not rolling those dice.
While I’m glad for Elm Camp to have been organized in an unconference format, I think the above is not a fair assessment of normal conference format. The hallway discussions and networking happen there just as well. Watching a conference recording on YouTube doesn’t have the same effect as being there in person.
Of course, I wasn’t characterizing an entire conference, just pointing out a lot of the value of the in person attendance is in the hallway conversations and networking exactly as you’ve said.
An unconference also has hallway convos and netorking, but then tries to bring more of that conversational vibe to sessions.
I’m not advocating for having no conferences, I’m just pointing out the main event of traditional conferences is static & identical online, and its worth exploring other formats.
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