RailsConf 2024 Recap with the GoRails crew

[00:01:05] Chris expresses that this RailsConf might be his favorite, Kent rates this
conference as one of his top two experiences, and Collin agrees it was his favorite.
[00:01:44] Sadly, Chris reveals it was announced that next year’s RailsConf will be the
last, with a shift towards supporting RubyConf and regional conferences.
[00:02:22] Collin discusses his favorite talk by Hilary Stohs-Krause on backend
accessibility, highlighting its unexpected approach to making code more navigable for
team members.
[00:03:18] Kent praises talks by Chris and Collin and mentions a quirky D&D-themed
talk and a fun talk by Cody Norman involving Action Mailbox.
[00:04:54] Chris and Collin discuss the Scholars and Guides Program, detailing the
benefits like covered conference and lodging costs for scholars, as well as the
encouragement for scholars to undertake projects like lightning talks.
[00:07:02] Chris and Collin share their experiences preparing and delivering lightning
talks, highlighting the support and preparation involved. They discuss the performance
and reception of these talks, emphasizing the importance of preparation and the
challenge of delivering talks under time constraints.
[00:11:39] The conversation shifts to keynote speeches and specific technical talks,
mentioning a significant transition of a company from a microservice architecture to a
Rails monolith.
[00:14:03] Chris discusses the power of Rails in scaling applications, referencing
Nadia’s keynote about quickly scaling from a few to a million users. Collin shares his
personal interaction with Nadia at lunch, highlighting how her encouragement boosted
his confidence before his speaking session.

[00:15:57] A keynote by John Hawthorn is brought up about a performance tool
beneficial for Rails applications, highlighting its potential on large platforms like GitHub
and Shopify, and Chris describes the challenges of performance tuning in Rails.
[00:18:43] Chris asks about attending specific workshops, leading to discussions on
various technical and inclusivity-focused sessions.
[00:20:20] We hear about Chris and Collin’s experiences and challenges with Hack Day.
[00:24:26] Chris contemplates the complexities of contributing to Rails, especially
reading compatibility and testing across different Ruby and Rails versions, and the
balance of simplicity versus comprehensive testing in development.
[00:25:49] Kent and Chris discuss the value of community interactions during Hack Day,
particularly the opportunity to engage directly with gem authors and other community
members.
[00:27:37] Collin asks Chris about the hallway tracks, and Chris praises the conference
layout for fostering interactions among attendees, and that the conference felt well-
attended with about 600 participants. He also shares his experience chatting with Mike
Perham about the Redis developments and their implications for Sidekiq.
[00:29:25] Collin mentions being recognized for his screencasts and details a tour he
did with Kent to Hamtramck, a city within Detroit, hosted by Honeybadger, and Kent
provides historical insights about the city.
[00:34:37] Chris expresses hope that Drew Bragg’s efforts will bring next year’s
RailsConf to Philadelphia. Also, he reflects on the announcement of RailsConf’s ending,
suggesting it sets a positive, reflective tone for the conference, and discusses the
challenges of organizing large events and the financial risks involved.
[00:38:05] Chris emphasizes a call to support Ruby Central and the importance of
maintaining and securing the infrastructure that supports the Ruby community, like Ruby
Gems and Bundler. He encourages contributions whether financial or through
community involvement.
[00:39:57] RubyConf is coming up this November in Chicago, Chris is looking forward to
trying Chicago pizza, and the guys talk about the great food they had in Detroit.
[00:41:39] Chris reflects on the personal connections made at RailsConf, and the deep
personal relationships formed beyond professional networking. Chris and Collin express
their gratitude to the organizers noting it as one of their favorite RailsConf’s.