We want to hear your thoughts on how to improve the next Devconnect 2025.
Context
In our January 2025 newsletter, we shared a snapshot of a workshop our team did to focus on what Devconnect should be about and how we can improve it.
The core idea of Devconnect is to enable in-person collaboration and meaningful progress while having a decentralized week with experts curating the programming for topic-focused events.
Here are a few of the key focus points we identified for Devconnect this year:
How might we…
How to share your thoughts
If you have any ideas on these topics or other ideas for Devconnect, this is the place to share them. Just answer here in this forum topic.
Here are some questions to help you know where to start:
What would make Devconnect 2025 a success for you?
If you’re organizing an event, what do you need for your event to be impactful?
What are your ideas or suggestions for addressing the key points we’ve identified above?
One thing I really enjoy about Devcon(nect) is that these conferences are organized outside the NYC-Dubai-Singapore strip. I think it would be great if the team doubled down on that, so we could explore how local communities use crypto.
E.g., during Devconnect Istanbul, our friend freeatnet went to the Turkish community event, and he learned how and why they use USDT on Tron instead of Ethereum. In Thailand, I asked one Thai attendee to show me their crypto apps, because normally I don’t have any exposure to their ecosystem.
If EF managed to highlight the local community in a bigger way, I think it could be very inspiring and help us get outside our Western bubble.
Amsterdam is a beautiful city, it’s just fun to stay in Amsterdam
All venues were located quite closely together so I could just use a bike or walk
Devconnect Amsterdam was during spring so the weather was really enjoyable
Amsterdam is easily reachable for me personally
There were some really interesting and very technical events like Solidity summit and L2Beat conference
What I didn’t like:
There were some strange rules around being at Devconnect but then not gaining access to ETHAmsterdam after, I think
Some of the ticket prices to e.g. L2Beat conferences were quite high for a freelancer
What I really liked about Devconnect Istanbul
Istanbul is also a beautiful city
I really liked meeting the Turkish community
The coworking space had a very chill atmosphere
What I didn’t like:
The chaos, the traffic, almost being run over by car drivers, many people
I got sick afterwards, I think November is high risk of getting sick at a conference
Didn’t like to travel through the chaos to side events. Mostly didn’t do it also
Btw. I liked Devconnects in Amsterdam and Istanbul much more than Bogota and Bangkok bc I think it’s so much better to not having to run after a tight schedule to catch some talks etc. In Amsterdam I really enjoyed forging new connections with (now) friends while enjoying the city. This was really valuable for me. The educational content on Ethereum wasn’t that important in terms of my business’ impact
That would be nice - ideas on how to do this are most welcome! We will for sure try to push this - especially (soon) after the location is revealed.
It’s 2 different event organized by 2 different organisations. Not really sure how we can change this.
Here we also do not have much influence as these where 3rd party events. Maybe we could think about not listing events over a certain price-point on our calendar to put some weight in?
Moving it to the summer might be a problem with summer-holidays. The date is a delicate one - but maybe also room to shake things up (not for this DEVConnect though). Where would you move from November?
IMO the main thing is bringing the local community to the main venue, not a side event. Last Devconnect was highly competitive when it comes to side events. So if an average attendee had a choice between some ‘interesting but probably not impactful for business’ local community event and the business event, they’d probably choose the latter.
I recall that in Istanbul there were different zones that could be booked and I think we could have a local community zone where you can come in, and learn about what they’re up to.
I think it’s also important to promote it well, and show how opening horizons to other markets and communities can help attendees build better products.
Might be as simple as being extra clear that these are two separate events and that separate tickets are needed. Somewhere in the comms you send out.
I think it’s fine to list them actually. I just wanted to complain
Best time for a conference IMO is spring and early fall. That way people can still chill outside which also minimizes spreading desease and it’s more fun to be outside.
