How it all began
In the basement of a cafe in Brussels in February, 2011, Henrik Joreteg, Nathan Fritz, and I were talking about how the Open Web community and the XMPP community had remarkably similar worldviews, but were completely off of each other's radars.
We felt that the Internet’s only open and most popular federated messaging protocol (XMPP) was too important to be unfriendly for web developers—and the web itself was too important to be dominated by uninteroperable silos.
What if...?
“What if we got these communities together for a conference?” we said, agreeing that the nascent arrival of WebSockets provided the perfect opportunity for valuable cross-pollination to take place. And with the help and advice of JSConf's Chris Williams, what followed was an incomparably frightening and rewarding adventure.
From government spying to abandonment of federation, what we've seen and experienced in the past year has only made the need for these connections feel more urgent.
At the same time, the advent of WebRTC represents a significant level-up for the web platform. There has arguably never been a greater opportunity for the web to seize.
Why experience matters
While the talks, attendees, and conversations at RealtimeConf have consistently been first-rate, we have continuously ramped up our emphasis on the conference experience over the years.
As Eran Hammer recently put it, the drama of an event raises the importance of every tiny element. Invoking imagination and emotion brings out the best and most positive conversations, creates brilliant connections between people and ideas.
I am so proud of the people who are part of the huge team putting some of their career's most creative and risky work into RealtimeConf.
Realtime Week
Last year, we hosted the very well-received RedisConf the day before RealtimeConf, with the (independently organized) US XMPP Summit following. This year, we're doing the same, plus adding WebRTC Camp the day after RealtimeConf. We will have a joint Realtime Week ticket available that will offer savings on the combined events.
Join us at RealtimeConf this year. We need you.
—Adam Brault and the &yet team
