We are so excited to announce that MenderCon is back for the second year! The 2020 event was a huge success. We made new friends, met some of our heroes, and learned a lot. As a result of those learnings, MenderCon 2021 will have even more exciting content to choose from!

What is MenderCon?

MenderCon is the brain child of Corgibytes CEO and Co-Founder M. Scott Ford. The term mender was coined by Scott and his co-founder Andrea after he saw an ad for a Maker Fest event. Scott wanted to know: “Where’s the event for people who like to fix things?!”. That’s the vision for this: an event for people who are passionate about mending software systems.

You’ll fit right in if you:

• Love software remodeling
• Enjoy fixing bugs
• Get excited to work with legacy code
• Want to connect with others who feel the same way

What’s different this year?

This year we will be offering two tracks: An unconference track for anyone to present (similar to the full conference format last year), and (new this year) a standard event track with pre-selected speakers.


What is the unconference track about?

Simply put, an unconference is a conference that does not have a predetermined set of speakers or talks. The people who show up to the event are the ones who decide what gets talked about.

The unconference format also creates an opportunity to elevate voices who are not normally heard from. At a traditional conference, the list of speakers and topics is curated in some form by the organizers. This can often lead to the conference schedule being dominated by people who are well known or people who have gotten practice speaking in the past. While we welcome people with speaking experience and notoriety, it’s important to us that we create a space where those who are not normally selected have a chance to speak.

But, you have a standard event track as well?

Yes! We sent out a feedback survey after the first MenderCon event and a lot of folx expressed that they would like to see pre-selected speakers as well at the next event. We want MenderCon to be the event for menders, so we decided to add a second track that includes pre-selected speakers. If a participant doesn’t want to join in on the standard track, they can head over to the unconference track and join in on an a community session.

What are people saying?

The feedback from the first MenderCon was overwhelmingly positive, with 95.9% of attendees polled saying they were happy they came, 100% of attendees polled said they were likely to come back, and 91.6% of attendees polled saying they would recommend this event to their peers!

Still not sure? Check out these testimonials:

• I learned a lot and was able to personally connect with some of my heroes in the industry!
• I really enjoyed the open-space format. I got to meet a lot of really smart and awesome developers and gain some insights into the legacy code I’m actively working with.
• I loved being able to wander around and meet people in different rooms. I also liked the five minute meetups with random people. There were some good sessions and I loved the topic.
• Great small group conversations resulting in ideas that I was able to implement with my team.
• Your open meetings have given me a community I did not know I was missing because I mainly see myself as an innovator, but with a big love and respect for decades old software still being really valuable.
• I found interesting discussions. Price was unbeatable and it made me participate because I payed myself. I really liked the virtual format which made it possible for me to attend.
• It was my first open space conference and, as most people (I assume), I was skeptical about the format but was surprised how well it worked.

I’m in! How do I get involved?

There are lots of ways to get involved in this year’s event!

• Buy your ticket at https://mendercon.com
• Prepare to present at a pitch session
• Email us at sales@corgibytes.com to become an event sponsor
• Share this blog on socials to spread the word
• Email us at info@mendercon.com for more ways to help out

Mark your calendars and join the fun on May 13!