As the conferences are less than 3 weeks away, our entire team is hard at work and filled with anticipation for what’s to come soon. A lot of their work often goes unnoticed — especially when the end product is of such overwhelming size, it’s easy to forget the thousands of collective hours that were poured into creating the conferences that you’ll see by the end of the month.
In this post, we’ll highlight some team members and their work and inspiration, in order to give you a better insight into what kind of work goes into creating JSConf and CSSconf EU.
Preface: What does “team” even mean?
As you may know, JSConf EU and CSSconf EU are organized by a team of volunteers. It’s this team which we’ll spotlight, consisting of 20 or so people. Of course, this isn’t every person that works on the conference, we would exclude all of the construction workers, event planners, caterers, security staff, and everyone else who gets paid by us to keep the wheels turning. Excluding them from being called “team” would be an insult to their invaluable contributions to our conferences.
Jan Lehnardt
Jan is a curator for JSConf EU.
How did you get into organizing JS/CSSconf?
I helped start JSConf EU in 2009 with Holger and Malte after attending JSConf US the same year. We were jointly inspired to take what we experienced to Europe, so more people could share in it.
What is your favorite thing about organizing this conference/these conferences?
I love that we make a meaningful difference to our attendees’ lives and the gratitude they show over all our hard work bringing people together.
Malte Ubl
Malte is a curator and the special effects person for JSConf EU.
How did you get into organizing JS/CSSconf?
I met Holger and Jan at the first ever JSConf US in 2009 and we decided to bring the event to Europe.
What is your favorite thing about organizing this conference/these conferences?
That you get to do it over again every year effectively from scratch, and get just a little bit better every time. I wish software projects were like that.
Olivia Hugger
Olivia is responsible for conference social media and communications (and she’s the author of this post).
How did you get into organizing JS/CSSconf?
I was asked to help out with social media by Jan back in 2017, although I ended up doing a bunch more stuff.
What is your favorite thing about organizing this conference/these conferences?
It’s incredible (and very scary) to see the work we’ve been doing for months evolve into something bigger than what any of us could ever fathom.
Michele Guido
Michele has organized the Community Lounge since the 2017 conferences.
How did you get into organizing JS/CSSconf?
In 2014, I was accepted to JSConf EU as a speaker and shortly after that became an organizer for the monthly javascript meetup BerlinJS and did that for two years. When the organizing team had the idea for a Community Lounge, Jan reached out to me. How could I turn down a chance to be a part of the greatest conference organizing team around???
What is your favorite thing about organizing this conference/these conferences?
Getting to raise a platform for people doing amazing work in our communities and seeing their joy and satisfaction when they’re on our humble Community Lounge Stage gives me that bubbly feeling inside and makes all the effort totally worth it for me. It’s even sweeter than it happens as part of a series of conferences that are truly community-run, that really cares about all the participants, that really makes an effort to do things right.
Lauren Dorman
Lauren is organizing the BIPoCiT (Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color in Tech) Space at JSConf EU and CSSconf EU.
How did you get into organizing JS/CSSconf?
I was first invited by the CSSconf Team to join the Talk Selection Committee to assess talk proposals by reading, reviewing, and voting on 215 anonymized submissions. I was later offered another opportunity to get more involved with CSSconf and JSConf to help organize the BIPoCiT Space alongside Vanessa and Dera.
What is your favorite thing about organizing this conference/these conferences?
Working with a close-knit team of people who are caring and put a lot of thought into the attendee experience. With the BIPoCiT Space, we are creating a space that is very intentional and isn’t something typically seen at tech conferences. The best part about organizing the space is having the opportunity to create the best possible experience for Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color attending and providing a platform for speakers from diverse backgrounds to share their knowledge.
Kristina Schneider
Kristina is an organizer of CSSconf EU.
How did you get into organizing JS/CSSconf?
When CSSconf US started in 2013 as one of the first and only events for CSS developers, Nicole Sullivan and I thought that this needed to happen in Europe as well. As I was already helping with JSConf EU in Berlin, I talked to them to run the events together, and so we made it happen.
What is your favorite thing about organizing this conference/these conferences?
Seeing how many months of work finally result in three incredibly busy and inspiring conference days – which enable many people to learn and connect!
Simone Haas
Simone is a curator of JSConf EU.
How did you get into organizing JS/CSSconf?
Kristina and Jan reached out to me in 2015 and asked me to handle the communication with JSConf EU speakers and to take care of the scholarship program.
What is your favorite thing about organizing this conference/these conferences?
Working with the team is a great experience, I have learned a lot! Even if the months before the conference are very stressful, I’m enjoying being at the venue shortly before the conferences are starting, and then slowly seeing all the people coming in. Being part of the event and talking with so many people, who enjoy the conferences, is absolutely rewarding.
Holger Blank
Holger is a JSConf EU curator and responsible for its sponsorships.
How did you get into organizing JS/CSSconf?
I went to JSConf US 2009. Back in Germany Malte, Jan and me started organizing the first JSConf EU. In November 2009 it happened in Berlin.
What is your favorite thing about organizing this conference/these conferences?
Co-shaping an international and diverse community platform is fun, also a challenge and really rewarding. Also the team is just great!
Felicitas Kugland
Feli is a JSConf EU curator.
How did you get into organizing JS/CSSconf?
I just asked Holger if they need help with anything and since someone left the team there was a spot left I could fill.
What is your favorite thing about organizing this conference/these conferences?
Giving back to the css & js community <3 Bringing people together to share their knowledge and experience, to connect them no matter where they come from or which level they have. That’s really heartwarming for me