Friendly Show
Yaro and Adrian are online and conference buddies that enjoy speaking about development, tech, SaaS, and product development.
Let's be friends!
Friendly Show
How a playful “passport” united three Ruby conferences and sparked a new way to connect the community
Summary
In this engaging conversation, Adrian and Amanda discuss the evolution of Ruby events, particularly focusing on Railsworld and the innovative Ruby Passport initiative. They explore the challenges and successes of organizing community events, the importance of creating memorable experiences, and the collaborative spirit that drives the Ruby community. The discussion also touches on future plans for the Ruby Passport and the impact of community engagement on event success.
Takeaways
The Ruby Passport was developed to enhance attendee experience at events.
Community engagement is crucial for the success of Ruby events.
Event organizers can implement the Ruby Passport with minimal resources.
Creating memorable experiences at events fosters deeper connections.
The Ruby Passport aims to connect various Ruby events globally.
Details in event planning can significantly enhance attendee enjoyment.
Taking breaks from organizing events can lead to better focus and quality.
The Ruby community is enthusiastic and willing to participate in fun initiatives.
Future events will continue to evolve based on community feedback.
You can find more information about the passport on https://therubypassport.com and https://x.com/therubypassport.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Railsworld and Community Events
02:56 The Ruby Passport: Concept and Development
06:01 Design and Features of the Ruby Passport
09:02 Integrating the Passport with Ruby Events
12:03 Event Organizer Insights and Implementation
14:48 Sponsorship and Community Engagement
21:56 Enhancing the Event Experience
22:40 The Embassy Experience: A Unique Setup
24:58 Designing the Experience: Attention to Detail
27:52 Community Engagement: The Role of Attendees
30:41 Future Plans: Looking Ahead to Next Events
36:01 Reflections on Friendly: Taking a Break
40:29 The Importance of Community: Building Connections
Hello everyone, this is Adrian with the friendly show. And with me is Amanda Perino. She's the uh Rails Foundation chair, CEO.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know what Executive Director.
SPEAKER_03:Executive Director. You know, I have this conversation with Steven Markheim all the time, and I tell I tell him I just skim things. I don't read them thoroughly. I just skim. So you're on the top there, like you're running it and doing the Rails World and everything. Um and uh we wanted to come on the show and talk a little bit about um Rails World, uh the triathlon, and more actually about the Ruby passport. So yeah, we had the Ruby triathlon uh this September, uh, which started with Rails World uh September 8th, maybe? And then then 4.5, yeah. 4.5, yeah, 4.5, and then uh uh friendly 10, 11, 12, and then Yoruko the next week in 15, 16, or maybe 17. 17. Yeah, three weeks, three events, three Ruby events, one week after another, in you b all three of them in Europe. We have uh we had about 17 people actually go to each one, to all of them. Uh so some people travel together, they stay together, they definitely hanged out. Uh I've seen some restaurant photos, people going in on parks and museums and everything. So it's it is a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and it's third year in a row that it happened, right?
SPEAKER_03:Yep, third year. It started as a joke in in Vilnius, uh Tayoruko in 23. Uh, but uh I'm super happy that you know this this happened because you know just happened. People we were just attracted a little bit to to each other, and then of course we hanged out more and we got to know each other even more, and we figured out, hey, you don't get to do this every day, like you know, spend three weeks with other people from your community and you know, connecting and doing all of this stuff.
SPEAKER_01:So it's really correct if I'm wrong, it came about, it was a little bit of like a lemonades out of lemon situation because it came about when you called me back in 2023 to say, like, hi, um, my name is Adrian. I run a little event called Friendly, and your dates are really, really close to my dates, and that's gonna mean that people don't want to come to my event. So we had this call, and for a myriad of reasons, I couldn't move the it was really the only dates that we could do at the time. So I thought that from there you were like, okay, we're gonna make it a thing then. Come to the Rails and Friendly and Yoruko. Is that how it started?
SPEAKER_03:Yes, that's basically how it happened. Um, so uh 23, that was the first year we ever planned friendly. It was the first time we planned a conference. And um when we did it, when we announced to the people, we're kind of the only one. There was Vrotslav like two weeks before it or something, and then Yoruko just, you know, you know, had a seat just after friendly or like before friendly. Oh, it was before, and then Rails were just after, and we were thinking like, oh my god, we're like a hundred people kind of conference between these two giants. Nobody's gonna come to friendly, you know. We we didn't know about you know too many things, and we definitely had some, you know, we we had some worries there, and we had the conversation, but now thinking back, it was freaking awesome. It was just perfect for us, just filling in this gap of like these two huge two huge conferences, and then this nice, cool, chill, friendly kind of vibe where you just come and hang out to people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we kind of learned that like when you do, when you start to you never organize an event and you see these things, you kind of pattern match to some other things, but after you do it, and we're like, ah, super chill, and actually you planned it for next year, and we planned it for this year as well. We actually, I actually went to Enrique and I told him, like, hey Enrique, like, you have this big comment, like, people are gonna come to you, Ruco. Like, Rails World is this. We wanna be the here, and you should like, can you be the first one? So we're straight in the middle. Because if we're the last ones, like people, you know, they they go home and everything. And he was like, Yes, sure, Adrian, I can help you. Yes, of course. And and and we actually planned it out. So for us, it's just perfect slotting in there between these two conferences.
SPEAKER_01:Always in the middle. I was happy that this time Rails World was uh not the last one, but the first one for the first time. Yeah, because then I could go to not the others, I really wanted to come to Friendly, but for reasons I couldn't. But I I was at Euroku and we saw each other at Euroko, and it was really, really nice to finalize, like see the triathlon ending and give everyone their prizes on stage.
SPEAKER_03:Yep, yep, yep. And unwind, and yeah, it's it was kind of a vacation for me as well, yeah, after the event. So it's cool not to have the last one. Um, and this year, like besides the triathlon, we debuted the Ruby Passport, which is this thing right here. Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01:It was fun uh one of the most fun things about Rails World for me this year for organizing it. Just gotta start. Right?
SPEAKER_03:Yes, I you had too much fun. You definitely had too much fun with it. You were sending me photos and and and messages and WhatsApps and everything, and you said like I told her, Are you don't you have any other things to do for Rails World? Is this all you do all day? But it was it, it really I think it really went to show like when because people went to 800 people, 850 at Rails World, they went to the embassy and they saw it, and they were like, Oh my god, flabberglass gas. Like they really enjoyed the whole experience, and it kind of shows the amount of work you we put into the whole uh experience.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, indeed. And the the thing for me at the time, we were you and I made this deliberate decision not to talk about it beforehand because we wanted to surprise people and introduce it on site. So why don't we kind of tell people like where the idea came from and and how we built it and stuff?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. So um the way I remember it is that I I got in touch with you and I wanted to make this kind of notebook for Rails World where you can have like the the the keynote, the actually the talks, and you can uh you take notes and then uh take notes to other people who you've connected with, like kind of like a contacts, kind of a agenda like kind of notebook. And then we talked and said, like, maybe what if we take this to another event or like you know, we can make this for multiple events. And I the way I I remember it was like maybe we both thought in the same time, like, hey, let's make a Ruby passport, that would be cool, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I think also I have to say, like, for the past three years, the first year, because it wasn't just uh friendly that got in touch to say, like, hey, these dates are a problem, it was also RubyConf Thailand. And I think this idea is something like it's a good idea. A lot of people have had the same idea. And I know that it's kind of been brewing since I started, like, oh, we need something like a passport, something like a passport. So it's not like I can't claim the idea, you can't claim the idea. Everybody had this really good idea if you're an event organizer. Um, so when you came to the idea of or reached out and like, I want to do something, but I don't know what that looks like for Avo and for Rails World. And I was like, well, what else? The notebook idea, why don't we do this? So it's hard to understand like where the root of the idea came from, except for everywhere and the community, let's say.
SPEAKER_03:And it's like now when you look at it, because we're gonna talk about it a little bit, it looks like, oh my god, such a nice and polished product. And oh my god, so many pages, so many good ideas and everything. But in the beginning, it was like, Okay, let's have a notebook where you have like your name and then you have like places for stamps. And then we started, but started thinking like, what if we do this? What if we do that? Oh my god, what if we add this? What if we and we came to this whole thing, which is a notebook, it has like 48-ish pages. It has like a nice soft touch finish on the outside, and this magnesium gold folio applied to it. Um, yep, yep, and and inside it has a QR code, uh, you which is unique to each passport, and it has an NFC and RFID chip inside, which you can scan with your phone. Um, definitely went too far with the whole thing.
SPEAKER_01:You took it to like next level. I thought we were just gonna have a passport, but when you added that and the RFID, I was like, Yep, we're getting serious here.
SPEAKER_03:We I geeked out a lot on this. Like, you know, it I left I let my mind really wander off. And it has like inform places for your information and um for your photo and a few questions about when you started to use Rails and the conference of issue, and then a few community milestones of things that maybe you've done, like you know, for my first open source contribution or like taught some on Ruby, and then it has a few a lot of pages for stamps and a few pages for notes, but you can use them for anything you actually want. And it mentions uh RubyEvents.org, which is the platform that is kind of hosting the passport somehow. Um, yeah. And it has an important notice that this is not a travel document, so don't travel, like, don't forget your actual passport at home.
SPEAKER_01:This is also when we need to give a huge shout out to Jamiro Emming. He was the designer of this, so we threw all of our ideas at him consistently for months to get this where it where we wanted it, where specifically Adrian wanted it with his printer. And he was the one that said, like, this is not a travel document because if anybody grabs it instead of their passport, it's gonna be trouble. And it almost happened. I thought somebody did it, and I was gonna like eat my shorts because I told Jameer that's never gonna happen. People won't do that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and and the the color, yeah, yeah, yeah. It happened to me because I forgot I have two passports, two real passports, one with the US visa and one with the current one. And I I got to the airport and I forgot the visa one at home and had to run. And I tweeted about it. And you were you sent me a message right away. Oh my god, Adrian, don't tell me you took your Ruby passport. That's the real one. So yeah, it was a close one. But uh and shout out to Jamiro because it's a beautiful, yeah. Definitely. Jamiro uh did amazing. And we kind of while we uh built this project, we're gonna figure out there is a there's a web page called the Ruby, no, the passport index or something where it has all the passports in the whole world, and this color is actually the most common color of a passport, which is this dark red maroon kind of color.
SPEAKER_01:Mine is dark blue, so I don't get this one, but yeah, but we we have it.
SPEAKER_03:So for example, maybe on future editions we can switch it up and make a blue one and make a black one, and ooh, yeah, that would be fun. That'd be fun, right? Yeah, so yeah, this is the first edition.
SPEAKER_01:I love it. More ideas coming, more ideas. It's just an idea that never ends.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly. So what happens is uh I think it's good to to tell people so when you go to a conference, you will get this. So the the goal of the passport is to actually have it in the hands of every Ruby person, uh, hopefully. Uh no, at least the the the people who like these kinds of things, because you know there are people who don't, you know, I think it's fine. And at the conference, you will get it scanned at the conference so you can get verified attendance. So ruby events.org is gonna um gonna evolve with this idea of the the passport, and you'll be able to go on a on a on an event, for example, Balkan Ruby 2024 and hit attend. So you'll get that attendance on your profile from Ruby events. But if you have your passport with you and uh your passport is scanned at that particular event, you'll get verified attendance. So again, we're geeking out. We're geeking out.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I love it, right?
SPEAKER_03:So it's nobody's gonna be able to say that you haven't been there, it's verified, right?
SPEAKER_01:And the the goal essentially is like we're linking all of the numerous, many Ruby events in our space, right? Like it's the one thing that'll connect every everything.
SPEAKER_03:Yep. And yeah, and after after that, you can scan, you have to actually scan the it's it's in the law in the Ruby law to scan the QR code or the RFID chip and create an event, uh, create a profile on Ruby events.org. And that will link your passport, your physical passport, to your account on Ruby events.org. And then you'll be able to see your attendance and you'll be able to join other events, or uh you'll be able to say something like, Hey, I want to attend like Rails World 2026, and you'll be able to see other people who want to attend Rails Rails World. And this will evolve again. Many ideas in in brewing dog, but kind of like you know, this kind of social network, like our private LinkedIn or something, we'll figure it out.
SPEAKER_01:When you say that, I think I don't think I scanned at Yoruko.
SPEAKER_03:You should. You didn't scan at Yoruko.
SPEAKER_01:I yeah, I can't remember if I scanned at Yoruko. I was so excited to see it in in action that I don't know if I did it properly, but maybe I did. I have to check my uh Ruby events profile.
SPEAKER_03:Yep. Um, yeah, and then and then so this is the QR code and linking it to your digital profile, but then in the real life, you'll be able to get special stamps from those events.
SPEAKER_00:Look how special that looks. Right?
SPEAKER_03:I have two dates on mine.
SPEAKER_00:Why? Both days, just because I'm slick.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yourself, and then I have the one from Yoruko, which is really cool because it has the heart of code.
SPEAKER_03:Yep, yep, it's really cool. And I have the friendly as well.
SPEAKER_01:Why? You took a whole page.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, we you can do that, it's not illegal to do that.
SPEAKER_01:So and the triathlon, that's really cool.
SPEAKER_03:Triathlon, yes, we have a special stamp for the triathlon. So see how how playful and nice this whole thing is. And what we also did, we have this stamp which is self-incrementing. So, you know, the first one is one, and then the next one is two, and uh it doesn't mean anything. The number doesn't mean anything, but it's really fun to do it. It's really, really fun to do it.
SPEAKER_01:So I think it's something already for next year. It's right.
SPEAKER_03:Like you can you can do things like you know, give sponsors stamps or something.
SPEAKER_01:Like you can we can think of the right. Yeah, do we want to do that? Do we want to do that? Yeah, I know what you mean. I know what you mean.
SPEAKER_03:Maybe, yeah, we'll we'll see, we'll figure it out. Like there has to be like a balance there, definitely. But this is what we want to do is like have the event organizers be playful and be uh creative and and make this like a fun thing for your event because people love it. I've seen people queue up, like in uh in in in uh at Iruko, there was actually a literal queue of like 30 people after it was announced on stage. People were waiting, they're like, Oh, can I have mine? Can I have mine? And everybody was listening, yeah. What's your eight? Should I scan it? And then should I do this?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, line out the door at Rails World as well. Like people were really waiting once word got out of what it was.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've seen the line up up there at the ball. I've seen the line. Yeah, so yeah, it's it's really like make it playful and make it a special thing in your event because people do really love this whole thing.
SPEAKER_01:Um let's talk about like what's the lowest lift if an event organizer, because resources, right? Especially for smaller conferences, you might have space issues, you might have uh we can talk about kind of the far end of it, but what's the lightest lift that an event organizer would need to do to facilitate this?
SPEAKER_03:So the the lowest, the you know, simplest thing they can do, they should do is actually create the stamp, which is you know not that expensive, it's not that expensive in like time and focus. You could you know just order it online. Make it with your event. You can have like a general one. We have like a friendly RB, two-tone kind of one, but I loved how Rails World did it, had Rails World 2025. That's extra points, and then you know, you have extra ones. I have we have the I am friendly stamp. And uh, if you're for example, actually gave a few, we sent a few to Barcelona to Barcelona RB, the the event organizer, the meetups, because it's not just for conferences, we want to do it for events as well. And they have the uh Sagrada Familia logo for their meetup, and you know, they they can make you can make a stamp for that, and it's another cool, playful thing you can do. So, first one definitely the stamp. Yeah, before the stamp, so zero, if we come from zero, you can you have to get you you get in touch with me. So um we I can provide the the we can provide the passports. So we through Avo we can pay for them and pay for the shipping and everything, and we'll send them to the every any event organizer. So the lowest thing is like call us, give us your address, um, tell us how many people you have it for. We'll send almost that number, maybe a few a little like fewer, because you know, not everybody's into this whole thing.
SPEAKER_01:And you don't want to waste, right? Because they're I imagine they're kind of expensive, no, to make yes, they're freaking expensive.
SPEAKER_03:It's like between five and eight dollars a piece. Like we went too far. We went too far. Yeah, so they're kind of expensive. We don't want them lying around or like people think there's like you know, flyer and I could just throw around because it's yeah, and it goes a lot of work goes into like attaching the QR code and the RFID chip and everything. Yeah, we want to so we'll send them to you to have for conferences and meetups, and um yes, then the stamp, and then another cool thing that uh you can do is have a way for people to print a photo and stick it on the passport for the people who are just receiving it.
SPEAKER_01:This is probably the thing that took a lot of thought, the most thought. We had a lot of fun with the whole embassy, but trying to figure out how to get a photo printed immediately and put in there in a way that made sense fast and cheap was hard. So, how did you do it differently?
SPEAKER_03:So, we again talking on the cheap side of things, like you know, easy. We said, okay, we we can't spend like$500 or$700, whatever it costs to get a booth. So we're just gonna make our own software. So I bought a printer, I think it was$100 or something. We have a DSLR DSLR camera, we have a tripod, we vibe coded a piece of software which would connect the DSLR camera to the laptop and then to the printer. And basically, you have like your own makeshift photo printer. And now we're evolving it into like just having an iPad and you just click and it's a little bit more seamless. So if you want to do that, that's the cheapest way. If you have a printer at home and you just want to connect it to your iPad, that's perfect. We're as soon as we have the finished software, we'll we'll send it to you. Uh, and you can use that. Or if you want on the other end, which is the simplest thing you can do, is rent out a photo booth from a um a vendor, like a party organizer, which is what we ended up doing at Rails Rails World.
SPEAKER_01:So it was the one that we did was the kind that a strip that lots of parties offer now. Yeah, and we kind of negotiated down the price exactly because we didn't want branding, we just wanted a a way that and we were gonna cut it.
SPEAKER_03:So you actually took one that was yes, of course I did take one because this is a cool like when you get the photo, people should get these kinds of photos.
SPEAKER_01:So also, also um, I guess people could also, I mean, if we wanted to be super, super light lift, would an organizer need to cover that? And they could also say, like, add a photo of yourself there, right?
SPEAKER_03:Of course, of course, of course.
SPEAKER_01:Just to make sure that this is like an accessible thing for any event organizer to do.
SPEAKER_03:Yep, yep, yep. And of course, like, for example, if you first go to uh a meetup, of course, they might not have a photo booth there. You get your passport, you get it scanned and everything, and you fill out your information. But next year you can go to Rails World or to Yoruko or like to RubyConf or to other conferences which will have a photo booth, and you can take a photo and stick it on there.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah, so if that's like stopping you, don't let that stop you. The photos later.
SPEAKER_03:Definitely, definitely.
SPEAKER_01:Um before we oh, was that everything that like the that an event organizer would need? Because I have one question then.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, uh mostly that's mostly I think so too.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, the space for it. Like find a space for it, it could be a space for it, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Have like this embassy, yeah, exactly. Uh we can send you uh the forms, we can send them the forms from Rails World, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:That's something we should talk about. Yeah, the funny, the funny forms that uh mostly you came up with the weird questions. Um, yeah, and uh we can we can have forms for you, photo boot software and everything. Yep, it's pretty much it.
SPEAKER_01:So for all this, and I I just have to ask because you were a sponsor at Rails World because of this, because we have brainchild this idea together, and I was more than happy to make you a sponsor. Are you looking for sponsorship when you send this to other events for free?
SPEAKER_03:Yes, and no, no, actually, we don't uh charge money for it, but we do you know like it, appreciate it if you add us as a sponsor on the website and you know, whenever you send like a newsletter because you know they cost a lot of money, they they they they took a lot of time, you know, on our focus and everything to make. So the only way we can make this um available is through Avo. So yeah, if you yeah, definitely. But it's also free of it.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it's it's a really cool piece of thing at an event, it's a cool experience, which you know it's um it's tough to get like cool experiences at events, you know, like okay, you have after parties, everybody has after parties, you have like all these kinds of things, but having something like this which brings people together and connects them, and people talk about it, it's just next level. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So should we talk about the experience of it?
SPEAKER_03:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:Because there's a lot of different ways we you could go about this, right? Like we talked about the lowest lift, which is just you know, have a place, a booth, and photo if you want, and to keep it going.
SPEAKER_03:Yep, and stamp.
SPEAKER_01:I had a lot of fun with the experience. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_03:At the end, at the other end of like the experience spectrum, at the higher end. So let me paint you this picture. So at Rails World in Amsterdam, the um the um the venue, I'm not gonna butcher the name, but it was the the X um what was it? Uh Exchange. Exchange. I skim, I skim things. See, so the the old exchange from Amsterdam, it's this beautiful brickworks like building, and it has like these pavilions downstairs, one, two, three, where two of them are like the uh the big conference halls, and then somewhere at the first floor, there's a room. So you go, you walk through that to that through that long hallway. You can see the whole expositional exposition area down below, and then you get to this room which is which has wood on the walls, it has like this nice chandelier, it has the these tained glass windows. It's like you're in a courthouse, like in a real government place, and at the entrance, there's this fellow there, which which is actually checking your bag or like uh making you turn around. It's like the security guy, which gives you a little lot of trouble to get in.
SPEAKER_01:Like any embassy, right? They gotta be secure.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly, like every every government, right? Uh, and then you after if you pass that gentleman, the security check, you go to the form area, which you fill out these forms, which are um ridiculous, let's just say just ridiculous, uh, but very well thought thought out. Then you go take your photo, and then you you reach another off another desk, which you may or may not get you know shouted out, shouted at of you know, of coming in or like coming at the desk. And then you know, at some point they'll they'll they'll um get you in there and they're gonna ask you um for your form and then they're gonna check your answers, which is something that I didn't expect. Yeah, something that I didn't expect to actually check those answers and ask other questions about it. And um, I was actually worried at some point that I'm not gonna get it. And then there's another if you get it, if you get the stamp there, you can go to actually get your passport stamped and get your photo uh applied to the desk and uh get a little bit more shit uh for doing that. So it's a real governmental uh kind of uh experience, which uh not only me but a lot of people enjoyed.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it was really fun. I I had so much fun designing this experience with you and with Jamiro, and it I think the fun came in the detail, in the tiny, tiny little details that we were hoping people would notice. And for instance, like just the ridiculousness of everything. So the security guy, when you walk in, his his security wand was a lightsaber because we wanted it to be able to like make some sound and some light. And then he was, of course, asking ridiculous questions like, do you have a monkey in your backpack? Like, do you did anybody ask you to carry like serious questions like did anybody ask you to carry anything in? And ridiculous questions. And then the forms, we specifically did three different types of forms with different questions completely so that you wouldn't know it. But as you're filling it out, like if somebody were to ask, like, what's what's the answer? What are you putting down for the cheese question? Like, what cheese question? I don't have a cheese question, and like, like, why? What so it's all about making causing confusion. And then that would also give the embassy worker at the main desk or the embassy workers the chance to ask questions like it says you have six pockets on you at all time, and then the person standing in line would also be like a pocket question. I don't remember a pocket question, or like this says your name in hieroglyphics, and they're like, Oh, hieroglyphics, I didn't have that. So the form was all about giving the person, the embassy worker, a lot of ammo to tease you at the front, yeah, but also causing confusion on the line because you weren't supposed to know what the other person was filling in. We had pens, we had stickers for people, of course. And I I thought more people would steal the pens. I still have a lot of pens, so they'll go to the next embassy. And what else did we have? So we raised embassy workers to be like miserable. Oh, we had a beautiful logo designed by Jamiro Emming and a sign out front that said like um solo services and embassy. All fun citizens, welcome. And the the the irony there being that when you went in, they were the most unfun people that were interviewing you. And then actually on site as they were setting it up, because I couldn't be there to the setup, but all the people who were volunteering to run it, they they at the last minute put up a one of these forms that show you how to take the passport photo on the wall, and it's like pictures of Rose board members of the Rails Foundation, and they took my like MySpace photo from like 2005 or something, and like this is how you do it. Don't don't take a bathroom. That was yeah, and then they also did uh rules, like these are like the rules of the embassy, you need to obey these rules, thinking nobody was gonna read that. And I I have it packed away somewhere here, but somebody did read it, and like rule 5.3 or something was like anybody who claims that they're an embassy worker is an embassy worker. So this one guy read it, and then he got to the front and he said, Well, I'm an embassy worker. And the the woman working the embassy was like, All right, get in line or get in the seat, and not and then he just sat there like telling people off and and approving them for the Ruby community. It was really fun.
SPEAKER_03:So really, really fun. I do want to give you props because I was expecting, you know, having this photo printed, and then you'd have like a scissor at the end and just trim it off. But no, no, you had like the special scissor where you could just place it in, and when you when you chop it once, it just takes the whole photo off. Like, who does that?
SPEAKER_01:It's a password cutter, you can buy them online, it's super easy. I don't think we have them here for us. The perfect size, it's all about the detail. It's also that was a part of making the experience seamless for the people working it and coming and going.
SPEAKER_02:Yep, yep, yep.
SPEAKER_01:Another thing we had that I don't think people really realize, but we had lots of mugs of other programming languages.
SPEAKER_02:PHP, Django, Laravel.
SPEAKER_01:It was supposed to be that they were drinking out of it, and then when somebody would go like, This is a Ruby embassy, but that's a Laravel mug, they would go, Oh, sorry, and like put that mug down and bring out another one, and it was PHP, and then another one, so until they got to the I Love Ruby one, which was what it was supposed to be.
SPEAKER_03:Um, and also the embassy workers they did such a good job.
SPEAKER_02:They did such a good job.
SPEAKER_01:All of them, even the one who was an attendee who turned into an embassy worker. He did it.
SPEAKER_03:Yes. So are you doing it next year as well? Because I feel you should.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but we now we have to think of like how to do it. What to do? We gotta find a space. I go to the Austin venue at the end of October, at the end of this month. And we're gonna specifically be looking for like what we could do. So the embassy workers were my parents, and they've already said they they said, and actually the other embassy worker is like a really good friend and neighbor who this will surprise no one does Burning Man. So she was all about the creating experiences. So she was all in on this. So props to all of them for being so game for this. And the funny thing about my parents is I was like, I don't know if they're getting what I want out of this. So I had a call with them, like a really official call, and I was like, this is what I want you to do. Oh, they were smoking fake cigarettes, candy cigarettes.
SPEAKER_02:That was freaking out.
SPEAKER_01:Um, and I was like, you know, I want you to be mean, but if you notice that anybody is uncomfortable, like tone it back a little bit.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:At the front, don't touch anybody, like, like just and they were like, We got this.
SPEAKER_03:Not easy. It's not easy.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but they they completely got it. And I was like, you know, with my mind, I'm like, I hope you do it right. They excelled, they beyond, like they did so much better than I could have imagined.
SPEAKER_03:So I remember this episode with your mom. I think Jeanne Boussier was there, and she asked, like, where do you where are you working? And she and he said, like, Shopify. Oh, Shopify, oh my god, I love all your music. I just started laughing, and then and then she said, like, I did that joke before, and somebody didn't believe me.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, it's this kind of experience that you can like create at your event.
SPEAKER_01:Do you know what's funny as well? The it's it's also what the audience brings to it, right? Like the the bit and playing along and being either scared or Henri.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Somebody somebody tried to bribe my parents with candy. So they brought candy and they slid it forward. And my mom said, She was like, What's that? And he was like, Well, in my country, probably Eastern Europe or something, in my country, that's how you get things done at the embassy. And she went to uh Brahm Janssen was the other one who did a great job as an embassy worker. She said, Take the candy, reject the application. Like, absolutely not, but we'll take the bribe. This is not your country.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, so yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So it was fine. So I think will show up as well. It's what they bring to it as well. It's a two-way street, let's say.
SPEAKER_02:Yep, yep.
SPEAKER_01:Even DH was like playing along.
SPEAKER_03:And he he actually ended up at the last desk with the uh with the what do you call form binder clip, the form, the click? Yeah, and and and the last and uh and and she told him like you what's this looking? What's this uh uh what is this here? Like you shouldn't have this here. Go take it back. And he was like, okay, okay, ma'am, I'll do that. He just turned around. Like, hey, he's the guy, you know?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, nobody's safe in the embassy. That's the thing.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly. Yep. Um, so yeah, really cool. Really enjoyed that. And I've heard a lot of people saying they love it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so what I would love to see is more people taking the bit further, you know, it doesn't have to be exactly like we did it. Like this can be like as different as countries and events are, your experience of how people get this can be just as fun and interesting because the community will show up and play along for sure.
SPEAKER_04:For sure.
SPEAKER_01:So what that's gonna I'm excited to see what that's gonna look like. Have you do you know where this is showing up in the next couple months already?
SPEAKER_03:So yeah, so actually today, Rocky Mountain Ruby, today or tomorrow, I think it's it's happening. So that's gonna be the first uh North American conference that's gonna get it. We I I only have 60 left, so I sent uh all of them. And then SF Ruby is gonna be the next one. Cool, nice big one. So uh definitely you're gonna see it there and soon at other meetups and uh conferences around the world.
SPEAKER_01:Amazing, super fun.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, yeah, we we want to have them in the hands of everyone, and we want to see as many stamps as possible and you know connect them to your profile. And we want to see, you know, we wanna I hope this is gonna help the community to connect better and to actually improve it and you know have this continuity for time and time on.
SPEAKER_01:Plus, it's just a really good memento of the events that you've been to online and in person, I think.
SPEAKER_02:Yep, yep, yep.
SPEAKER_01:Um, I'm already gonna I'm gonna call it now. Marco is gonna fill his up first.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, right, Marco Roth. Definitely first.
SPEAKER_03:Definitely. Uh, I think he should tweet, he he should create a Twitter account, especially just for like Marco's passport. That's what it's should be called. And whenever he gets a new a new uh stamp, he he should just post it.
SPEAKER_01:He should, he should. He's gonna have to apply for a new one, like you do.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01:We should think about like the first person who gets it full with event stamps.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, see the idea?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, let's do something, let's do something. Um yeah, don't know one year, one year of premium subscription on ruby events.org.
SPEAKER_01:Which I believe is free, but he's gonna get it anyway.
SPEAKER_03:They're gonna get it.
SPEAKER_01:And it'll be Marco.
SPEAKER_03:Probably. So he has to put in a little bit more work to create those fake subscription premiums. Yeah. So um really, really cool. Thanks for you know making this uh with us and uh you know supporting this and you know trying to make this uh community a little bit better.
SPEAKER_01:You were a perfect partner for this. So thank you because this uh did amazing things for our event, and I know it'll do amazing things for other events as well. So we'll see how it goes.
SPEAKER_03:Yep. Awesome. Amanda, anything else? How is your end of the year looking?
SPEAKER_01:It's the small window after an event where I can turn my sites to lots of other things. So we have a lot coming up. We've got another add-on tutorial for adding wish lists to the e-commerce app on the Rails World uh or the Ruby on Rails tutorial page. We've got another video series from Typecraft coming. Um, there's other things. Oh, we already have 2026 event planning starting, of course. But I'm excited to dive back into it. It's been like it's the end of conference season now after Yoruko. I think I've been home because I had a one week off afterwards. I've been home for about a week. So getting back into the swing of things has been uh slow, but it's ramping up now. And I'm excited to just work on other things than an event for a while. How's your Q4 looking?
SPEAKER_03:Uh, same. Well, we do have some prep. Well, we do have some prep work to do for SF Ruby because we're gonna have a booth there as well. We wanna show people the cool new things we've been working on this past summer. We're gonna enjoy a little bit. We have gonna have about two days there, so maybe we're gonna do something with with more people. We're gonna gather a group. Uh a lot of focus on finishing off Avo4 and uh prepping up for SF Ruby and then slowly ramping ramping down so we can have like a nice chill December. You know, we just enjoy the family and the days off and everything. And uh I don't think I have any events planned for next year.
SPEAKER_01:Well, can we also talk about not having friendly or is it too soon?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, sure, sure. Let's do it. So, yeah, we we so when we started friendly this year, um, in the opening, I told everyone that we're gonna take a break. There's not gonna be a friendly next year. We had three of them, but uh, we are taking a break because friendly, as smallish boutique, if you want to call it, this is how we call it boutique, uh, as it is, it takes so much time and so much focus to get it to the level of polish that we wanted. Uh, we just want to make sure that you know all the details, you know, all the all the meaningful details are laid out and everything falls into place, and that takes a lot of time. Now I have two kids, uh three-year-old and a three-month-old, and they take a lot more of my time. So uh I have to decide what I can do and what I can't do. So we're taking a break to see how this year goes, if I'm gonna have too much free time on my hands, if I'm gonna get the itch. Uh, and um, and and same for my co-hosts as well. Uh, and we'll see about uh friendly 2027. But we're gonna take a break for this year. And to be frank, like I'm I'm I'm it's it's looking good so far. Like I have no events planned, no friendly, no other events. And it's it's not looking that bad. It's looking good to not have a full calendar.
SPEAKER_01:I I was surprised when I heard the news when you you mentioned that. I wasn't I was surprised and I wasn't surprised because I know firsthand how much love you put into friendly not from being there. I haven't sadly you ended before I can make it. But I understand what goes into an event that you really care about and you care about the experience. The Rails Foundation is fortunate and then that's one of our goals, but it's not for Avo. So I completely understand that it takes away from the business side of the business, like what you're actually there to work on. So I get it. Um, I've heard really, really good things. I know a lot of people are sad about it. I've heard fantastic things about friendly since the very first edition. So hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, one day you'll come back and I will be the first ticket. I will be the first ticket that's happening.
SPEAKER_03:Perfect. I'm gonna I'm gonna write to you beforehand so you know to watch out. Yeah, for sure, for sure. I I'm looking forward for that day when I'll have so much free time to say, oh, what can I do with my all of this free time?
SPEAKER_01:Two two two tiny kids, I don't know when that's gonna be. And I don't know what it takes to raise little humans, but I imagine it's a lot harder than an event, even.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. So yeah, we'll see. But um definitely I'll I'll visit a few events next year. I definitely want to uh participate in the embassy somehow. So uh the Ruby passport is gonna be out there, so I want to go and see because I love seeing people, you know, being into it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I I don't know yet which ones I'll be at either, but I'm sure I'll see you at an event somewhere next year.
SPEAKER_03:I'm sure definitely, definitely. And everybody, when you go to events, stay one more day because that's when the magic happens. That's when it's all super, super fun when you you know bond with people and connect. And uh that's the that's what I that's one of the reasons, the biggest reason why I love events that much. That's why I go like to make and to enjoy the second day to make it as nice as I can do it.
SPEAKER_01:Do you know? And that's something I I got at Yoruko for the first time because all the other events, uh I'm too tired after Rails World, even though I see people in the city and I'm so sad that I can't go out. Yeah, but Brighton Ruby, I had my my friend and my dog, so I was mostly hanging out with them after. Tropical on Rails. I'm gonna I'm gonna be honest. I was I was sleeping most of the day after that, even though I knew that Robbie was running around, Robbie Russell was still in town. But Yoruko was the first time that I made an effort to come out and see people, and it really did make the whole experience really, really interesting and fun and and better. It was a good close to it.
SPEAKER_02:Yep, yep, loved it. Love it.
SPEAKER_01:Did we call it post post RB? Post conf.
SPEAKER_02:Post RB Conf. Yeah, we talked about that. It's still not ready for production, it's still not ready for production. I'm not gonna tell people Twitter handle.
SPEAKER_03:Twitter, uh, it's the postconf post RB Conf. Uh that's the handle, so definitely follow that account.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, definitely.
SPEAKER_03:Cool.
SPEAKER_01:I will see you. Uh I I will try not to send you any late night WhatsApps anymore because we don't have a project we're working on together, but I will see you at another event, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_03:You know what? Do it because that's gonna that's gonna put some wood on the fire for the Austin embassy. Or I will do it.
SPEAKER_01:I have I have ideas. I'm not gonna spoil any ideas right now, but I have some interesting ideas that uh we're trying to explore.
SPEAKER_03:So okay, cool, cool. But you should definitely do it because the US people, you know, they haven't seen it, they haven't seen it.
SPEAKER_01:And this is gonna be SF Ruby, right? Like the exact time, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yep, yep, yep, yep.
SPEAKER_01:And maybe RubyConf will do it too, which will happen before us as well.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yep, yep, yep, definitely.
SPEAKER_01:Cool. Let's look forward to yes, definitely.
SPEAKER_03:Amanda, thank you so much for coming on the show. Thank you for you know talking uh passport and events and everything. I really love talking about that. Yep. And um, I'll see you at an event near you.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, and don't forget your passport.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, always have it with you.
SPEAKER_01:Bye.
SPEAKER_03:See everyone. Bye.
