MicroConf 2012 Review

I can’t begin to describe the feelings I have now that MicroConf is over. But I’m going to try anyway.

MicroConf 2012 was somehow better than last year. I spoke with several others and we couldn’t quite pinpoint why, but it was better. We upgraded the venue, we seriously upgraded the Monday night party (Thank you Wildbit!), we increased the number of people by about 35%, handed out awesome looking notebooks (Thank you Eliza!), and a host of other small things.

But what made it better? It’s really hard to point to just one thing. I think that like anything else that gets this big, it was a combination of things that all came together and improved the system as a whole. I definitely feel like Rob and I learned from some of our mistakes last year and were able to head off potential problems before they became serious.

I think one thing we did that really made the conference better was to rely on help from a lot of other people. So I want to take the opportunity (mainly because it’s my blog and you can’t stop me) to thank some of the people who chipped in.

Dave Rodenbaugh – Dave volunteered (again!) this year to take photos of the conference. He spent a lot of time and effort taking them, used his own equipment, and stayed available the entire time to do so. Many thanks to the unofficial MicroConf Photographer.

Robert Graham – Robert was the man behind the curtains for many of the talks as he manned the A/V equipment and made sure that the sound and lights stayed up and running. To do so, Robert sacrificed being out in the audience to see the speakers firsthand from the audience.

Eliza Brock – Eliza created these nifty little notebooks that you see below. We talked several times via email and Skype about her idea and she just did her magic to make it happen. In one word, they’re awesome. But in addition to buying a notebook for every MicroConf attendee, Eliza wrote what is probably the most touching and glowing recommendation that I’ve read thus far. I didn’t even see it until she arrived with the notebooks. It reads:

“Of all the conferences I’ve attended, MicroConf has been the most noteworthy.

I hope this jotter (and it’s handy little card slot) help you remember the amazing things you’ll hear and the awesome people you’ll meet.

Regards,
– Eliza”

That’s a lot of respect, admiration, and ultimately love for MicroConf. I hope we never let her down.

We also got a number of write-ups from around the web. If you are reading this and blogged about MicroConf 2012, drop me a note and I’ll add a link back to your blog entry:

• Robert Graham at Whitetail Software – MicroConf 2012
• Zuly Gonzalez at Light Point Security – MicroConf 2012 Day 1 Summary
• Zuly Gonzalez at Light Point Security Blog – 58 Best Startup Quotes from MicroConf 2012 Day 2
• Numerous articles from Jacob at HowToMarketSoftware.com, including my one about my talk with a great quote that read: Mike had what was surely the best “I’m an entrepreneur, but I’m also a computer science geek” moment of the conference
• Harry Hollander at Moraware Software – 3 things we learned at MicroConf 2012
• The Rainbow Hat Guy blog – MicroConf 2012
• Montabe’s photo collage of all tweeted photos from the conference

And what conference wouldn’t be complete without a massive bar bill. Talk about picking up the tab!

But as great as MicroConf 2012 was, it wouldn’t have been possible without help from our sponsors. There’s a ton of them, so I think that naming them individually at this point might be overkill, but make sure you head over to the MicroConf website and check them out. We really appreciate the involvement of each and every one of them and MicroConf wouldn’t exist without their help.

While you’re there, don’t forget to sign up for the mailing list to be notified about MicroConf 2013. If you’re a self-funded or Single Founder startup, you definitely don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to hang out with a ton of like-minded people who want to build great things and change the world for the better. This year we sold out in just under 3 weeks. Given the survey results, we expect to sell out next year considerably faster. If you wait for general distribution, chances are you’ll miss it.