David Hill: 0:00

Shout out to GoRails for sponsoring Ode to RailsConf. If you or your team wants to learn the latest Ruby on Rails features Hotwire Ruby and more check out GoRailscom. Use code ODE2RAILSCONF at checkout to get 10% off. You're listening to the Ode to RailsConf podcast, where we reminisce about RailsConf over the years. I'm your host, david Hill, and joining me today is Rhiannon Payne. Rhiannon, would you introduce yourself to our listeners?

Rhiannon Payne: 0:31

Yeah, of course. Hi David, hey everyone. My name is Rhiannon Payne. I am the marketing director at Ruby Central, which, as I'm sure everyone knows, is the nonprofit that organizes RailsConf, RubyConf, as well as maintaining Bundler, rubygems, etc. So we do a lot of amazing work both on the conference side and on the open source side as well, and I'm just very excited to be here and chat a little bit about some of the marketing work that I do there, as well as exciting stuff about this year's final RailsConf, as well as exciting stuff about this year's final RailsConf.

David Hill: 1:05

Okay, so you joined Ruby Central only like a month prior to RubyConf this past November. Tell me about that a little bit.

Rhiannon Payne: 1:17

How did you wind up hanging out with a bunch of Ruby nerds all the time? Yeah, so I guess this is like a long, multifaceted story. I'll try to condense it as much as possible, but with me joining at Ruby Central and helping with marketing for RubyConf, specifically, I was at RubyKaigi last year in April with my husband, justin Bowen. So Justin's been speaking at RailsConf and RubyConf for a few years now and we both love traveling to Japan. We worked in Tokyo for a few months years ago doing a startup there, so it's one of my favorite places. We're going back to Kagi this year too, so I'm stoked for that in a few months. But yeah, when I heard there was a Ruby conference in Japan, I'm like, okay, let's go. This is a really good excuse to go to Japan and it was also aligned with our wedding anniversary.

Rhiannon Payne: 2:04

So typically when I've been to previous conferences, I haven't actually gone as an attendee. I've just kind of maybe watched his talk or hung out with people at the bar afterward, right, and done more of the social stuff. But because Ruby Kaigi tickets were cheap relative to what conferences normally cost in America, I was just like, okay, why not? I'll buy the 20,000 yen ticket, which is again just not a lot compared to how American conferences tend to be priced. And I just had a really, really great time.

Rhiannon Payne: 2:38

I had left my previous job a few months prior to do a little bit of a sabbatical travel a bit and then also kind of restart my marketing consulting agency and I sort of had the idea that I'd be there in that capacity, maybe there would be an opportunity to sign a marketing client. But I had no real expectation of that, it was just kind of to have fun. And then one of the last nights of Kaigi we were out at a karaoke event because obviously it's Rubeus and Japan, so karaoke is kind of a given, and it's like 3am. I can't do karaoke unless I'm a little bit drunk to be honest which is probably true for most people.

Rhiannon Payne: 3:19

But I was like slamming vodka cokes for most of that night to work myself up to doing karaoke. And then Adarsh and Samuel joined later in the evening and Adarsh, as a lot of folks probably know, was our previous executive director at Ruby Central. Samuel Giddens is our security engineer in residence working with our open source team. So they came in and were like hey, how's it going? You guys live in the Bay Area too, because we're in San Francisco. Our Darsh lives in the Bay Area, got chatting, we're all kind of hammered and just made really good connections that night.

Rhiannon Payne: 3:57

Several months go by maybe September, october and my husband Justin ends up hanging out grabbing coffee with the Darsh, just catching up, and the Darsh is like, yeah, and my husband Justin ends up hanging out and grabbing coffee with Adarsh just catching up, and Adarsh is like, yeah, we could really use some extra marketing support with RubyConf happening in a month. And he's like, well, you remember Rhiannon runs a marketing agency, right, I should maybe get you guys in touch. So Adarsh immediately was like, yes, please make this connection today, which was really kind of him because he actually had no understanding of my previous work experience at all. But we had a really great conversation Adarsh and I, and it just seemed like a really really good fit. They needed support quickly. So I was like, okay, well, happy to help, I just restarted my marketing agency. I can onboard pretty quickly and just get started and just try my best to do whatever little things I can in the next month leading up to the conference that might make an impact, drive ticket sales etc. And yeah, that's what I did. I just onboarded incredibly fast. It was like, let's go.

Rhiannon Payne: 5:03

I ended up getting COVID the same week that I onboarded and I'm like they need marketing support and I'm so fast and now I have COVID and I just was pushed through as much as I possibly could that first week and I'm like I'm so sorry, guys, I'm so sick and they're like, no, everything you've been doing is incredible, which was super validating for me because this was my first large marketing client after leaving my previous job and I was like, okay, these people are amazing, they're so kind. I felt like even the littlest content pieces or things that I was able to help with. They were so appreciative and I was like, okay, this is such a nice environment. I'm loving creating content and marketing strategies for Ruby-related things, because it's a space that I know reasonably well and it's a community that I know reasonably well again through my husband. I was just having so much fun with it and then was able to attend RubyConf and do some cool marketing work on the ground there as well, and it really just was such an inspiring experience.

Rhiannon Payne: 6:07

So after that I ended up signing a longer-term retainer contract with Ruby Central and now directing marketing, like I said, for the open source program but also for all of this final Rails comp. I feel like that was such a TLDR, but it's been such a whirlwind experience truly, and again, having been kind of going to Rails comps and Ruby comps and different Ruby events for several years now, just as like an onlooker, kind of on the side or periphery of everything opportunity to sink my teeth in and participate in the community, to learn more about Ruby and what makes this community so special and to actually be able to have an impact as well. So I've been loving it.

David Hill: 6:54

Nice you had the kind of trial by fire essentially with RubyConf. You're just thrown right into the deep end. I'm curious if there were any lessons learned that you could identify in terms of, like, what you went through then versus what you're doing now for RailsConf. Like, are there anything that you were like, oh, I'm gonna do that differently for RailsConf? You know any kind of lessons you learned through that process?

Rhiannon Payne: 7:20

I think that's a great question.

Rhiannon Payne: 7:21

So it was really hard to be strategic coming in so last minute right, because it was really just a matter of like let's very quickly push out more content and just get folks excited, try to drive those last minute ticket sales.

Rhiannon Payne: 7:38

I don't necessarily think it was because of my efforts, maybe it was or maybe people were just really excited for RubyConf, but we did see a huge uptick in ticket sales in that final month leading up to the conference and ended up being a big success.

Rhiannon Payne: 7:54

So this time around definitely being a lot more strategic, because now I have the opportunity to, I've kind of seen we have the time, which is the most important part, but I've also seen behind the scenes a little bit kind of understanding the inner workings of RubyConf and I'm able to kind of take a much more strategic approach to how we're building up hype and excitement and ticket sales for RailsConf. So it's really nice having like both the perspective and the time necessary to build out an amazing marketing campaign. So a couple of things that we did that were really experimental at RubyConf including with you actually some on the ground interviews with Rubyists, folks from open source maintainers to podcasters to people enjoying the conference and I want to do so much more with video content because I think that's an area where we as an organization can grow so much. So kind of taking those things that were a bit experimental and building on them is definitely one of my focuses right now.

David Hill: 9:02

Nice, I like that. I remember sitting at the t-shirt table and hearing you kind of asking people to do those video interviews with you, and my initial inclination was to just kind of sit there and be quiet.

Rhiannon Payne: 9:15

Right.

David Hill: 9:15

But it's like because of doing this podcast and everything is like no, I'm trying to be more social. I'm trying to get out of my shell more and meet people. And here's a person who's working with Ruby Central. She's trying to be more social. I'm trying to get out of my shell more and meet people. And here's a person who's working with Ruby Central. She's trying to do this stuff to help get Ruby Central out there more and improve their brand and their marketing and everything. What's it going to hurt to just go talk to her? So, yeah, that was why I was like all right, rhiannon, let's do this thing.

Rhiannon Payne: 9:39

And I appreciate it so much because my first day when I was doing the interviews on the ground, it was actually so challenging to find people who were willing to do an interview, which I totally understand and respect. I'm a bit of an introvert myself, but I was a little bit desperate. I was like, please, people do some interviews with me. I really want to get some video content that we can start playing with. And you were one of my first interviews and it actually talking to you made me so much more relaxed and comfortable doing that, so I really appreciated that.

David Hill: 10:11

Well, I'm glad I was able to help in at least one regard.

Rhiannon Payne: 10:14

Absolutely.

David Hill: 10:15

So I'm not asking for spoilers or anything that hasn't been announced yet. That's not what this question is meant to be, but I feel like I have to preface that because it could be interpreted that way. Is there anything about this upcoming RailsConf that you're really looking forward to that you can talk about?

Rhiannon Payne: 10:33

The emphasis on looking back at this amazing legacy that RailsConf has built over the years.

Rhiannon Payne: 10:41

I believe the first RailsConf took place all the way back in 2006.

Rhiannon Payne: 10:45

So we're going on 20 years now and there's just been so much has happened at RailsConf that have truly driven so much progress and so much energy in the Ruby and Rails ecosystem right.

Rhiannon Payne: 11:01

So I think it is just such an amazing opportunity for the ecosystem, for community members, to look back and remember all of those moments that had such a big impact for Rails and such a big impact for the community as they pertain to things that happened at Rails. Comps, like our hack days, for instance, have been such a great opportunity to drive innovation in open source projects. So I think the fact that this last event is going to be such an amazing celebration of that legacy as well as an opportunity to look to the future for Rails that's what I'm really excited about is kind of the combination of celebrating the past and looking forward to the future, because I think there's so many huge things happening in Rails right now from open source to AI to so many other opportunities and really exploring those things and building an event that is going to have a lasting impact on the future of the framework. It's such a special and exciting thing and I think people in the community in general are really pumped for it. And just there's already this great energy building online and we're still like four or five months out. So it's really incredible to see. I'm just so excited to see how that all comes together in person in Philadelphia in July.

David Hill: 12:21

Yeah, I'm so looking forward to RailsConf this year and like there's still a bit of bittersweet sensation to it, just because knowing it's going to be the last one. But I've had so many good experiences and made so many great friends there and it's like doing the video interview with you was like the first interaction I had with you, but then I had another really great interaction with you after that last night at karaoke.

Rhiannon Payne: 12:47

Oh yeah, that's right, didn't we do, kelly Clarkson?

David Hill: 12:50

Yeah, it's just like I picked the song and started going with it and then you jumped up to join me up front.

Rhiannon Payne: 12:57

Well, so the thing is that, like that song was actually I think it was, since you've been gone by Kelly Clarkson and that was my childhood preteen anthem. So as soon as that started going off I was like, oh my God, what a banger. And I had had quite a few soju shots at that point. So I was like, okay, let's go. That was such a fun night, I loved that.

David Hill: 13:17

That was actually my first ever karaoke night, that's amazing.

David Hill: 13:22

But yeah, I had so many good experiences with that and with looking forward to this final RailsConf for those experiences. Even though it's the final RailsConf, there'll be other events. Rubyconf is still going to be there. I'll have to expand my repertoire out to Rails world at some point and try to get to there. I don't think I'll make this year because Amsterdam is a bit beyond my reach, I think. But I'm so looking forward to RailsConf to celebrate the impact that it's had in my career and I love it so much.

Rhiannon Payne: 13:53

My first RailsConf that I sort of kind of attended was Portland in 2022. And that was my first ever Ruby or Rails event that I had attended period Again to see Justin speak, and it was his first time speaking live in front of an audience compared to, I believe he did like a video talk during the pandemic, either for RailsConf or RubyConf, and RailsConf 2022 was a week after we'd gotten engaged too. So it was really special to be there, meet the community, see him speak in person for the first time, and it was such an amazing celebration. And I'm so excited that now RailsConf 2025, I get to attend and not only just enjoy being part of this community, but I actually feel like I play a part in the community. Now is just such a crazy turn of events for me, and to be able to go in a professional context is so cool, so it's definitely going to be a special one for me personally.

David Hill: 14:56

Awesome. From what I've seen in terms of the marketing work that I assume you were one of the primary, if not the only hand in terms of generating that content for Ruby Central. It makes me happy to see Ruby Central being more active and vocal in terms of what they're doing in that space to really safeguard Ruby. We've seen recently some kind of supply chain issues crop up in other code ecosystems that aren't Ruby related, so it makes me very happy that Ruby Central is taking steps to try and protect that, because it's something that all of us rely on to be able to use Ruby and Rails and do these awesome things that we love doing with the language and with the framework.

Rhiannon Payne: 15:38

Yeah, absolutely. I really think that going into 2025, ruby Central is so well positioned to have such an incredible impact with this final RailsConf, which is going to be huge, as well as some of our other initiatives that we're starting to grow Our mission to also help with more local, smaller, grassroots Ruby events and meetups all over the world and meetups all over the world. We last month, in partnership with Fastly, actually launched a small grants program for local Ruby meetups around the world, where we were able to fund grants for these small meetups in over 16 countries and we're really excited to expand on that effort. We were able to support folks who had existing meetups. They've been doing such amazing hard work as volunteers for so long. Just being able to give back a little bit to help them level up their event is so meaningful, but also helping inspire and fund new events, helping those crop up in new places and create these local ecosystems in different parts of the world. That is such a core part of our mission this year and beyond.

Rhiannon Payne: 16:53

And we're also doing so much on the open source side with the formation of our open source program and our director of open source, marty, who I believe was on the podcast recently as well. It's been really amazing, too, with him taking on a full-time role as our director of open source and really scaling that out. So we're doing important work and I think historically, there has been an opportunity for Ruby Central to do more when it comes to marketing and sharing about that work, and now we're actually in a position where we have all of our decks in a row. I was able to join at the end of last year and I think there's such an amazing opportunity now for us to really fulfill being able to share with everyone share with the community and the ecosystem all of the incredible work that Ruby Central is doing, and to be able to do more for the ecosystem. So that's something I'm just so excited about.

David Hill: 17:56

Fantastic. The initial idea for this podcast is giving people an opportunity to share any stories or experiences that were really meaningful to them that were connected to RailsConf. Do you have any stories or experiences you'd be willing to share before we wrap up here?

Rhiannon Payne: 18:05

Do you have any stories or experiences you'd be willing to share? Before we wrap up here my first RailsConf-ish being 2022, that was such a special time in my life personally, having just gotten engaged and seeing Justin speak in person for the first time. It was also just like a kind of emotionally difficult time as well, because Justin's father had actually passed away a few months prior to that too, and he was able to dedicate his talk to his dad, who inspired his tech and software career, and it was just really, really incredible to be able to see him get on stage in front of such a room full of people and share his knowledge and experience so beautifully and then to dedicate that to his dad. It was just so special and meaningful and I'm just so grateful to RailsConf for him having that opportunity and just having the support of the community at that time and starting to build relationships, both of us building relationships with Rubius and folks who we met at the event.

Rhiannon Payne: 19:14

That was just so incredible and I didn't know what to expect to go into that the whole thing. I'm like, okay, I've worked in tech as a marketer forever, but I've never been to a software engineering conference. So it's just like, okay, why not? And it ended up being such a beautiful thing that blew my expectations out of the water. The community was so warm and welcoming and kind and we made so many friends so quickly and folks who we now hang out with regularly.

Rhiannon Payne: 19:45

I met Brandon Weaver that week in Portland and we just saw him the other night again at SF Ruby and sometimes we'll get dinner here in San Francisco with him and his wife and just the community has been so incredible and, yeah, I'm just really grateful for Ruby as being as cool and kind and awesome as they are, but also for Ruby Central just bringing people together in the way that they do and in a way that's such high energy and inspires so much kindness and collaboration, and it truly is just something very, very unique. So I'm happy to be a part of it and just grateful in general.

David Hill: 20:23

That's fantastic. Thank you for joining me today, Rhiannon, and I'm looking forward to seeing you at RailsConf this year.

Rhiannon Payne: 20:30

Yeah, absolutely, David. Likewise, I'm looking forward to seeing you and all of your listeners in Philadelphia in July.