Between the Hill and the Harbor: Community Over Code 2023
The conference known as “Apache Con” changed its name, but not its essence. The currently called Community Over Code successfully culminated after a long day of sessions dedicated to the enrichment of both Open Source and the communities that nurture it every day.
The location that welcomed around 250 contributors, developers and users in this final stretch of the year was Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, a city located in the east of the second largest country in the world, Canada.
For four days, attendees from all over the world gathered at the Halifax Convention Centre, located between the Citadel Hill and the Waterfront to kick off with Rich Bowen the expected Keynotes by Ruth Suehle and Mike Milinkovich who respectively presented the foundations considered essential and the future of the Apache Software Foundation, Charu Anchlia and Justin Colannino who explained why Open Source matters and democratizes AI and Abigail Dogbe who shared multiple ways to boost the growth of Open Source in Africa.
After the morning introduction, it was possible to choose from a wide range of tracks happening simultaneously in different rooms. Topics such as streaming, fintech, search, sustainability and community were highlighted. The speakers showed Open Source applications and solutions that they use in their companies with Apache projects.
They also shared their first contributions to Open Source and their journey in the ASF with the aim of motivating more people to be part of this community who constantly want to contribute somehow. In each networking opportunity, attendees clarified doubts, applauded the work of others, visited the sponsors’ booths and later, during the meetings outside the program, they also had fun and celebrated the social harmony.
Each day of the conference closed with small “Birds of a feather” forums organized by members of the community, to delve into topics of interest that remained pending, from technical questions to the importance of Diversity and Inclusion in Open Source. The conference closed with Lightning Talks and the promise of the next Community Over Code in Bratislava, 2024.
Teyza Ponce
