ShipItCon is a conference focused on continuous delivery in the games industry. The document discusses lessons learned from ShipItCon 2017 and 2019. Key points include that the 2017 event lacked focus and planning, but donated over 3,800 euro to charity. The 2019 event had 380 attendees, diverse speakers and charities, and donated over 8,000 euro. Lessons discussed achieving diversity and inclusion, focusing communications, balancing diversity with accessibility, and maintaining core values. The goal is to continuously improve future events.

1. ShipItCon
The Good, the Bad and the Lovely

2. Thomas Shaw
Co-Founder and Organizer
ShipItCon 2017/19
@tomwillfixit
@ShipItCon
@DandImanifesto

3. Agenda
● What is “ShipItCon” ?
● The motivation to giving back
● 2017 vs 2019
● Lessons learned

4. Where does the term “Ship It” come from ?

5. Continuous Delivery in the Games Industry
Community driven
Non Profit
Accessible to those who’ll benefit the most
Key Requirements

6. And ShipItCon was born ...

7. Giving back ...

9. Facts about ShipItCon 2017
● 150 attendees
● Keynote Speakers; Brenda, John and Donovan Romero
● Venue; The Round Room at Mansion House
● Ticket price; 200 euro (General Admission)
● 3810 euro donated to Temple Street Children's Hospital

10. Spreading the word ...
● Meetups and community events
● Blog Posts and registering with event aggregator sites
● Mail drops using tools like MailChimp
● Printed flyers
● Cold connections on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter
● Regular social media announcements

11. ● Create a consistent and well defined vision from day one
● Focus on a few communication tools/platforms
● Try, measure, pause, stop/repeat
● Coordinate and schedule communications
Lesson #1

12. Lesson #2
● Diversify your social circle
● If your social media
followers/connections
look like this then you
have some work to do.

13. Ideas that didn’t make the cut
Shippy the Code Shipping Squirrel
Hosting the event on a ship

14. Harsh realities of ShipItCon 2017
● We had no idea what we were doing
● We lacked focus in what we wanted to achieve
● We didn’t measure anything
● We tried too hard in some areas while forgetting others
● We overestimated our own abilities

15. Logo by @Shellz_art

16. One simple goal ...
Continuously Improve

17. 2017 2019

18. Organizers

19. Facts about ShipItCon 2019
● 380 attendees
● Keynote Speaker; Charity Majors
● Venue; The Round Room at Mansion House
● Ticket price; 75 euro (Flat rate)
● 8000 euro donated between; BelongTo, Lust for Life,
Temple Street Children’s Hospital and
Aoibheanns Pink Tie.

20. Diversify
● Content
● Speakers
● Attendees
● Charities
● Sponsors
● Merchandise
Display our genuine commitment through actions rather than just
words.

22. Diversity
● D&I advice from Vessy Tasheva, Author of the “2019 Diversity
Report”
● Financial Aid from Stripe
● Apply the D&I lense to every decision

23. Inclusion
● Code of Conduct
● Community feel. Welcoming, friendly, safe
● Greater awareness of language and visuals
● Look to other conferences, such as DockerCon, for tips on
accessibility

24. Language
● Is the language we use inclusive and consistent with our
values?
○ Event announcement
○ Code of Conduct
○ Call For Papers
○ Speaker announcements
○ Sponsors/Venue

25. Visuals
● Are the visuals we use inclusive and consistent with our
values ?
○ Social Media announcements
○ Website content
○ Blog posts
○ Venue decor

26. Lesson #3
● Try to achieve a healthy
balance between diversity
of speakers, attendees
and sponsors while
remaining accessible
● Prepare to fail and
respond accordingly

27. Lesson #4
Focus ... but not too much

28. Lesson #5
Some things aren’t for sale;
● Core Values
● Integrity
● Freedom of Speech

29. Conclusion
● With the best intentions in the world, you still need a
diverse range of perspectives
● Mistakes will happen
○ Own it
○ Fix it
○ Ship it
● Make “Giving back” the default

30. ShipItCon 2020 ?

31. @tomwillfixit
@ShipItCon
https://shipitcon.com