A Look Behind The Scenes @ Big Sky Dev Con 2025 & MT Programmer’s Future.

Speakers and CFP, travel arrangements, sponsors, venues, food, swag, schedules, content, A/V, marketing. It’s just the start of the list of a conference.

When the virus whose name will not be named paused BSDC 2021-2023, I couldn’t help but feel like a piece of me was missing. No conferences. But a lot of people loved it. Better for the environment, less social strain, more free virtual opportunities. I maintained we lost something special, something special to experience of being an engineer.

I had spoke as the first speaker in an empty auditorium at big sky dev con 2020. The amazing organizers had converted the conference to a virtual conf. Speaking at an empty room, it just didn’t feel right. I missed the genuine connections, novel experiences, and cross pollination of an in person conference.

It was late 2022 when I first messaged Wes, Montana Programmer’s president, about BSDC. I knew Wes because I was an organizer for local events of my MT Programmers chapter. As for BSDC’s fate in 2023, the timing was off, and inertia wasn’t there. Again in late 2023, I asked again. What about 2024? Could I help? He forwarded me to a thread with a few others who had similar motivation.

Then, we pulled it off. June 2024 was the rebirth of a conference that was special to me. Not only because it was Montana‘s only sizable tech conference, but because I had been many times, grown through the community, spoken there a few times.

It was an absolute labor of love. I remember leaving the after party, driving to my campsite an hour away, and collapsing into bed only to wake the next morning with the feeling that I’d missed the entire thing. It had been an insane amount of work, but worth it to see a conference I love live on.

This year is the same. Now we have some experience, but the level of effort is similar. BSDC 2025 started in July of 2024 with a retrospective; what could we improve? Then, October of 2024 with venue contracting, negotiation, financials.

Then, just as 2024 spun down, the website for BSDC 2025 had to be reworked. CFP was designed, ticketing platform chosen. We started contacting sponsors, speakers, MCs. Ticket stages were designed and marketing began. Sponsorship packets were assembled.

The momentum began to build. Logo design. After party venue deposit and contracting. CFP announcement. First wave of speaker selection. Travel policy budget. Food catering decided. More website reworking.

All of this was in tandem with a new job, and side projects, riding the edge of being overwhelmed. I had unexpectedly lost my father two weeks into 2025 three states away from family and home. As easy as it could’ve been to throw in the towel on the conference, it didn’t feel right. It felt better to put my head down into things I cared about.

May rolled around and we ran through over 100 talk proposals, announcing them one by one. Sponsorship agreements continued, ticket sales were promoted, schedules formed, more deposits paid.

Badges, shirts, banners, podium sign(s) all were designed and printed. Budgeting was reworked for ticket sales and sponsorships. Catering solidified. Badges received and labels placed. Lanyards ordered. One off cases were handled like: ticket refunds and transfers, bulk ticket sales entry, student tickets, speaker changes, Ted Nelson exhibitions (time will tell if this happened), whiskey web podcast details & last minute sponsors. Livestream and A/V details coordinated. Photography. Volunteers organized.

Then, the week of the event. So many things to do. Lifting boxes of food is just the start. Just as the event starts, I breathe one sigh of relief. It’s finally in motion; finally happening. Yeah, stuff might come up, but it’s not the first time we’ve done BSDC. We did it.

With the conference started, I can begin to wind down. The organizer has less and less to organize as the day goes on. If I’m lucky, I’ll be relaxed by the time the after party rolls around, then I can enjoy this community we’re all apart of, the one I love, the only coding one I have in Montana.

The week before BSDC 2025, Wes asked if I would take the reins as the President of MT Programmers. It was a question I didn’t even have to think twice about. A community of over 2,000 programmers, started by a group of dudes who drove around hosting pizza parties.

Now, it’s growing and evolving, and I’m excited to be apart of it. It all revolves around this amazing conference we call Big Sky Dev Con. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go attend to the conference. You can watch the livestream if you’re reading this the day it’s published! Go check out bigskydevcon.com

After this conf is over, if you don’t mind, I’m going to rest for a bit. Then, I want to do some thinking on the future of MT Programmers and BSDC. If you have ideas or want to be a part of it, reach out.

Until then, thanks for reading friends. ❤️