Chris Heilmann, Daniel Cranney & Christian Heilmann
Cat Herding with Lions and Tigers - Christian Heilmann
A tiny team organizes a massive 15,000-person conference. Discover the automation secrets they use to process terabytes of video and make every talk searchable.
#1about 2 minutes
Organizing a developer conference for 15,000 attendees
A small team of 40 people successfully manages a massive three-day event with 10 stages and 600 presentations.
#2about 5 minutes
Using content channels to build an event community
Nurturing a community through newsletters, magazines, and podcasts is key to finding reliable CFP reviewers, speakers, moderators, and volunteers.
#3about 3 minutes
Selecting strategic partners and essential event tools
Partner with professional AV crews and use specialized tools like Sessionize for CFPs and Tito for ticketing to ensure a smooth event.
#4about 3 minutes
Establishing a single source of truth for all data
Use a unique ID for every speaker and session in a central spreadsheet to avoid chaos and enable post-production automation.
#5about 3 minutes
Automating video post-production with local scripts
Process large volumes of video data efficiently by running local automation scripts with tools like FFmpeg and ImageMagick instead of relying on expensive cloud services.
#6about 5 minutes
Increasing the value of talk recordings post-event
Combat low viewership by using AI to analyze transcripts, create short clips, and build a searchable platform that surfaces specific moments within talks.
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