Magma Rails is a conference event that has been widening its scope with the passing of time.  Initially, we were focusing on making Rails better known in México, since we are a group of professionals that focus on acquiring expertise within Rails... but we are also aware that there is a need in the local development community to explore many more things.  

We have always included Ruby related talks in our event, because we find them interesting and very relevant to any professional web developer that uses Rails.  We have also began including front-end topics, as we are usually part of projects that require us to know (at least) the universal standards.

So, part of the great news we have for you today, is that we are re-naming our event to “Magma Conf”.  

This next event is being planned with a few variations, compared to the past ones. We will change what turned out not-so-good, and repeat all the great stuff we’ve been doing in the past.  Plus, we are adding a few new things here and there, that we hope helps you guys enjoy this experience to the fullest.

Not so Frequently asked questions... but we want to tell you anyway!

Why the change of name?  

It is simple: We are aware of how fast-paced technology is, and we know that if we only focus on Rails, we could have a great conference event, but we want to make it more inclusive and even more AWESOME!  We have been receiving feedback from speakers and participants, it all pointed to the fact that we need to cover more ground, in order to bring more knowledge to México and the Dev Communities.  

Why not just rename it to RubyConf Mx or something like that?

We did not want to loose the “Magma” feel of it, and we wanted to be able to include all of our efforts in the title.  So after a long debate (and many emails back and forth), we decided to go with the simple solution: Magma Conf.  It encompasses what we have done in the past, and leaves room to what we want to have in the future.

What should you expect from the events from now on?

Awesomeness, good times and great content on the talks.  This time, as we are part of a growing community, we will include more people in the jury to select the talks.  We have been contacting a few community members, and other key participants in the Ruby and Rails scene in México. Their response has been great, and we are very thankful for their support and help.  

So, who picks the talks and all that stuff?

The Keynotes are still the Magma Committee’s call, and we have a few slots saved also for sponsors, but the rest is up for grabs.  Be sure to check out the Call For Papers!

What will change?

There will be no more workshops. Sorry guys, but we can’t figure a way for you to learn a lot in 3 days, without missing any good parts. Workshops were Ok last time, but there were some really good talks that the attendees to the workshops missed. It’s really a bummer.

Also, we are adding a new section: Lightning talks.  They are super fun, very dynamic and easy to prepare for.  We have decided to include one section each day, that will consist of 4 to 5 presenters.  This means, we will have a load of speakers this next time!

What will remain?

We will always try to be as less pricey as possible. We don’t do it for the money... if that was the case, we would have never even organized the first event, back in 2010.  We embrace the idea of doing this as economically accessible as possible, this remains as a key part of every event we host.  Our dream is to have this annual event made possible by sponsors, not charging one single peso to those who come to the Conferences... but we are not quite there yet.  ; )

What about streaming and the videos?

Yeah... we are not so proud of our performance from previous years... video conferencing is not our best trick.  So, we are looking into partnering up with a company that can do the job with excellent results. Last year, the crew from hacker.tv did an awesome job, but could not cover all of the conferences. We generate a bucket load of material, and editing the tapes takes a long time.  We will surely cover the keynotes, but we are still figuring out what to do with the rest of the talks.

And then...?

One of our main goals is to help communities grow strong. And we have been pretty active on those issues lately, but we have also discovered that it is really hard to do many things at once.  With that in mind, we have decided to invest more time on community efforts previous to our event.  This means, we will have a few workshops and Code Retreats before the event, in order to let the attendees learn and practice, and enjoy all the conferences during the event.  Having said that, we hope that you can join us on one of the pre-magma events.  Be sure to follow us on twitter to get more info on that.

If you have any questions, please send us an email to info@magmaconf.com and give us a few moments so we can provide an adequate answer.