There's something special about organising conferences that has always been a big part of us. A couple of years ago, we decided to stop. We decided that after three Ruby Conf Portugal and three Mirror Conf's, we needed a break. That, of course, didn't last long and here we are, back at it.
Ruby Conf Portugal and Mirror Conf were very special. They were homely and communal events that reached beyond their developer and designer communities and interacted with the world around it. It was magical for us, it was magical for the attendees and we wanted to have that experience once again. This time we were set on organising an Elixir conference and we announced Alchemy Conf. Unfortunately, a spiraling situation regarding COVID-19 in Portugal forced us to go radio silence while we figured out what to do.
The bad news: there will be no Alchemy Conf in Portugal this year. Your safety is of utmost importance for us. We aren't able to host it in conscience of putting you or your loved ones at risk. We will be back in 2022 for the most exquisite Elixir conference in Portugal.
The good news: there will be a VirtuAlchemy Conf. A one-day virtual version of Alchemy Conf for 2021. It will happen May 28th.
Our whole thing with conferences lies on two pillars: networking and community. For us, networking is one of the biggest challenges and we're trying to devote a lot of time thinking it through. Networking is all about nurturing the connections between attendees. We don't want you to miss out on it, so you can count on several moments where you'll be able to interact closely with the Elixir community, if you want to.
However, we want to nurture the community that surrounds us as well. All of the proceedings of the conference will be split between two institutions: Virar A Página and From Kibera With Love. We will be setting a ticket price of 25€, however you are free to donate any amount on top of that. We will make sure it gets equally split among both institutions. They're already flying so make sure you grab your ticket!
We also wanted to try our best to do a carbon-free conference: we are partnering with our friends from Tree This to plant a tree for every attendee that takes part in the conference.
The virtual conference will start at 9:00 GMT and unofficially end at 18:30 GMT. If you want to hang around afterwards we will be organising some casual moments for you to chill.
What you can expect: a broad range of speakers, lots of fun moments, a laidback environment and the chance to speak at the conference. We will be opening CFP soon. Everyone is free to apply.
In the meantime we will be posting all updates via Twitter, so you stay up to date regarding all speaker announcements, CFP news and more. All of the info will be in our website as well.
We are all very excited about what's coming and we can't wait to see you at the conference. Help us get the community together. Help us make this memorable and magic.
Forever yours,
The Alchemy Conf Team