A year or so ago, I was talking with Chad Swarthout of Alectrona. We were both looking for a platform to put on a single-day learning event for IT people, and we were primarily looking for a way to do it in DC. We each had enough going on in our individual lives to make it a bit of a dreamscape, and not a reality.

Covid-19 has made IT Conference planning difficult for a lot of organizations right now, and I’ve cancelled a lot of my travel plans for 2020 so far. Chad and I started talking with another colleague, Yoann Gini of Abellioni in France, about how the current moment called for something a little bit different. That’s how Futureproof IT came to be.

We’re planning three half-day sessions in the middle of May, to be held via remote meetings, with a shared member space to converse and share ideas, and we’re doing this with a global focus. We’ll have a set of talks each day, along with a panel or two, and include some lightning talk slots for quick talks and subjects.

Our Call For Presenters Is Open!

While we’ve got some really great speakers – I’m excited to welcome my friend Amélie Koran to the virtual stage from Splunk, and my friend Erin Merchant from Spoke, as well as a security panel from my friend Rob Pegoraro – we could always use more of them.

We’ve all got something to say right now. We’ve all dealt with the challenges of the current moment. Maybe you feel like what you’re doing is common sense. Maybe you feel like what you did isn’t extraordinary. Neither of those should preclude you coming to talk about what’s been going on in your environment. We’re here to learn, and we’re here to do it together. This is going to be the safest and friendliest environment, so come on out and tell us what you want to share.

All our proceeds are going to Heart to Heart International, a charity designed to get PPE and medical supplies to communities all over the world. We’ve got varying ticket prices based on who’s going to be footing the cost of the ticket, and we’re always looking for donor sponsors to help us make this a bigger event.

Let’s build the future, together.