Flock to Fedora 2024, held in Rochester, New York from August 7th to 10th, soared to new heights, bringing together Fedora contributors and enthusiasts for four days of immersive learning, dynamic collaboration, and vibrant community building. The event seamlessly blended in-person interactions with live stream and recorded sessions via YouTube for the first two days, ensuring accessibility for a wider audience. Using Matrix Chat for seamless communication and a well-structured online schedule, Flock 2024 successfully fulfilled its mission of uniting the Fedora community, fostering connections, and sparking a wave of innovation.

Target Audience

The primary target audience was Fedora contributors, encompassing developers, packagers, designers, documentation writers, and anyone actively involved in the Fedora Project. The event also welcomed newcomers and those curious about Fedora and open source.

Attendees

Rochester welcomed a diverse and passionate group of attendees, including, but not limited to:

• The majority of the Fedora Council, FESCo, and Mindshare Committee members.
• Fedora Project Leader Matthew Miller, Fedora Operations Architect Aoife Moloney, Fedora Community Architect Justin W. Flory
• Representatives from sponsor communities, like Rocky Linux, Lenovo, Microsoft Azure, AlmaLinux, CentOS, openSUSE, ARM, Meta, and SureStep.
• Numerous passionate Fedora community members. See badge scans for a full list.

Key Highlights From The Event

• Engaging Keynotes: Matthew Miller’s “State of Fedora” keynote provided valuable insights into the project’s trajectory. Other impactful keynotes included Pat Riehecky’s “It is OK not to know things” and Anita Zhang’s “How (Not) To Get Into Tech,” offering diverse perspectives on the open source journey.
• Dynamic Sessions and Workshops: The event featured many sessions catering to diverse interests, with popular choices including panel discussions from the Fedora Council and FESCo, “What does Red Hat want?”, and numerous talks on Bootc.
• Diverse Tracks: Attendees explored three tracks, including the Flock general track, the CentOS track, and the Mentor Summit track. These tracks tool place across several rooms, like the Red Hat main stage, and the breakout rooms sponsored by Lenovo, Rocky Linux, and Microsoft Azure. Topics ranged from technical deep dives (OpenQA, Konflux, eBPF, AI/ML, RISC-V) to community-building initiatives and DEI efforts.
• International Candy Swap: This unique tradition fostered cross-cultural connections as attendees shared sweets and stories from their home countries.

Fedora Community Engagement

• The Fedora community was actively involved throughout the event.
• Community members contributed as speakers, workshop leaders, and attendees, driving discussions and knowledge sharing.
• Topics like Bootc and the future of Fedora sparked lively conversations and collaboration.

Community Participation and Recognition

• Booth Staff/Volunteers: The dedicated volunteer team, including those listed on the Flock 2024 – Volunteers sign-up sheet, ensured a smooth and welcoming experience for all attendees. Their tireless efforts were critical to the event’s success.
• Speakers: A diverse group of speakers shared their expertise and insights, fostering learning and inspiring attendees. Myself and two of my fellow interns, Adrian Edwards and Roseline Bassey, presented a hybrid presentation of pre-recorded and live sessions as part of the Mentored Projects Showcase. You can see the full speaker list on the conference schedule.

Virtual Events

• Livestream & Recordings: The event’s first two days were live-streamed and recorded, allowing virtual participants to engage with the content.
• Viewership Data:
  • Day 1:
    • Red Hat Room: Over 1,000 views
    • Lenovo Room: 888 views
    • Rocky Linux Room: 427 views
    • Microsoft Azure Room: 324 views
  • Day 2:
    • Red Hat Room: 674 views
    • Lenovo Room: 288 views
    • Rocky Linux Room: 286 views
    • Azure Room: 213 views
• Online Engagement: Social media platforms buzzed with activity, with attendees and virtual participants sharing their experiences and insights using the official hashtags #FlockToFedora, and #FlockRochester.

Challenges, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations

• Streaming Capabilities: Available resources constrained our ability to live stream the entire event, while the impact of this for virtual attendees was minimized with creative scheduling, the hope is to explore improvements to the event streaming setup in the future.
• Weather Disruption: The scavenger hunt was unfortunately affected by a storm, highlighting the importance of contingency plans for outdoor or weather-dependent activities.
• Survey Feedback: We conducted a post-event attendee survey to collect feedback from attendees and speakers. This valuable input has guided us and will continue to guide us in implementing improvements and addressing areas of concern for future Flock events.

Conclusion

Flock to Fedora 2024 was a success, showcasing the strength and vibrancy of the Fedora community. We are already looking forward to Flock to Fedora 2025! To stay informed about future events and opportunities to get involved, visit the Fedora Project website, join the Fedora Matrix room, and follow us on social media!

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors

We extend our deepest gratitude to all our sponsors, whose generous support made Flock to Fedora 2024 possible. Your commitment to open source and the Fedora community is invaluable.

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Edited by Adrian Edwards and Justin W. Flory