04: Developers are People, too

In this episode of Building Forward, Christina Martinez and Chris Pennington sit down with Carter Rabasa, organizer of Cascadia JS, to unpack 14 years of lessons on crafting intimate, high-quality tech events in an age of impersonal corporate conferences.https://cascadiajs.com/## What's covered- The origin story of Cascadia JS and how JSConf inspired a "by devs, for devs" philosophy- Why developer-run conferences beat professionally-produced ones — and how to acquire event organizing skills as an engineer- Building inclusive, safe communities through a code of conduct that applies to everyone (including organizers)- Running a conference as a family business, with Carter's wife and kids playing key roles- Curating talks thematically for a diverse audience and designing for the 75% of time attendees *aren't* watching talks- The wild origin of Cascadia's karaoke tradition (featuring a custom karaoke API built by Portland engineers)- Why remembering that "developers are people" is the most important principle for building events that matter## Timestamps0:00 Introducing Carter Rabasa1:12 The Origins of Cascadia JS4:37 By Devs, For Devs Philosophy7:38 How to Acquire Event Skills10:34 Code of Conduct and Inclusion14:23 Running It as a Family17:57 Curating the Speaker Lineup20:59 Extracurriculars and Regional Flavor24:29 The Karaoke Origin Story27:35 Remember Developers Are People29:14 How to Connect and Attend