Welcome to ChefConf Online week! On the surface, this year’s event looks a lot different than years past. While we’ve moved to a new online format, what hasn’t changed is creating the opportunity for the Chef community to gather in one place, learn about what’s new in the DevSecOps and Automation space, get best practices and expert guidance from your peers, and have some fun and celebrate what makes our community so special.
Given the new format for ChefConf, I wanted to take a few minutes to share an overview of ChefConf Online and call out some of the highlights of the event.
Keynotes
June 2nd, 9am PDT
ChefConf Online kicks off at 9am PDT on June 2nd with keynotes from Chef CEO Barry Crist and Chief Technology Officer Corey Scobie. Barry and Corey will provide an update on what’s new from Chef, and take the wraps off some exciting product announcements. Afterward, bring your questions to the live Ask Me Anything session with Barry and Corey to get the answers directly from the source.
Marquee Sessions
June 2nd, 10:30am PDT
The Chef development and technical teams will dive into the announcements with focused sessions on the new products immediately afterward. These sessions go into the product and solutions so attendees can learn more about the ins and outs of the product and how it can help expand your automation capabilities.
Breakout Sessions
June 2nd, 1pm PDT
After the end of the keynotes and marquee sessions, the ChefConf breakout program goes live at 1PM PDT. I’m incredibly proud of the lineup of Chef users and partners and the technical presentations they’ve put together. These sessions are available on-demand, so you can view the sessions on your own schedule, at your own pace. Speakers from Chef, as well as companies such as SAP, Nordstrom, CapitalOne, Cerner, CARFAX, Rakuten, Barclays, Early Warning Systems, and more, share their proven practices and insights with attendees in technical talks. Q&A is available for each session so you can ask questions of the presenters within the context of the session.
Along with our speakers, I want to call out our ChefConf Online sponsors for their support of the new event. ShuttleOps, Epsagon, Relevance Lab, Datadog, DNSimple, Rezilion, logz.io and Venafi. Technical staff from each of these companies are sharing their subject matter expertise in breakout sessions during ChefConf Online. Once again, I want to thank them for their support of the event and flexibility during a very fluid time.
Community Activities
I want to take a moment to talk about bringing the community together at ChefConf Online. When it became obvious that ChefConf couldn’t be business as usual and we started planning our pivot, the common refrain across the Chef team was “how do we make sure we celebrate the community in this new format?” So we spent a lot of energy brainstorming how we could bring the special vibe of the Chef community forward in this new format. To that end, we have a number of activities to bring together our community:
Chef’s Community: Highlights, Plans, and Awards
June 2nd, 2pm PDT
On Tuesday, our Community Keynote, hosted by Chef’s community lead benny Vasquez, will share the perspectives from some of our key contributors, and recognize the individuals who have made an outsized impact on the Chef community. The Community Keynote takes place at 2pm PT.
ChefConcert
June 2nd, 5pm PDT
Then at 5pm PT join us for the Chef Concert. Following in the footsteps of the Chef Community Celebration, the Chef Concert brings together some amazing artists performing exclusively for ChefConf. I’m beyond excited to have Reggie Watts, Marc Broussard, ChefConf veterans Deep Sea Diver and our own Recipe for Disaster coming together for a fun and intimate performance from their own homes.
WomXn in Technology Panel: Success in the Face of Adversity
June 3rd, 2pm PDT
The event continues on Wednesday, June 3rd with a WomXn in Technology live panel discussion and networking mocktail hour at 3pm PDT. Join us to engage with six womxn tech champions who conquered obstacles and adversity in their professional lives. These panelists will share empowering stories of strength, creativity, and rising to overcome challenges faced by many womxn in the workplace today, with Q&A opportunities offered for our attendees.
ChefConf Trivia Night
June 3rd, 5pm PDT
ChefConf Online wraps up with a digital evolution of the legendary ChefConf game night. Show what you know and compete for fabulous prizes at the ChefConf Online Trivia night at 5p.
#AllInSeattle
Throughout the event, you’ll hear us referencing our work with #AllInSeattle. ChefConf Online is proud to support All In Seattle. Learn how you can join this effort and provide resources to communities impacted most by the COVID-19 pandemic. The cancellation of ChefConf, along with hundreds of other events, is impacting a broad swath of our community, and we are working with All In Seattle to do a small part to help out while we return to normal.
Stay Connected
It has been a lot of hard work, and frankly a bit of an experiment for us to shift to online. The content pulled together by the team and community members looks amazing, and the response to date makes this the biggest ChefConf audience registration in our history. You can all participate from wherever you are: show your virtual spirit by snapping a selfie while watching ChefConf, and you could win a limited-edition ChefConf Online t-shirt! Make sure you have a Chef logo in your image and tag it #ChefConfSpirit to be entered to win. I’m excited to “see” all of you this week at the event!