My KubeCon NA 2022 recap

The first question and, perhaps, the most important one is: why go to another country to attend a conference that is almost entirely broadcast and recorded online?

First of all, PEOPLE, the conference is made of people! The community is also made of people and Kubernetes is not a commercial product linked to a company that will do a sales pitch and try to push features to you that you don't need or want. Kubernetes is made of the community that gathers around it and everyone at KubeCon has this in common: a passion for Kubernetes and its ecosystem.

This makes KubeCon much more than just a conference of presentations, but an experience that allows you to meet and get to know people physically, and this happens with any kind of person, from the most famous, whom you meet in the hallways, such as Kelsey Hightower and Tim Hockins, to Brazilians, like me, who are on the same journey. This brings us closer to the reality that we are all at some point in this journey, with our own challenges. We all can and need support. Personally, being able to hug, shake hands or even clink glasses at KubeCon was an extraordinary experience. Many of these people I already knew from the Internet, but being able to have lunch, laugh, and have a Coke — in my case — with them, brings us closer and allows us to understand each other even more.

Speaking of big names in Kubernetes, I invite you to watch this interview I did at the event with Kelsey Hightower, who was there signing and distributing his book:

Secondly, going to KubeCon is worth it for the PARTICIPATION itself. It might seem strange, but in these times of remote work and after a brutal pandemic, having the opportunity to personally exchange experiences, explain our pain points and also understand the pain points of those who created and maintain an ecosystem of this size is priceless. Hearing Ricardo Katz, Carlos Panato and Emily Fox, among others, speak about the urgency of more people contributing to the code reminds us that Kubernetes got this far with a lot of effort from these people and that we need to do our part.

I want to take this moment to also thank my team at Getup. Of course, not having been with them for a week makes a difference, but they played the game very well. They believed in me and encouraged me all the time to be at KubeCon. I'm sharing this to motivate more leaders to do the same: send your employees to important events like this, invest in them! The innovation and creativity, which you desire so much, is not locked inside a Zoom meeting, rest assured!

Just imagine that in only five days it was possible to see, in great depth, various projects and innovations, from IPv6 and IPv4, like DualStack within Kubernetes, to multi-cluster management platforms. Also, it was possible to get to know companies and projects from all corners of the world, exchanging experiences and learnings, all of this within a single ecosystem. The CNCF has today become the center of cloud native innovation, and this is noticeable by so many brilliant minds gathered in one place, willing to explain, demonstrate, and teach a lot!

Another very important point, highlighted throughout the event, is inclusion. There, everyone is very welcome and respected. I saw booths for mothers to nurse their children with privacy, all-gender restrooms, pronouns to put on the badge and also signs on how we should approach each other, because we are still in a sensitive state of the pandemic and respect for differences and different viewpoints always comes first.

Inclusion also extends to the content of the talks, workshops, and keynotes. We had topics of all levels of depth, from an introduction to Helm to the capacity of ebpf in Cilium to handle 100Gbps. In addition, all questions, from the most basic to the most complex, were welcomed and answered, and everyone there was ready to explain a bit more, whenever necessary.

DAY TO DAY AT KUBECON NA 2022

If you want to get an overview of this edition of KubeCon NA, which took place from October 24th to 28th, check out our daily summaries on Kubicast. Every day we recorded a new episode and highlighted very important points of the event. Access the first show of the series here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5PAcRiT1PVSKFBMMzY2t6x?si=ec38caaaa05a4598.

TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMUNITY

Currently, 1% of the people and companies that use Kubernetes actively participate in the project. Imagine what we could have if we reached 2%? The outlook is optimistic and seems like a very plausible target, right?

Of course the community has its issues, like any other, but what it needs most is people, like you and me, to add value and make it grow even more. If you want to start contributing, the two easiest ways are the Kubernetes Slack, where you can connect with people and projects, and also the website https://contribute.cncf.io/.

THERE IS MORE NEXT YEAR!

To conclude, I want to leave a notice that in April 2023 we will have the European edition of KubeCon in Amsterdam and, in November, the North American edition takes place again in Chicago. I hope to meet you there and I also hope we can organize ourselves so that maybe soon we will have a KubeCon Latin America!