The second edition of revo.js finally took place between 5-6 October 2023, after an unexpected 3 year pandemic break.
The event was sold out one month in advance, gathering more than 300 participants and 15 speakers from 10 countries (and 4 continents), during two conference days.
The organizing team started the preparations for revo.js 2023 during the summer of 2022, more than one year before the event. The core team suffered minor changes (ie: design & sponsorship), while some roles were ajusted to accomodate the new structure.
Budget
revo.js follows the JSHeroes initiative, publishing a transparent budget report.
Our total initial estimated budget, calculated in the summer of 2022, was around 110.000 EUR. We planned to raise around 60% of the required budget from sponsors and the rest of 40% through tickets.
We managed to raise 98.000 EUR: 64.000 EUR through sponsorships and 34.000 EUR from tickets sales. The budget was a bit lower than initially estimated, mainly due to budget cuts within the marketing departments of tech companies.
Expenses breakdown
Cost wise, we had to adjust our spendings to accommodate a lower budget than the one initially estimated, the uncertainty regarding ticket sales, but also the general increase in prices in all industries.
In the end, the total cost of revo.js 2023 was around 82.000 EUR. Here's a breakdown of the main categories of costs:
- 30.000 EUR for the venue, food, beverages, and after-party;
- 24.000 EUR for the speakers’ travel, accommodation, dinner, field trip;
- 12.500 EUR for services’ fees: design, marketing, live captions, ticketing platform, taxes, and accouting;
- 12.000 EUR for audio/video/photo services, technical staff and equipment;
- 3.500 EUR for prints, t-shirts, badges, sponsors’ panels, and branding elements.
After substracting all expenses from our spending budget, we were left with 16.000 EUR. Most of the extra money resulted from an extra sponsor that joined late in the summer, some speakers that covered their travel costs, and changing the venue.
Since revo.js is a not-for-profit event, we will use part of the extra money to grow the local JS community, and we’ll reinvest the remaining sum in the next edition of revo.js.
The good parts
To analyze what went well during this edition, let's look exclusively at the participants' feedback. Below is a list of recurring highlighted aspects that the attendees enjoyed most about this year's edition of revo.js.
Networking
About 25% of the feedback highlighted the professional networking opportunities. We were pleased, as one-on-one interactions were the main reason we decided to keep revo.js as an offline event. Watching talks online or attending online events are great for their content, but they lack social engagement.
Content
At the heart of any technical conference are the talks, which in our case were highly appreciated and were described by participants as being "diverse", "high-quality", "useful", "relevant", and "educative".
Talks/Breaks balance
Just like in the previous edition, we followed a pattern of two 30-minute talkes followed by a 30-minute break. About 10% of participants said that the relaxed pace of the event and the breaks-talks ratio were among the things they enjoyed the most. We take this as confirmation of a well-design program.
Organization
We were pleased to see that many participants appreciated the overall organization efforts including live captions, smooth registration process, branding, and more. We put a lot of effort into all of these areas, so it's rewarding to know that they didn't go unnoticed.
Sound & Video quality
For the last edition (which was also the first) of revo.js, we heavily relied on the venue’s tech equipment, which didn’t raise to our expectations. That’s why, for this edition, we’ve put in extra effort and made sound quality a top priority. In addition, we have also opted for a large LED screen which also allowed us to overlay the live captions.
Coding challenges
Unsurprisingly, several participants mentioned in their feedback that what they enjoyed the most during revo.js were the coding challenges put in place by our Coding Experience Sponsor, Victory Square Partners. We'll definitely keep that in mind for the next edition.
Overall vibe
Last but not least, a recurring feedback was in regard to the overall atmosphere at the event and the general good vibe. This was again quite fulfilling for us, as we invested time and effort to achieve this result, from the music during the breaks, to our host and MC Diana, who represented and communicated beautifully the vibe that we were looking for.
Things to improve
In the end, the event was far from perfect. We still have a long way to go and even we, as organizers, have some self criticism to address, part of which was shared through feedback.
More advanced content
Regardless of how well-curated our speaker-lineup might be, it’s impossible to satisfy all expectations. While we’re aware of this, we’re still striving to get as close to your desires as possible.
For example, 25% of the feedback mentioned that the overall level of the talks could have been more advanced and and that there could have been more live coding. Since all participants spend their work day writing code, it's definitely easier to understand code while it's being written or executed during a live demo. We’ll definitely take this into account for our next edition
Large catering queues
We recognize the fact that the catering organization and implementation could have been better. In the next edition, we will make sure to get directly involved in the logistical aspects of catering, and help the personnel at the location implement more optimal solutions that take into account the feedback we received from you.
The venue
We got mixed feedback regarding the venue. Some liked it, others didn't. As organizers, we have a similar dilema because we know the strengths and weaknesses of the location. However, the reality is that Timisoara lacks variety and options when it comes to tech venues. Until new locations will emerge, we will try to make the best with what we have.
Next steps
We couldn’t wrap up this retrospective before addressing the elephant in the room: our next edition. Due to internal reasons, we have decided to skip 2024 and focus on a potential edition in 2025. The 2023 edition required a lot of our energy and we definitely need some rest. In addition, we also need to reconfigure our core team, which is something that can’t be rushed.
Until we meet again, we leave you with plenty of materials from the 2023 edition. Visit our media page to (re)watch the talks, reminiscence by looking over photos, or get the gist of it all by watching the after movie.
We'd like to give a huge thank you to all our supporters, including sponsors, communities, and friends, to the organizing team, including the volunteers which helped during the event, to our speakers for sharing their knowledge with us, and last but not least, to all our participants for attending revo.js 2023.
See you all next edition!