- 74% of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2020 – Virtual keynote speakers identified as women or gender non-conforming
- 72% were first-time KubeCon + CloudNativeCon attendees
- 61% of attendees spent 10+ hours on the platform
One of the defining characteristics of open source is transparency because we know that more minds working together are better than fewer minds working alone. As a community, we innovate faster, iterate more often, and end up with better solutions. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation is likewise based on openness and transparency, and that extends to our conferences as well.
We are still elated from a fun and successful KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2020 – Virtual! The shift to virtual wasn’t easy or even expected, but the community came together to share knowledge, learn about new projects, and play drag queen bingo.
Today we published the KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2020 – Virtual conference transparency report.
The KubeCon + CloudNativeCon transparency reports provide insight into event attendance, diversity and inclusion, and drills into the talk section process for the events, which is run by the event co-chairs and their program selection committee.
Attendee Breakdown
With the shift to virtual, we made an impression on those new and not-so-new to the cloud native world.
The conference attracted 18,700+ registrants and boasted a 70% attendance rate. Of this year’s registrants, 72% were first-time KubeCon + CloudNativeCon attendees.
Feedback from attendees was positive, with an overall average satisfaction rating of 87%. We’re very proud of our events team for pulling off such a massive virtual event for the first time.
End Users
Of all attendees, 45% indicated being a part of an end user organization, a 10% increase from those in attendance at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2019.
End users are the cornerstone of cloud native innovation and provide significant insight to attendees into how cloud native technologies are being used in production.
Diversity + Inclusion
KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2020 – Virtual drew attendees from 130 countries on six continents. For our first virtual event, 9% of attendees were women, and 0.35% gender non-conforming. Of keynote speakers, 26% identified as men, and 74% as women or gender non-conforming.
CNCF offered diversity scholarships to 438 applicants. This generous scholarship funding was provided by CarGurus, Cloud Native Computing Foundation, and VMware. We highly encourage you to apply if this is a fit! You can apply now for a scholarship for the upcoming KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America Virtual.
Talks
Over the four-day conference, we hosted 336 sessions, including keynotes, breakout sessions, lightning talks, tutorials, maintainer track sessions, and the new 101 track sessions. Given the high percentage of first-time attendees, the 101 track was one of the most popular aspects of the event. From the feedback received via Sched.com, attendees gave an average session rating of 9.1 out of 10.
The thought-provoking keynote speakers were selected by the conference co-chairs from a pool of the highest-rated CFP submissions and track chair recommendations. Keynote speakers included Kris Nóva, Sysdig; Shane Lawrence, Spotify; Liz Rice, Aqua Security; Holly Cummins, IBM; Derek Argueta, Tesla; Sally O’Malley, Red Hat; and Urvashi Mohnani, Red Hat.
Other Highlights
A breakdown of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2020 – Virtual by the numbers:
- 208 media and analysts attended – up from 95 at last year’s European event.
- 7,800 companies participated
- 3,598 End User companies participated
- 61% of attendees spent 10+ hours on the platform
- The @CloudNativeFdn twitter handle saw 6.4M impressions
- CNCF-hosted three co-located events:
- Cloud Native Security Day drew 890 attendees
- Serverless Practitioners Summit drew 496 attendees
- ServiceMeshCon drew 891 attendees
A HUGE Thank You
Thanks to all those that have given their feedback regarding our very first online event. As the uncertainty around us continues, we are actively looking for ways to make our virtual events accessible and understandable for attendees worldwide. Education and collaboration are the most important elements to this group, and we expect to build on what was created this August.
With our record attendance, commitment to diversity, and positive feedback from those around us, it is safe to call KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2020 – Virtual a successful event. We look forward to making future events even better, starting with KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2020 – Virtual.
We’d love your input as to how we did and how we can do better.
Be sure to register for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2020 – Virtual – if you register by the end of the month, you can save up to $50!