Why I’m involved with DDD Adelaide

So here’s a brief interaction from the last week that encapsulates a number of… issues, I guess you’d say, with the Adelaide tech community.

Team member: Let’s set up community sponsorship with group XYZ.

Me: Who are they? And why?

TM: Interstate reach and visibility

Me: I’ve never heard of them before

TM: It is VERY Adelaide not to have heard of XYZ.

Photo courtesy DDD Adelaide

So what don’t I see happening in Adelaide, software industry wise?

• There’s absolutely no broad-based software conferences.
• There’s barely anything beyond SouthStart and the occasional PyCon.
• Touring conference and community groups skip Adelaide. Completely.
• Adelaide industry has felt segmented for a long time. Defence, government + consulting, banking, start-ups. There’s movement, but little interaction.
• We don’t have the size or scale for (broad, consistent) investment from large and major tech companies.

But, hey. What are we good at? Three things come to mind:

• The community meet-up scene. I’ve had anecdotal feedback that this is better than (some! many!) eastern states.
• The community networking. 6 degrees? Pah! Try 2.
• The size means that it feels pretty feasible to get in contact with a lot of people.

I went to the first DDD Adelaide in 2019, and… I really liked it. At the time, I thought of getting involved, but I had a heap of things on my plate… and then you-know-what hit.

So — when the call came up to potentially run it this year, I was keen.

Why am I involved?

First, I really like the DDD mission; inclusive; low-cost for accessibility; not for profit; locally-focused; and a democratically chosen agenda.

Second, I want us, the community, to have a local conference, run by local people, for all of us involved in making software here.

Third, I would love there to be more visibility of the number of options for meaningful careers in software in Adelaide, and especially in start-up land.

Fourth, I wanna see some talks too! In person! Without having to get on a plane!

Ok you’ve convinced me, where do I find out more?

Tickets and the call for speakers are out! See https://www.dddadelaide.com/.

If you read this, and think you can help out through tickets, volunteering or sponsorship, ping the team at

• The website! Sponsorship contact is here.
• DDD on Twitter
• DDD on LinkedIn
• We hang out in the https://heapsgood.dev/ slack space