DroidKaigi 2021 Activity Report
This is DroidKaigi Organizer mhidaka.
This activity report consolidates the trends in attendance of DroidKaigi 2021, which was held in October 2021.
Event outline
- Date: 19–21 Oct 2021 (Tue-Thu)
- Sessions: Timetable
- Videos: Uploaded to the Official YouTube channel (Free)
- Pre-registration: Approx. 1,500 (via Doorkeeper)
Inquiries about the conference: info@droidkaigi.jp
A note about statistics
This article is compiled with data from YouTube Studio analytics and pre-registration questionnaires. Though the data has been handled with extra attention, we do not guarantee the accuracy and completeness of the contents of this article.
Also, unless noted otherwise, the results are compiled from data gathered on 18–22 Oct. 2021, including one day before and after the event. These extra days were added since there was no information on the time of the analytics data, and to include effects of the eve festival etc.
Information about the audience
The unique viewer count is from data provided by YouTube Studio (1 user is counted as 1 unique viewer, no matter how many devices the user has viewed and no matter how many times the user has stopped/resumed watching the video. For details on definitions, refer to the help page).
DroidKaigi 2021 was held as an online-only event. Though we can’t make a direct comparison due to the fact that DroidKaigi has been held at a real-world venue since it began in 2015, DroidKaigi 2021 has recorded an explosive increase in viewer count and total hours viewed.
Session viewing trends
These are the trends in viewing the livestream via YouTube Live, session videos and archives. We can observe that the 25–34 age group is the most active viewer, accounting for the majority of views.
Questionnaire results
The following statistics are generated from the questionnaire at the time of pre-registration. Even though all questions were voluntary, the valid response rate was over 97%. Thank you for your valuable contributions. We will use these as a basis for improvement and research for future events.
The questionnaire includes questions that ask about sensitive background information about yourself. Because of this, we have prepared a D&I Statement and Privacy Policy, and will manage these accordingly.
Percentage of mobile app developers
When asked about their development experience, the results were evenly distributed at about 10% for all groups. We can see here that there was a good balance of new developers and experienced developers attending.
Questions about attendees’ occupation
The majority of respondents (1000) answered that their currently work as an Android Engineer. Since this question allows for multiple answers, we can see that some attendees work as multiple roles, and are not limited to a single area of expertise.
This shows the expansion of the mobile app industry, and that the attendees of DroidKaigi are becoming increasingly diverse.
About yourself
Attributes of attendees, such as gender, are sensitive information. At DroidKaigi we manage any these under our D&I Statement and Privacy Policy.
There are currently no plans to release additional information on the number of responses or details other than the statistically processed results in this article. When the volunteer staff utilizes this data to improve operations, they will be using data that has been processed in the same way as in this article so that individuals will not be identified.
In comparison with DroidKaigi 2019’s questionnaire, the base number of attendees have increased from 1,000 to 1,500 (based on pre-registration numbers, which is 1.5x. If compared to the unique viewer count, attendees have increased to 5,300, or 5x).
These are questions for our D&I efforts at DroidKaigi. Please note that it is difficult to make a direct comparison between DroidKaigi 2021, an online event, and DroidKaigi 2019, which was held offline.
Age range of attendees
The 30–39 age group was the majority, followed by 20–29. In the aforementioned “Session viewing trends,” attendees of the 25–34 age range were the most active viewers, and we can see that there was no inconsistency between the questionnaire results and the actual analytics data measured.
In comparison with the DroidKaigi 2019’s questionnaire, attendees in their 20s dropped by 4.1%, attendees in their 30s dropped 2.7%, and attendees in their 40s rose 5.8%. Since it’s impossible to suddenly age in two years, we believe that aspects such as the ease of participation and the shift in the attendee population due to the change to online has had an impact. Also, since the number of attendees has increase by 1.5x based on pre-registration number asn by 5x based on the unique viewer count, the actual number of attendees in each age range has increased significantly regardless of the change in percentage.
Place of residence
The majority of respondents answered Asia as their place of residence, and 80% of those who answered Japan answered Kanto region as their place of residence. There were attendees from overseas in the DroidKaigi 2021’s livestream despite the time difference, and the questionnaire resulted in a diverse attendance, including Asian countries other than Japan, Europe, North America, and South America.
Conclusion
Despite this being our first ever online conference, we thank you very much for your attendance. As the organizer, I felt a little lonesome since I couldn’t see you all in person, but the conference was blessed with a diverse group of attendees because of its ease of viewing and access.
I feel that the results of this year’s questionnaire indicate that DroidKaigi 2021 has taken a new step forward with its shift to online.
At this point, future schedules have not been determined.
Although the situation has somewhat calmed, the effects of the COVID-19 have not yet gone away. We will need to closely monitor the situation as we prepare for the next event. With next year’s DroidKaigi 2022, we wish to include the advantages of both the online livestream and offline venues, and continue to consider various options that enable us to contribute to the developer community.
DroidKaigi 2021 has been our first online conference, and I feel there were many aspects that we can to improve on. Nevertheless, with the contributions and warm support of attendees, speakers, those who submitted talks, and sponsor companies and those in related departments, the conference has been a huge success. The DroidKaigi committee would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your tremendous support.
DroidKaigi Association, Organizer, Masahiro Hidaka