A brand-new, regional Ruby conference in the mountains of western North Carolina

June 8-9, 2023

Asheville, NC

“Take a break from the gem mine, and get up to the ridge line.”

We spend most of the year heads-down in our own projects and codebases. Once in a while, it’s good to step back and survey the horizon, alongside a few companions.

Join us at Blue Ridge Ruby to learn, get inspired, make new #RubyFriends, build community, and celebrate the language we all love.

What is Blue Ridge Ruby?

Blue Ridge Ruby is a two-day, single-track conference featuring ten speakers, plus lightning talks. The conference will be held at the historic Masonic Temple in downtown Asheville on Thursday, June 8^th and Friday, June 9^th. We will have optional group activities around Asheville on Saturday, June 10^th. Hosted by Jeremy Smith and Mark Locklear.

What to Expect

Small-conference feel

With a cozy venue and single-track schedule, we’re aiming to keep it relaxed and intimate.

Welcoming community

No matter your background or skill level, if you love working with Ruby, you’ll belong.

Historic venue

Enjoy two days in a beautiful, historic theater where arguably the best Tom Petty cover was performed.

Walkable downtown

We’ll be right in downtown Asheville, within blocks of great hotels, coffee shops, restaurants, and tap rooms. See our recommendations.

Open lunch

Lunch will be open and un-catered. We’ll provide a long break so you can explore Asheville’s amazing food scene.

Weekend fun

If you stick around for the weekend, you can join one of our optional group activities on Saturday!

The Program

A grand tour through the world of Ruby, over the course of two days.

Annie Kiley

Maintenance Matters: Maintaining Your Rails App and Your Sanity

Caleb Hearth

RSpec: The Bad Parts

Emily Samp

What’s your type? Generating type signatures with Sorbet and Tapioca

Ifat Ribon

Go Pro with POROs

Kevin Menard

Making Ruby Fast(er)

Kevin Murphy

Enough Coverage To Beat The Band

Landon Gray

Forecasting the Future: An Introduction to Machine Learning for Weather Prediction in Native Ruby

Mo O’Connor

How can I move forward when I don’t know where I want to go?

Stephanie Minn

Empathetic Pair Programming with Nonviolent Communication

Thomas Carr

Digital Identity or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Web3

The Venue

Asheville Masonic Temple
80 Broadway Street Asheville, NC 28801

This beautiful and historic venue is located right in the heart of downtown, within blocks of many hotels and restaurants. If you have accessibility needs, please contact us to make sure we can accommodate you.

Masonic Temple theater

Exterior of Asheville Masonic Temple

The Area

Asheville is a favorite mountain getaway, known for food, craft beer, and outdoor activities. If you’ve never been, you’ll want to check out Biltmore, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the River Arts District, in addition to downtown.

Biltmore House

Walled gardens at Biltmore

Viaduct on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Tunnel on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Frequently Asked Questions

Where’s the schedule?

We’ll finalize our conference schedule when we get closer to the event.

How many attendees do you expect?

This is our first time organizing a conference, so we’re not entirely sure. But we are targeting 150-200.

Are you looking for sponsors?

Yes! Check out our sponsorship packages.

Do you offer scholarships?

We are offering 10 free scholarship tickets on a first-come, first-served basis. These scholarships are aimed at helping those who might not otherwise be able to attend. We are especially interested in helping students and individuals from underrepresented groups. UPDATE: Scholarship tickets are now taken.

Do you offer any ticket discounts?

We are offering a non-profit and educational discount, as well as a corporate discount when registering five or more individuals. Please contact us for details.

Who’s organizing this conference?

Hi! 👋 We’re Jeremy Smith and Mark Locklear.

Why are you putting this on?

In 2022, Jeremy went to four amazing Ruby and Rails conferences and came home energized and inspired every time. On the flight home from one of those conferences, he tweeted his interest in hosting a regional conference in Asheville. Mark graciously offered to help organize, and from there, things just got out of control. 😂

What’s the COVID policy?

We‘re excited to welcome the Ruby community to an in-person event. Your health and safety is our top priority. COVID remains an ongoing concern and brings additional risks for people with disabilities, chronic illness, caregivers, people who are otherwise at high risk, and those who live with them. While we are hopeful that COVID risks are way down this summer, we also want to be cautious.

1. Proof of vaccination will be required at registration check-in.

2. If COVID risk for Buncombe county is Low at the time of the conference, then face masks will be welcomed, but not required.

3. If COVID risk for Buncombe county is Medium or High at the time of the conference, we will require a face mask (unless presenting) and a negative rapid test taken within 24 hours of conference start.

Current risk level for Buncombe county

What’s the Code of Conduct?

Short version: No harrassment, no sexual language/imagery, violators may be sanctioned or expelled. Full version.

What are the plans for the optional weekend activities?

We are organizing optional group activities for Saturday, June 10^th for any attendees who stay in town after the conference. If you’d like to participate, we recommend you book your hotel through Saturday night and plan to depart on Sunday.

Where should I stay?

There are many hotels near the venue, but two of the closest are Renaissance Asheville (0.2 miles away) and Four Points by Sheraton (0.1 miles away). ~~In addition, Hilton Garden Inn (0.4 miles away) has offered us a group block discount~~ (discount ended). For comparison of various options, see this map of hotels around the venue.

Where is the nearest airport?

The Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is the closest airport, and is probably your best bet at ~20 minute drive from the venue. There are multiple ground transport options, including hotel shuttle, taxi, public transit, and ride-share app.

The next closest airports are Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) at ~1 hour, 45 minute drive, and Charlotte Douglas International (CLT) at ~2 hour drive.

What happens after I have registered?

As we get closer to the conference, we will send out email announcements to attendees with all important details. A couple weeks prior to the conference, we will invite attendees to a conference Slack group for information-sharing and discussion before, during, and after the conference.

Will conference talks be recorded?

Yes, conference talks will be recorded and videos will be released online for free.

Will there be a job fair?

No, but we will have a #jobs channel on our conference Slack group for companies and attendees to share opportunities.

Register

Be sure to review our COVID policy. If you have accessibility needs, please contact us before registering.

Regular Ticket

$299

Until sold out

Purchase Ticket