My Honest Take

A personal reflection on the latest conference while looking ahead to 2025.

My Dear Audience,

Another conference is in the books!

I’ll be sending ticket holders a private newsletter soon, featuring HMS discounts and promotions to support the conference and the projects we showcased—stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, I’d like to share my own thoughts on how Handmade Cities went this year.

No More Fundraisers

Thanks to your support, Handmade Cities has a solid future again. This year’s fundraiser and the generosity of independent donors saved us, but I’m thrilled to return as a profitable small business again for 2025.

To everyone who bought tickets, both in-person and online, thank you for keeping this dream alive and well. A special shoutout to those who bought tickets even though they were unable to participate: your belief in this conference made all the difference.

While I hope we never need another fundraiser, knowing the community has my back is a privilege I deeply appreciate.

Counting the Wins

This year threw us a lot of unforeseen scenarios. A literal storm caused flight delays and untold power outages, and many had to bow out due to personal or professional obstacles.

Despite all that, we pulled it off.

Big thanks to the Seattle Center for keeping us running during the storm. I relied on our fully-hybrid model, which let presenters showcase demos remotely while attendees stuck at home could still join via livestream or chat. Revolt, our private chat server, was a HUGE improvement over Matrix—so much smoother!

Turnout was strong and the effort everyone put into making their presentations happen, despite the odds, left me feeling proud and grateful. You and my staff members made this year work, and it felt more like a community achievement than ever.

2024: A Gap Year

This year’s talks covered a mix of topics. Some, like the File Pilot podcast, Allen Webster’s Creative Exercises, and Mason’s Vulkan talk embodied the technical, systems-oriented spirit of Handmade. The demos, too, were incredible showcases of our ethos.

At the same time other presentations ventured beyond technical subjects (sometimes far beyond.) While I personally enjoyed them and know the majority of the audience loved it, I want to acknowledge that this year leaned more heavily on non-technical content than intended.

The challenge in 2024 was bandwidth. Handmade-style talks demand a unique headspace and, for speakers outside our community, close collaboration. In previous years I had the capacity to guide this process through in-depth discussions. This year, however, my energy was focused on keeping the business afloat. A great number of speaker candidates also expressed they weren’t in the right mindset for preparing technical topics.

To put it plainly: without relaxing some of our usual expectations, there wouldn’t have been a conference at all.

When the Industry Hurts, We Listen

I’m struck by the ignorance from some audience members. A few seem unaware of the hardships others face, likely because they’ve never personally known anyone who’s been hit hard. Last week alone, at least half a dozen attendees publicly shared how the industry cast them aside, leaving some nearly destitute. Did you reach out to hear their stories? To ask if they had family support to fall back on? And what about those who stayed silent? I know for a fact there are dozens. They might’ve been sitting next to you in the auditorium.

Multiple presenters told me they’ve provided room and board for competent programmers with nowhere else to go. These aren’t isolated cases—they reflect the cascading effects of a struggling economy. If this isn’t on your radar, I urge you to think about it.

Andrew Kelley’s keynote talk addressed these realities. I never asked him to speak about it; he came to me after hearing the same first-hand accounts I did and asked me for a platform. As leaders of software communities, we couldn’t ignore the suffering we were seeing. You may disagree with his solutions, or wish Handmade Cities focused solely on programming. Trust me, I wish we could too. But when the situation is this insane I’m not going to sweep these issues under the rug. Acknowledging legit struggles and brainstorming solutions is part of who we are. Our indie brand gives us the freedom (and I would argue duty) to question the system and the big players without restraint.

I know most of you understood the situation, and I’m grateful.

Roadmap for 2025

Here’s the vision my staff members and I currently have for next year. In no particular order:

1. Handmade Seattle

Our primary goal for Handmade Seattle is to sell out the venue like we did in 2023, this time with full in-person attendance. A packed venue generates good FOMO and amplifies word-of-mouth, triggering exponential growth for the following year (provided the event is a hit). While we achieved the right ticket sales, those attendance numbers fell short, so I’m eager to try again in earnest.

We’re already lining up great speakers, including Billy Basso and Freya Holmér, who will deliver technical deep dives. I’d also love to invite Vjekoslav, creator of File Pilot, to visit us in person too. Stay tuned for more teasers and fresh faces as 2025 unfolds!

2. Handmade Boston

For HMB the focus is in fine-tuning the masterclass formula. It took two years to perfect Handmade Seattle, and Boston seems to be on the same timeline. Thanks to all your feedback, I feel confident about how to structure the content and logistics for 2025 to deliver excellent masterclasses while keeping the online track timely. Fingers crossed as I implement these ideas!

3. Revenue Diversification

I aim to strengthen or add revenue streams. For example a merch shop has been in the works for a good while now. Additionally, as the economy improves, I’ll be more proactive about renting job booths early. The big challenge here is finding companies like Kagi and K&C—who can take criticism—rather than those looking to influence my conference.

I’m also planning to expand benefits for conference members, giving you more reasons to support Handmade Cities with monthly donations.

4. Brand Recognition

We’re boosting our presence across platforms. Alongside Twitch and Vimeo, Handmade Cities now has a YouTube channel!

Beyond conference recordings we plan to stream regularly, featuring interviews, commentary on programming news, and more. The goal is to convert online followers into active participants: whether it’s subscribing to the newsletter, attending local meetups, or buying conference tickets.

Note: While we’re on YouTube, all videos shall remain demonetized. True independence means running the f*ck away from closed-source, corporate algorithms to make a living.

5. Local Meetups

Handmade meetups are vital to our vision. I’m building a platform to replace meetup.com, helping meetup hosts promote and grow their gatherings to uphold the Handmade ethos. If you’re interested, subscribe to your favorite city or add it to the wishlist if it’s not yet an official meetup location.

Want to host one? Let us know and we’ll set up an interview.

Abner’s Christmas Reset

I’m hitting pause to become a systems programmer again in peace and quiet.

After an exhilarating but exhausting year (the most demanding I’ve ever had) I’m ready to recover. I plan to spend this time with my partner and closest friends, keeping my circle tiny to conserve what’s left of my social battery.

While I’ll still be involved in wrapping up Handmade Cities tasks—like finishing this year’s recordings and completing the new website pages—please expect me to be far less reachable. I may pop into email or Discord occasionally but don’t be surprised if my responses are slower than a sloth.

I’ll officially be back early January. That’s when I’ll convene my staff and meetup hosts to launch our strategy for 2025. To stay in touch, all you need is to be subscribed to the newsletter and optionally join the Discord.

See you in the new year. I’ll be rested, recharged, and ready to roll!