From Code to Stage: Organizing Conferences and Finding Your Voice as a Speaker (#88)

About this episode

This episode explores the journey of becoming a confident conference speaker and the insights from various conference organizers and speakers.

What turns a nervous first-timer into a confident conference speaker? Let's find out. This the last Foojay Podcast of 2025 and also the last one with interviews recorded at the Devoxx and JFall conferences. Maybe you're already thinking about your goals for 2026: organizing a meetup, submitting your first conference talk, or taking a bigger role in the Java community. If that sounds like you, this episode is for you. I talked with the people behind these conferences and developers at different stages of their speaking journey. At Devoxx, I spoke with Stephan Janssen, who has been organizing Devoxx for 20 years, Susanne Pieterse, about what makes conferences valuable for learning, and Daniël Floor, a developer just starting out with public speaking. At JFall, I caught up with organizers Martin Smelt and Brian Vermeer, Berwout de Vries Robles, who coaches new speakers, and Annelore Egger about her journey from developer to conference speaker. You'll hear practical advice about what makes a good CFP, why conference organizers actively want new speakers, and how the Java community is set up to help you get started. Whether you're thinking about submitting your first talk or curious…

People in this episode

Guests: Stephan Janssen, Daniël Floor, Martin Smelt, Brian Vermeer, Berwout de Vries Robles, Annelore Egger

Topics covered

• conference speaking
• public speaking
• Java community
• event organization
• meetups
• developer journey

Keywords

• conference
• speaking
• Java
• Devoxx
• JFall
• meetup
• CFP
• public speaking
• event organization

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Devoxx, JFall

More episodes of Foojay.io, the Friends Of OpenJDK!

• The End of JNI Pain: How WebAssembly Is Quietly Replacing Native Libraries in Java (#98) · June 13, 2026 · 44 min
• From Scripting Language to AI Powerhouse: How BoxLang Is Redefining JVM Development (#97) · May 30, 2026 · 49 min
• Run 35 AWS Services Locally FREE: Floci, Quarkus and GraalVM-Powered, LocalStack Alternative (#96) · May 23, 2026 · 36 min
• Is Your Java App Actually Secure, Or Does It Just Look That Way? (#95) · May 9, 2026 · 1h 6m
• More Than a Blog: How Foojay Connects, Sustains, and Evolves the Java Community (#94) · May 2, 2026 · 60 min
• Update Your JDK, Read More Code, and Talk to Your Users: Interviews From VoxxedDays Amsterdam (#93) · April 11, 2026 · 1h 9m