DevRelCon Tokyo 2021 is finally coming up next weekend!

Unfortunately, DevRelCon Tokyo 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 disaster, but 2021 will be held as an online event. There are some differences between holding the event in-person and online. Of course, there are some disadvantages as well, but let’s just think about the advantages here.

The number of participants is much larger

The DevRelCon Tokyo series we’ve done so far has been limited to 150-200 attendees. This is probably because the DevRel culture has yet to penetrate Japan. Also, all the sessions were held in English, which made it difficult for those who are not good at English to attend.

Furthermore, for those who live overseas, it is undeniably difficult to travel to a conference held in Tokyo. It would be a different story if countries were connected to the rest of the world like Europe, or if it was easy to travel by plane.

This year’s conference will be held online, so everyone can participate from anywhere in the world. In particular, many of the participants this time are from India. India is currently in a serious situation with the COVID-19. It is very difficult to enter and even to leave India. Because of this situation, we think it is a great advantage to hold the conference online so that every attendees can get information from wherever we are.

No entry fee

This is a difficult question to answer, but many online conferences are free to attend; even Google I/O and WWDC are free. Even online conferences have certain costs, so there is nothing wrong with receiving an entry fee. However, there is no doubt that they are far less expensive than those held in-person. For a real conference, there are various physical costs involved.

• Speaker’s accommodation and travel expenses
• Venue expenses
• Production costs for banners, etc.
• Sound equipment costs
• Translation
• Meals/drinks
• Bags for participants

Just by not incurring these costs, we can expect a significant cost reduction. There is also no cost to attend DevRelCon Tokyo 2021.

Number of sessions.

When we go online, we are free from the constraints that occur in real venues. One of the biggest is the freedom from the number of speakers. In the past, real venues had a limit to the number of rooms where sessions could be held; Cybozu, which we have been borrowing from since DevRelCon Tokyo 2017, has a limit of four tracks. Moreover, that requires a lot of room detail, which can make the room feel small for the attendees.

With online, there are no such limitations. There are also no restrictions on the time of implementation. At the venue, there are rules such as what time to clear out, but online, it depends on the motivation of the organizer. This year’s DevRelCon Tokyo will be the largest in the series’ history, with over 50 sessions. There will be a wide variety of content including DevRel, marketing, community, and more. We hope you enjoy it!

Conclusion

DevRelCon Tokyo 2021 will take place on June 5th, 13 hours from 23:00-12:00 UTC. We have time slots available for people from all over the world, as well as East Asia, to enjoy the event. You can still join us, register now!