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

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 about what goes into organizing a conference, there's something here for you. 00:00 Introduction of topic and guests 01:33 Stephan Janssen https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanjanssen/ Devoxx Organizer 07:03 Martin Smelt https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-paul-smelt-8b699a8/ JFall Organizer 13:27 Brian Vermeer https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianvermeer/ JFall Organizer and speaker Tips for speakers, writing a CFP Join a JUG! 21:02 Annelore Egger https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneloredev/ How to become a speaker 27:43 Daniël Floor https://www.linkedin.com/in/dani%C3%ABl-floor-266652208/ Taking the first steps into public speaking Finding your speaking topic 31:28 Berwout de Vries Robles https://www.linkedin.com/in/berwout-de-vries-robles/ Tips for speakers Propose a talk to speak at a JUG 37:08 Susanne Pieterse https://www.linkedin.com/in/susannepieterse/ Learning at conferences, RAG, and other topics Meeting and talking to the presenters and specialists at a conference CO-organizer of ML Con and DevOpsCon in Amsterdam https://mlconference.ai/ https://devopscon.io/amsterdam/ 41:20 Conclusion