pull down to refresh

Some nice reflections about TABConf here from @tidwell:

TABConf was never built as a business. It has always been community service: volunteer run, historically carried by a small core group of a few people, with a much larger group of volunteers making it possible every year.
I still believe true sovereignty requires a minimum level of technical competence. I think this remains one of the most underrated ideas in the space. It is often dismissed by people who believe the entire burden is on developers and designers to abstract everything away. But in reality, the healthy place is somewhere in the middle. Taking responsibility for your own digital money is still a new idea for many people.

No one is too old, too new, or too "non technical" to learn how Bitcoin works. But that knowledge requires practice, repetition, and maintenance.
Brandon was also the one who had the idea to use GitHub and go fully open source with how the conference is organized in public. I really think that kind of open programming and communication made TABConf unique, and it is also something others have experimented with since.

Sad to see it go, but they get a lot of respect in my book for filling a need and then letting the energy move elsewhere when the time comes.

Dang, I remember getting FOMO from missing the first TABConf. So much great technical content and clearly a labor of love. I've made a lot of friends there over subsequent years as well. We have other conferences to carry the torch now, but this one will always have a special place in my heart. Well done @tidwell and company.

reply
104 sats \ 2 replies \ @ek 27 May
We have other conferences to carry the torch now

Which other conferences would you recommend for developers? I'm only aware of bitcoin++.

reply

Mostly Bitcoin++, but @niftynei held like 6 of them last year all over the world. Otherwise MIT Bitcoin expo and OP_NEXT have had some interesting technical content as well. And then there's random stuff like the quantum summit at Presidio Bitcoin that looked productive. It will be hard to replace TABconf though.

reply
104 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek 27 May

Oh, the article mentioned them:

There are now many great technical Bitcoin events and communities: regional bitcoin++ events, Adopting Bitcoin, OP_NEXT, Presidio, MIT Bitcoin Expo, the Bitcoin Conference open source stage, BitDevs groups, and many more.

Thanks @Scoresby for posting the full text in #1497282

reply

Should try to make it out there, then!

reply

Perhaps @BlokchainB will spearhead another SN IRL. I'd show up for that!

reply

Yes! I plan to but this is sad but I also understand

reply
152 sats \ 2 replies \ @ek 27 May

Is there a way to read it without an account?

reply

Sorry about that, I didn't realize X blocked previews of articles.

Here is the full text:

After many incredible years, we have decided that this year's TABConf 8, happening Oct 12-15, 2026 in Atlanta, GA, will be the last one.

TAB started in 2016, back when there weren't many Bitcoin meetup groups. In 2018, we started the conference because the meetup had grown insanely large. From the beginning, TABConf was arguably technical, and over time it became even more technical, partly because that is what interested us, and partly because there was a real gap after Scaling Bitcoin faded away.

Today, that gap is much smaller. There are now many great technical Bitcoin events and communities: regional bitcoin++ events, Adopting Bitcoin, OP_NEXT, Presidio, MIT Bitcoin Expo, the Bitcoin Conference open source stage, BitDevs groups, and many more.

That is a good thing!

TABConf was never built as a business. It has always been community service: volunteer run, historically carried by a small core group of a few people, with a much larger group of volunteers making it possible every year.

The goal was always simple: keep it technical. Avoid price action, charts, "wen moon" talks, and hype.

I have always said TABConf is not the place to come learn why Bitcoin is great. It is the place where, once you know Bitcoin is great, you come to learn what you can do next.

It has always been a builders and doers conference.

I still believe true sovereignty requires a minimum level of technical competence. I think this remains one of the most underrated ideas in the space. It is often dismissed by people who believe the entire burden is on developers and designers to abstract everything away. But in reality, the healthy place is somewhere in the middle. Taking responsibility for your own digital money is still a new idea for many people.

No one is too old, too new, or too "non technical" to learn how Bitcoin works. But that knowledge requires practice, repetition, and maintenance.

TABConf tried to create that space. It was a space that wasn't afraid to experiment with interactive puzzles and bizarre/funny formats that involved many people in the room instead of just generic panels and talks.

I also want to give special thanks to Brandon, who has been doing TAB with me for 10 years. He stuck it out with me through all of it, and TABConf would not have been what it was without him.

Brandon was also the one who had the idea to use GitHub and go fully open source with how the conference is organized in public. I really think that kind of open programming and communication made TABConf unique, and it is also something others have experimented with since.

There are many others I want to thank too: Stephen, Brianna, the Socratic BitDevs Village hosts, the Next Generation Village hosts, our speakers, volunteers, attendees, sponsors, and everyone who contributed.

I am not trying to play favorites..... but the full list is probably hundreds of people deep. Thank you to everyone who helped make each TABConf an amazing experience.

Over the years, I have heard from so many people about friendships, jobs, projects, companies, general opportunities that came from TABConf. There's even people who have met their spouses! It is hard to measure the impact, but the vibes have always been high, and I believe we all made serious good use of our time at TAB events.

That means more to me than I can properly express.

Let's send it off the right way!

I hope you will consider coming to TABConf this year and helping us make the final one a blast. We are accepting sponsorships, selling tickets, and, as always, it will be in Atlanta, GA.

All info should be available on the main TABConf website.
reply
104 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek 27 May

Thank you and no worries

I think I had this problem before, and I think I was able to read it, but I don't remember how

edit: Ahh, I can read it without an account actually. I just got confused (again) because I can't read it on nitter. Like the embed here, I only see an x.com/i/article link there.

reply

Where are they moving the energy to?

reply

I haven't heard of any new projects. I know that TABConf did the Vegas edition this year and launched their discord server and was doing some kind of partnership with Chaincode's BOSS program...so maybe they are moving into dev training/education path?

reply

It really feels like a lot of energy is draining out of Bitcoin

reply

Agreed

reply