KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America: Know Before You Go

For people who operate cloud-native applications, one of the best events of the year is coming up — KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2024! In this post, we’ll discuss can’t-miss content and other tips and tricks about attending the event.

What’s KubeCon?

KubeCon is the flagship conference of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. At KubeCon, you can learn the state-of-the-art for cloud-native software development and modern operations and deployment techniques. There’s also no place like it to connect with the people behind popular projects that power the Internet like Kubernetes and OpenTelemetry.

What Are the Co-Located Events?

Co-located events are on Monday before the ‘main’ conference, and are accessible with an All-Access Pass. There are co-located events for several different groups including app developers, Argo users, and, especially near-and-dear to us, observability folks and platform engineers. At these events, you can get even more specific content from experts and people who encounter the same situations you do.

How Do I Know What’s Going On?

The best way is to use the Sched app on your phone or on the web. You can browse events, filter by speaker, topic, or the like, and then build a schedule to make sure you don’t miss anything. Many events go on at the same time, so looking at the schedule in advance is vital to make sure you end up in the right place.

Filtering the schedule can really help make sure you don’t miss anything. In the web version of the schedule, there’s a list of filters on the right side of the page that let you pick talks tailored to novices (or experts), or talks about observability, platform engineering, the SDLC, security, and more. Use the filters to build a schedule that helps you make the most of your time.

What Should I Make Sure To See?

We’re a little biased, but think that the OpenTelemetry content is really important. This includes the OpenTelemetry Contribfest (a great place to get started in contributing to open source) on Friday afternoon, many talks about OpenTelemetry and technologies that use OpenTelemetry, and of course, the official project update talk Wednesday at 3:25pm in Regency Ballroom B. See a full list of the OpenTelemetry content at KubeCon here.

In addition to sponsor and vendor booths, there are also project booths for the main CNCF projects in the Project Pavilion. If you want deep-dives in Kubernetes, for example, this is the place to go to meet maintainers and contributors. You can also meet other users in informal birds-of-a-feather sessions held throughout the conference and at the extra events hosted by sponsors. Talk to people on the floor and learn about these events — they are a huge part of the benefit of this conference!

If you’re an OpenTelemetry user, make sure to check out the OpenTelemetry Observatory, located in space B4. This space lets you meet other OTel users, committers, maintainers, and learn about what’s new and get help with your data issues. Stop by to see who’ll be there and have informal conversations about your burning OTel questions.

Any General Advice?

Like at any major conference, KubeCon happens in a large space. It’s also Salt Lake City in November, so make sure to bring a coat. Wear comfortable shoes - you likely will be doing a fair bit of walking through the venue. There’s plenty of seating, however, so bring your laptop so you can document notes and reactions immediately after the talks are over. This will help you retain key learnings and also let you check in on the outside world. You may also want to bring a water bottle to stay hydrated, and some hand sanitizer to help stay healthy around thousands of your new friends.

Make sure to check out the KubeCrawl + CloudNativeFest on Wednesday night. This is a great opportunity to get some refreshments and to meet other people who are interested in cloud-native tech.

What if I Can’t Go?

CNCF sessions including keynotes, co-located event sessions, and formal speaking sessions on the calendar will all be available on the CNCF YouTube channel within two weeks after the event. You should also consider joining the CNCF Slack, where you can talk to other people about the event and sessions in real time.

What Will Splunk Be Doing at the Event?

Please check out our full KubeCon microsite for more information on Splunk’s presence at the event. We’ll have Splunkers at speaking sessions, a killer happy hour, and of course will be at the OpenTelemetry Observatory with bells on. Our booth is in space D5 — stop by, talk to a Splunk engineer who works on OpenTelemetry, pick up some swag and see the latest in Splunk Observability Cloud too.

See you in SLC!