SF Ruby Conference: regular ticket prices end September 30
Not a single person in the Ruby community has told us they go to conferences for anything other than meeting new people and catching up with old friends. Our community needs that shared warmth and joy more than ever.
But going to a conference alone can be intimidating. You walk into a room full of people you don’t know, have no idea whom to talk to, and end up checking your phone between talks. We’ve all been there.
That’s why SF Ruby Conference 2026 is designed around what happens off the main stage, too. It runs November 10–12 at SFJAZZ, and regular ticket prices end September 30. Here’s what we’ve planned to help everyone feel welcome.
In short:
- SF Ruby Conference 2026 runs November 10–12 at SFJAZZ.
- The program is built around meeting people, not just watching talks.
- Play The Pier before the conference to meet other attendees and earn rewards.
- Two tracks pair with small, interest-based conversation groups.
- One day leans into AI; the other keeps the focus elsewhere.
- Teams get website features, ticket discounts, and extra time to present.
Before the conference: the game
We want people to learn from each other, but we also want Rubyists to have fun, meet, and leave with new friends. So we built a pre-conference game called The Pier as a first step.
Once you get your ticket, you can turn yourself into a chibi character and walk around The Pier. Cross paths with other attendees, see what they’re building, and start a conversation. It’s easier to chat in real life after you’ve already met online.
The Pier is a place to meet other attendees before the conference.
Complete quests like talking to another attendee or returning a lost gem to its owner to earn coins. Redeem them at the event for raffle tickets for one of three TRMNL devices, Evil Martians merch, and other rewards.
Earn coins in The Pier and trade them for rewards at the event.
Get a ticket and join The Pier.
During the conference
Two curated tracks mean there’s always a place for you
The conference has two tracks: one for startups and one for larger companies. But you don’t have to sit through talks that aren’t for you. While one track is on stage, the other audience joins a conversation group.
Say you work at Gusto. You’ll be in the room for the big-company talks, and when a startup talk is on, you’ll join a group with people who share your interests.
Conversation groups
When you sign up, you fill out a short form about what you’re interested in. We’ll use that info to match you with a smaller group of people who care about the same things.
The groups have different themes: two for hiring, split by company size or career interests; one where founders can meet VCs; and another for sharing agentic-coding practices.
Everyone gets 60 seconds on stage to introduce themselves, so you’ll know who’s in the building, what they do, and what they’re working on before you ever have to start a conversation cold.
We’ve been trying this format at SF Ruby meetups, and attendees say it’s one of the most enjoyable parts. Watch a recent meetup.
One AI-heavy day and one AI-light day
We know some people can’t get enough AI while others are ready for a break, so we’ve split the program: one day leans heavily into AI, and the other doesn’t. If you can’t make the whole conference, day passes let you choose the day that fits.
On day one, hear from Irina Nazarova and Vladimir Dementyev of Evil Martians, Ryan Sherlock of Fin, Madison Sites of Order.co, and CJ Avilla of Anthropic.
Day two features Rosa Gutiérrez of 37signals, Chris Oliver of GoRails, Marco Roth of Herb, Phillip Campbell of Gusto, and Peter Zhu of Shopify. See the full schedule.
Bring your team and get perks
The conference is better when you come with your team. You can meet potential teammates, then compare notes on what you learned after the event. Here’s what teams get:
- Teams of two or more are featured on the conference website.
- Teams of five or more get 10% off tickets and extra time to present on the conversation-group stage, with slides.
Why we’re doing this
SF Ruby Conference is our love letter to the community. We’re investing company money, and our sponsors are helping make it happen.
At Rails World, Matz said, “The biggest contribution of the Ruby community to the world is sharing the importance of joy.” This conference is a gift to the people who build tools, solve problems, and move the ecosystem forward with passion.
AI is changing how we work, but we still believe Ruby is better than English at expressing logic. Rails conventions and primitives also give agent-written code a strong foundation.
If anyone can build tools to solve their own problems, engineers still have a job: make those tools safe and efficient. People building with AI benefit from an all-batteries-included framework and expressive Ruby that’s readable after the code is generated.
We’re optimistic about what’s changing. In a community devoted to open source, we can build the future together and keep making room for the work that brings us joy. That’s why we want this conference to make space for conversations, so we can share ideas and concerns and work on them together.
The future is always in flux, but we can build it together. Get your tickets.