TL;DR: We’re cancelling XO Ruby Salt Lake City. Seattle and Vancouver are on. Tickets are live today. If you’ve been asking how to help, the single best thing right now is to grab a seat, and if you’d like to pitch in further, I’ve listed exactly where your hands are needed below.

A Change of Plans: Salt Lake City, Seattle, and Vancouver

Life moves fast. Over the last two months, a series of family emergencies, including the unexpected passing of my brother and fellow Rubyist Veez "Matt" Remsik, pulled my attention away from XO Ruby and rightly so. Family first. It hasn’t gotten much easier, but I’m deeply grateful for every message asking how folks could help. This is me finally answering that question properly.

Salt Lake City: Cancelled

Putting on an event is built on trust. You trust me to deliver a great experience; I trust myself to have the time and focus to make that happen. Right now, I can’t honestly make that promise for SLC, and I’d rather cancel than disappoint.

If you bought a ticket: you’ll receive an automatic refund. Want to attend Seattle or Vancouver instead? Just reply to the refund email and we’ll make it happen. Speakers who accepted SLC talks have already heard from me directly with offers to bring their talks to one of the remaining events.

Seattle and Vancouver: full steam ahead

Both cities are happening. Dates are set. Venues are booked. Tickets are live. We're working both with Seattle.rb and VanRuby to bring these events together.

📍 XO Ruby Seattle · August 8th · Industrial Chic Event Space in SoDo
Buy your ticket →

📍 XO Ruby Vancouver · August 15th · Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) Centre
Buy your ticket →

There was a lot of energy for these events at RubyConf in Las Vegas last week, including confirmed talks from Gary Tou, Kyle d'Oliveira, and Joé Dupuis. The programs themselves are coming together fast, and it’s going to be worth your Saturday(s).

You asked how you can help. Here it is.

The Ruby community has been my home for twenty years, and the offers of help over the last few weeks have meant more than I can say. I’ve been bad at accepting them lately, mostly because “let me know if you need anything” is hard to answer when you’re underwater. So here’s the answer, in priority order:

1. Buy a ticket. Seriously. It’s first because it matters most.
2. Spread the word. Tell your team, your meetup, your newsletter, or your company Slack. If your employer sends people to conferences, forward this post to whoever holds that budget.
3. Sponsor intros. If you can make a warm introduction to a company that should be in front of this community, I’d love to hear from you.
4. We have a couple speaker slots open, though not as many as it may appear which is another place we could use help ... see #5
5. Program help. CFP review, speaker wrangling, schedule building for both cities.
6. On-the-ground hands in Seattle or Vancouver. Registration desk, AV, day-of logistics. Local folks especially, but everyone welcome.

Raise your hand here → a two-minute form that routes you straight to the lead for each area. You’ll hear back within a few days. That’s a promise, and this time it’s one I can keep—I’ve finally cleared the decks.

Thank you

My decades in this community have taught me that Ruby’s superpower has never been the language. It’s you all. Thanks for the patience, the check-ins, and the grace. See you in Seattle and Vancouver. I'll be back next week with more updates and more cities.

❤️ Jim