by Craig Hafer on October 1, 2024

Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to attend Rails World 2024 in Toronto. The conference was just another amazing moment for the Rails community. With a great focus around Rails 8 and Kamal 2.0, among many other things, it was amazing to hear talks around these new releases and learn about the potential of upgrading to Rails 8 in our own projects.

The conference kicked off with a fantastic keynote by DHH that truly fired up the crowd of over 1,000 attendees. His energy and vision for Rails really set the tone for the rest of the event, and it was impossible not to feel excited about what's coming next for Rails.

Throughout the conference, I had many chances to network and connect with other developers. Whether it was around the sponsor booths, over lunch, or just by striking up conversations with those sitting next to me, the community spirit was everywhere. Meeting so many new people and sharing insights with fellow attendees made me feel even more connected to the incredible community that Rails has to offer.

Seeing the passion and dedication of so many developers was a powerful reminder that Rails is far from a dying or stale framework. The sheer enthusiasm of everyone there has inspired me to implement what I learned, and to level up in areas I otherwise wouldn't have paid much attention to.

I also want to give a huge shoutout to Hashrocket for making this possible for me. Part of what makes Hashrocket such an amazing company and why I am so stoked that I get to work here, is the culture that we have for growing developers. We're always looking to level up and to help level up those around us. Whether through conferences like Rails World, Elixir Conf, or even our own internal events where we showcase our work and learn from each other throughout the year.

For me, this was my first time experiencing the Rails community at an in person event, and I can't overstate how inspiring it was. Seeing so many experienced developers coming together, sharing their experiences, and getting excited about the future of Rails has only deepened my enthusiasm for the work we do. I’m excited to take these new ideas back to my own projects and continue growing as a developer.