===== It's Not Rocket Science, It's a Flywheel: Engineering OS Communities with DevEx =====
  * **Speaker**: Jeremy Meiss  
  * **Room**: HC 204  
  * **Time**: Sun 11:30 am – 12:00 pm  

  * **Format**: Lecture (30 Min + Q&A)  
  * **Difficulty**: Introductory / Some experience required  
  * **Track**: DevOps  
  * **Additional Tags**: OSS Distributions, Sustainability & Funding  
  * **Presenter Location**: In-person  
  * **Experience**: umpteenth time speaking  
  * **At**: anywhere  

==== Description: ====  
Thriving open source communities don’t happen by accident — they’re engineered. Sporadic contributions and overworked maintainers often lead to burnout or stagnation, but a well‑designed **Developer Experience (DevEx) Flywheel** can transform community growth from a struggle into a sustainable cycle.

In this talk, Jeremy connects the everyday concept of a **flywheel** with DevEx principles to show how communities gain momentum. He explores how feedback loops, “time to joy,” onboarding, documentation, and contributor pathways all work together to create an experience that encourages participation and strengthens project health.

Instead of hoping for community growth, attendees will learn how to **intentionally design** it through Developer Experience.

**Target Audience:**  
  * Anyone building or maintaining open source communities  
  * DevOps practitioners  
  * Contributors and maintainers looking to reduce burnout and increase engagement