If you’re organizing a community tech conference and having trouble attracting speakers from outside your area, let me share a tip that can make a real difference. Conference season always seems to be right around the corner, and many organizers are competing for the same pool of speakers. If you want to stand out, sometimes the solution isn’t bigger budgets or flashy marketing—it’s something much simpler.

A little hospitality can go a long way.

The Problem: Travel Costs and the “Lonely Speaker Hotel”

Back in 2015–2016, I was speaking frequently at community conferences and code camps around the country. These are the grassroots events I love most—organized by developers, for developers, and often free or very low-cost for attendees.

Before many of those trips, I would post something like this on Facebook:

“Hey, I’m coming to speak at [Conference Name]. Anyone in the area have a spare room for a few nights?”

Why? Because honestly, I don’t enjoy staying alone in hotel rooms when I travel to speak.

Hotel rooms are generic. Quiet. And after you’ve spent all day speaking, answering questions, and engaging with the community, going back to an empty room can feel isolating. It’s not exactly the most inspiring environment to prepare for a talk or unwind afterward.

What I’d much rather do is hang out with someone local, talk tech, hear about the area, maybe grab a home-cooked meal, and get a real sense of the community I’m visiting.

The Breakthrough: North Carolina, 2016

For a long time, those posts didn’t get any responses.

Then, in October 2016, I announced I’d be speaking at a Code Camp in North Carolina.

That’s when a developer I had worked with years earlier in San Diego reached out. He had since moved to North Carolina and was working remotely. On that old team, he had been one of my favorite developers—mostly because he always spoke his mind, just like I do.

He offered me a place to stay.

I accepted.

And it turned into one of the most memorable conference trips of my career.

The Experience: When Hospitality Beats a Hotel

I flew in a day early so I could explore the area. Whenever I speak somewhere I’ve never been before, I try to arrive early and experience the local culture. It’s one of the hidden perks of speaking.

My friend lived in a beautiful four-story house right next to a lake—with a boat.

The day before the conference, we took the boat out on the water. It was just him, his wife, their four-year-old son, and me. Peaceful. Relaxing. The perfect way to kick off a speaking trip.

Every evening we sat around the kitchen table talking about technology, careers, and life in general. When his wife turned in for the night, we stayed up even later geeking out about development and the industry. At one point I even ended up playing Legos with his son, which was a fun full-circle moment for me. One of the first awards I ever won as a kid was from Lego for a model I built and submitted in grade school.

They had just finished converting their basement into a guest room, and I became the first official guest. Yes, I got the home-cooked meals I had hoped for.

But more importantly, I got something you’ll never find in a hotel: connection.

The Tip: Encourage Local Speaker Hosting

So here’s the tip for conference organizers.

Encourage members of your local developer community to host out-of-town speakers. It doesn’t need to be fancy. A spare room. A couch. Some good conversation. Maybe a tour of the city or a recommendation for the best taco place in town.

For many speakers, the biggest expense of attending a community conference isn’t the flight.

It’s the hotel.
It’s the rental car.
It’s the meals.

If your community can help remove those barriers, you suddenly make your event much more accessible to great speakers who might otherwise have to decline the invitation.

But there’s an even bigger benefit.

When speakers stay with members of the local community, real relationships form. You get late-night tech conversations. Mentorship moments. Stories. Ideas. Friendships.

None of that happens in a hotel lobby.

Final Thoughts

That trip to North Carolina wasn’t just another speaking engagement.

It became a mini vacation, a reconnection with an old friend, and one of the most memorable conference experiences I’ve had. I left feeling refreshed, inspired, and even more connected to the developer community. And that’s what great community conferences are supposed to do.

So if you’re organizing an event, think beyond venues, sponsors, and speaker slots. Sometimes the secret to attracting great speakers isn’t a bigger budget. It’s a spare room, a dinner table, and a welcoming community ready to rock.

Because in the end, the best conferences aren’t just about the sessions.

They’re about the people.

World Tour 2024 – 2026

Pick up any books by David McCarter by going to Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/RockYourCodeBooks

If you liked this article, please buy David a cup of Coffee by going here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dotnetdave

© The information in this article is copywritten and cannot be preproduced in any way without express permission from David McCarter.