The Beginner’s Guide to CfgMgmtCamp

CfgMgmtCamp is one of the longest running OSS focused DevOps conferences in the world. Many of the luminaries in our field cut their DevOps teeth in Ghent and it’s still going strong. You’ll learn so much here and make so many new exciting friends and spark so many ideas.

But it’s community volunteer organized, free, and low budget so you may not find all the amenities you’re expecting from the big-budget conferences. There’s no concierge desk, no AI driven venue map app on your phone, not even any Ice Cube concerts.

Instead, you’ll find an information and idea rich environment and lots of opportunity to engage. This guide is intended to help lower some of the logistical friction, so that you can focus on learning.

Getting there

The easiest way to get to Ghent is to fly to Brussels and take the train. Head down to baggage claim and you’ll find vending machines where you can purchase your train ticket to the Gent-Sint-Pieters station. From there, see #3 for local transportation.

Do not assume that you can stay in Brussels and commute to Ghent. You’ll spend a lot of time on the train and you’ll miss all the social events.

Coming from Fosdem

If you’re coming from Fosdem and are traveling light, then you may be interested in carpooling instead of the train. Please reach out to us on the different social media accounts for more information and coordination. Typically we would meet at the H. Building info booth around 16:30

Where to stay

Don’t look for a place by the conference. Ghent city center is where most extracurricular activity will occur and it’s not far. Many people stay at either the Novotel or the NH, but there are plenty of other options nearby.

Local transportation on the tram or bus

Public transit in Ghent is quite navigable. The easiest way to get around is via contactless with your phone or card. Just tap on the white terminal each time you enter a bus or tram. You’ll be charged (€2.50) only once for an hour.

You can also buy a pack of 10 tickets at the Lijnwinkel inside the Gent-Sint-Pieters or Korenmarkt stations or at a machine at many tram or bus stops.

If you’re planning to stay extra and sightsee, you might consider a CityCard Ghent. One reasonable price to get unlimited local transportation and entrance to attractions, monuments, museums, and other sights. The local city bus is fairly extensive and will take you even to other nearby cities, like Bruges.

The venue: HoGhent SchoonMeersen

Finding your way around.

Take the tram in from city center to the HoGhent SchoonMeersen campus. Don’t expect to see a lot of signage directing you though. This is a volunteer run conference without big marketing budgets. There won’t be a lot of students around at this time, so if you see groups of people carrying laptops, they’re probably a good bet to follow. This Google maps link will take you directly to the front door of the conference lobby, where you’ll see vendor tables, coffee, pastries, etc.

The conference is primarily in the B building. The main bathrooms are on the ground floor, through the large doors to the left. Other bathrooms will alternate genders on each of the floors. Several conference rooms are also on the ground floor. Many are on upper floors, you’ll find the elevator and stairs to the right. The rooms are coded as <Building>.<Floor>.<Room>. In other words, B.3.039 is building B, third floor, room 39.

Paying attention to the schedule and following updates

Wifi access will be shared during the conference introduction in the D auditorium. You’ll want this for the schedule and other such, but please don’t abuse it.

Open the schedule on your phone and/or laptop. Plan ahead which talks, or tracks, or speakers you’re excited to see and figure out where the rooms are. Then pay attention around you. If schedule changes are required, such as running 15 minutes behind or the like, they won’t be announced over a loudspeaker. Instead, you’ll overhear it or see crowds of people start moving. Don’t hesitate to ask someone what’s going on. We’re all helping each other out.

The common area and hallway track

The lobby is where vendors will have their tables set up. There will be coffee, fruits, pastries, and such. And there will be a lot of people excited to talk to each other. This is where most of the hallway track happens. When you’re done with a talk and you don’t have anything in particular to do, you should come here. If you are in the lobby and it seems particularly empty, then there’s probably a talk happening. If you didn’t expect that, ask someone. There may have been a schedule change that didn’t get published.

Swag pickup

Preordered swag can be picked up from Walter before the opening keynote.

Front and back entrances to the main stage

The keynotes are in the D auditorium, which is directly across the courtyard from the lobby. You can either enter the ground floor door which takes you in by the front stage, or you can go up the stairs and enter from the back. If you’re late to a talk, please enter from the back.

Overflow rooms

B.Con is the ground floor auditorium across from the bathrooms. This room has talks but is also the overflow room for streamed keynotes when D.Aud is full.

How lunch and other food works

Lunch is in the cafeteria in the D building just past the auditorium down the large open-air walkway between the buildings. You’ll likely see a long line gathering, but it moves fairly quickly. Lunch is cafeteria style; pick what you want and pay at the register.

Breakfast pastries are available in the conference lobby each morning. It’s not much, so if you’re big on breakfast then you probably want to eat before you head in.

Sometimes if we’re lucky a magic waffle truck shows up on the second day with delicious free Belgian waffles. Keep an eye out near the sponsor booths and listen to the chatter!

Lost and found or emergencies

If you lose or find something or have other emergencies, please go to the counter in the lobby.

Getting help from a coordinator

There are quite a few coordinators and they’re recognizable enough that you can just start asking attendees if they’ve seen various people. For conference logistics and scheduling, ask for Toshaan or Kris. For venue and room questions ask for Bert. Otherwise just ask if anyone has seen a coordinator.

After the talks

The official social event

There is a social event Monday night after the conference directly across the street at the Zone. Before you leave the conference, you should get a wristband. Many of the vendor booths will be handing them out but there will also be folks wandering around with them. This wristband will buy your drinks.

Peer networking and nightlife

Ghent is a wonderful place with a rich nightlife. Make some friends and have dinner or meet for drinks. Some of the conference favorites include

The fringe workshops

The third day of the conference is not centrally organized. Instead, different groups use the space to run their own workshops or “mini conferences” attached to the main venue. For example, there will be a Foreman hack day, Community Day events for both Puppet and Ansible, an mgmtconfig workshop, and many more.

The same rules about lunch and all apply, but there will be no central organization. Instead, follow the schedules of the fringe events you’re attending.

Please try to register ahead for the fringe events so we can plan for the right sized rooms. But don’t let it stop you if you forget or you discover an event you really want to attend. We want you to get the most out of this you can.

If we do have to reorganize rooms, there will be a sign taped to the original room telling you where to go.

Social media

Who to follow

  1. https://fosstodon.org/@cfgmgmtcamp
  2. https://bsky.app/profile/cfgmgmtcamp.bsky.social
  3. The hashtag #cfgmgmtcamp on your social platform of choice.

Posting and promoting

We love when you promote us and tell the world what amazing fun they’re missing out on. Share what you’re learning, inspirations you’re having, the sights you’re seeing. Share tips for other conference attendees like “it’s time, the waffles are here!” Use the hashtag #cfgmgmtcamp and/or #ghent.

If something’s going wrong, or you want to give feedback then it’s probably more expedient to find one of the coordinators to speak with!

Afterwards

Write down your ideas and build something cool

You just absorbed an utter firehose of information. Right now, it’s all bouncing around in your head, but if you want to truly learn or take action on something you saw then you should write it down before it escapes you. Take notes or journal. Make a note of the people you met who you’d like to follow up with.

If work paid for the trip, it’s especially important to write up some kind of trip report even if you weren’t asked to do so. This will help them see the value of the trip and document all the actionable results that came from it. And then next year, it’s more likely that your trip request will be approved and we can see you again!

Plan ahead to submit a talk for next year

And speaking of next year, you probably saw a few talks that you could have given. Or maybe something similar. See, the people up there speaking are just like you. And you have ideas that you can share too. So write some of them down while you’re feeling inspired and make a note in your calendar to submit a talk when our CFP comes back around.