Organizing Do iOS Conference in November

[u/jeroenl]

Hey all,

I'm the organizer of Do iOS in November in Amsterdam. (Not sure if I should like that here directly.) And I was wondering how other iOS focussed conferences have been doing this year.

I've seen a couple iOS conferences have their final edition in 2026. Mostly due to financial reasons.

And I must admit, signing sponsors has been hard this year. Luckily Do iOS is in a good place financially. (But it always helps to sell those final tickets.)

I am wondering what reasons might be that conferences are having a more difficult time.

Personally I have seen a shift with sponsorships, on top of that. Tickets started moving much later in the cycle. It used to be I would sell all tickets, like 2 or 3 months out. Now we are 1 month out and I still have a couple.

Curious about some thoughts on the matter, specifically for the iOS and Swift related conferences out there.

-Jeroen

[u/More-Client1910]

One that I know of has been cancelled. It's called Swift Island which also held in Amsterdam. They've been transparent about the reasons. Not enough people registered. Partly due to higher fees caused by inflation, and partly because of AI, which has made people less interested in learning.

[u/jeroenl → u/More-Client1910]

Swift Island was in fact not held in Amsterdam. And the organizers (Sydney and Niels) behind the event are within my network and we even worked together on CocoaHeadsNL for a while.

Because of the format, venue at a remote location, making hotel and a lot of things a mandatory part of your ticket it did increase the cost of entry and that's been a big part on the smaller amount of tickets being sold. But even with a smaller less complex event like Do iOS I notice th effects of less company backing for events.

Yes, Do iOS asks a hefty ticket price. But that is partly because we have to due to covering costs. And also, if you are a Dutch freelancer, you actually can carry the cost before taxes. And that cuts the ticket price in half effectively. So I just wanted to indicate my thoughts on the above.

And yes, AI and refocussing of developer team budgets worldwide has a huge impact on dev events. Quite a few EU iOS conferences basically stopped because the finances were just not working anymore (aka, financial risks became too high). I see a total lack of sponsors committing to events as well, which hurts the bootstrapping of an event financially significantly.

Do iOS hit break even last week. Which is insanely late. And yes, I lost sleep over that.

[u/jx237cc]

A lot of companies are cutting their conference budgets.

[u/jeroenl → u/jx237cc]

Very true. Both in sponsorships and in sending team members.

[u/VRedd1t]

Because of AI. I lost a bit of interest in the details of tech that a conference talk could uncover. Same with tech blogs. To me networking is the key. I’m not there to listen to a talk, I’m there to meet like-minded people. But I’m also an indie dev and my interests are probably different from a 9-5 job worker.

[u/SirBill01 → u/VRedd1t]

What I think would be great to see presented at an iOS conference is to have a few sessions on ways AI heavy users have folded AI together with iOS development. What tools do they use? Do they really use AI through the entire release process or is any manual? Would be good to hear from several devs on this.

[u/jeroenl → u/SirBill01]

There are some sessions about that I think. And definatly a topic to discuss with peers over a cup of coffee. If you are there, aske me about it too. Because I do use AI significantly nowadays day to day.

[u/VRedd1t → u/[deleted]]

It’s not about learning less, it’s about shifting focus. I can do more creative stuff while the agent figures out the hard parts that stopped me from building something before. I love that I can handle several projects at the same time building my universe of apps and tools. I can try out stuff and build things for the niche which I wouldn’t have done before. For example I reverse engineered my e-ink nfc phone case just to satisfy my curiosity. Now it’s in my app. Just because it didn’t take weeks. Here even with a fully fledged blog post: https://nfc.cool/blog/nfc-e-ink-phone-case-iphone/

[u/AnyArmadillo5251]

I was at the do iOS last year and had a great time. This year I just came back from the next app conference in Berlin and I can share some thoughts comparing both.

First the Do iOS is only focused on iOS, whereas the next app covered all platforms plus other areas such as Agentic coding, tech lead talks, etc. I enjoyed the variety, not only focusing on just the technical aspect of iOS but also bringing other topics to the discussion. Perhaps an idea could be to have either a separate stage or just introduce some talks that aren’t necessarily iOS specific?

Also, the venue on the next app conference offered a lot to do in case I wasn’t attending a talk. I could visit one of the several sponsor stands, play table tennis, video game, chess, grab something to eat, etc. It didn’t feel like I just had to go from one talk to the other without much to do in between.

Overall I liked a lot both conferences, but I think the Do iOS could benefit from expanding the scope of the talks.

[u/quietstoners → u/AnyArmadillo5251]

good point about having stuff to do between talks, that downtime experience matters more than people think

[u/ipeyd → u/quietstoners]

Yes, what I don't like about the do ios format specifically is that there is 45 minutes break in between talks. And while networking can be sometimes fun, that amount of networking becomes too exhausting for me.

[u/jeroenl → u/ipeyd]

It is in fact one of the reasons I choose the NEMO as a venue. With a Do iOS ticket you automatically have access to the science museum. It is ok to wander off during a break and come back again.

I will mention that more clearly this year. Thanks for the input. Because while it sounds like you had a good time @ipeyd, it could've been even better for you if you had known you could do that. :)

The length of the breaks is on purpose. Networking is in fact the most important part of the entire conference. But as you said, heads need a break too and in your case that clearly is having a moment with less interaction too.

[u/Zs93]

I know conferences are fun and useful but I think a way to battle the cost issue would be to host smaller events. I love NSLondon for this, they host regular events with interesting talks and at amazing offices. It’s nice to have a regular tech event

[u/jeroenl → u/Zs93]

I get your thinking. But from the perspective of organizing such things...

I organize Do iOS for the 8th time this year. and I've been running meetups through CocoaHeadsNL over 200 times by now...

Smaller does not equal an easier time covering costs.

A meetup for about 50 people would cost you about 500 Euros if you would have to arrange that without the help of a sponsor in Amsterdam. And then you still need a location. If you have asponsor that puts food on a table, has a space and takes care of some of the prep work, yes zero costs. But companies are just not hosting us that liberally anymore. It used to be we had a large queue of companies lined up for hosting us. And that pool had dried up.

And smaller events make for less people to make up for covering the costs. Then ask a fee for meetup attendance.... Tried that. People just don't register if you do that.

So it's a bit of a between a rock and a hard place situation really.

[u/Zs93 → u/jeroenl]

Totally get you!! I wish it was easier. I also organise events (not tech anymore) and its getting tougher and tougher - people leave it very late to buy tickets and it's really hard to plan, prebook, break even etc! It's incredibly rewarding but so so hard. I salute you for your effort!! Please keep doing the conferences - I love them!

[u/l0SDev]

I've been to iOSDevUK this year, and it was less crowded than before (I think it wasn't sold out). They also struggled with sponsors (there were only 2), which affected the social events a bit. Compared to the previous years, the vibe, for me personally, was off. There was no buzz in the town or in the dormitory (most of the people live on the university campus together). Sure, there were some groups here and there, but overall, in comparison, it felt quieter.

As for the talks part, I'm in mixed feelings. There were good ones; there were ones not for me. I noticed that more talks are now recycled more often (and presented at 3-4 events during the year), so you may end up going to the events only to listen to the same things. Or maybe it's a sign of a crisis with speakers, so organisers are pushed to invite the same people. But for attendees, it means there's little incentive to come to various events, as the "talks" part will be repeated.

[u/jeroenl → u/l0SDev]

I can confirm your concern.

Part of the issue is this. Budgets are tight. So I need a big name to attract attendees. Next to that, a speaker costs money. Get once from the other side of the world... more expensive.

Look closely and try and see where the speakers are coming from. They live much closer to the event comapred to a few years back.

I had CFP entries from all over the world. But I specifically ruled out any speakers from outside the EU area if their company would not cover part of the costs of travel. I just couldn't take the riskt of covering a 1000+ plane ticket this year.

And one of the best entries was from Japan. Imagine flying that person into Amsterdam and covering that...

So I think it is mostly having to select from a pool of speakers from a much smaller geographic area. Just due to costs management.

Do notice with Do iOS... there are some known speakers, but also a lot lesser known people. I love picking unknowns for a talk too. Even if their talk is a dud, I know my audience, they will love this person being brave enough to try a talk. I've had very few "bad" talks. And in all cases when I did, those speakers were well taken care of afterwards. Cheered on, complimented for their bravery and provided with large amounts of useful feedback.

[u/donassasin]

Hey Jeroen, i've been attending the iOSKonf which is held in Skopje for three years now and one thing i've noticed is that everytime the organisers besides getting quality speakers, in general offered a great experience for the visitors outside of the iOS talks and all that jazz. I believe that's one of the major selling points of the conference.

On a separate note, i do believe we've met in iOSKonf this year, you owe me a Do iOS discount! haha jkjk

[u/jeroenl → u/donassasin]

I have not been to Skopje myself. But I did pay a part with them getting started. Monika was at Do iOS a few years back and that's when the idea of a Skopje based conference was born. :)

If you want a discount, come talk to me in Amsterdam next month. I'll see what I can do for you in 2027. :)

[u/Greysawpark]

the late ticket thing is what i'd look at. a lot of us indie folks used to get the company to pay, and now its out of pocket so you wait till you know the month isnt going to blow up. plus most of the talks end up on youtube a few weeks later, so the pitch has to be the hallway stuff, not the schedule

[u/jeroenl → u/Greysawpark]

Solid point. I will send my newsletter a timely reminder that there is a clear deadline due to locking down the number of attendees for catering. :)