This is part of a series of daily posts on my experiences at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2019. You can read more about the conference and the series in my Day 0 post.

Because I posted early yesterday (just before 5 PM local time), I have a lot to catch up on from yesterday evening. First and foremost, San Diego got some rain last night, and it turns out that San Diego is never ready for rain. The result: a brownout at the San Diego Convention Center, the venue for many KubeCon + CloudNativeCon events. To its credit, the CNCF quickly relocated affected sessions to different rooms this morning:  

#KubeCon + #CloudNativeCon Attendees: Due to CA brownouts, we are re-locating some of the breakout sessions (Rooms 23-33) to other SDCC locations and in the Marriott Marquis. 👇 pic.twitter.com/b32XprnZD1

— CNCF (@CloudNativeFdn) November 20, 2019

There may be some witticisms to be made about Kubernetes and portability, but I will leave that to those of you who specialize in witticisms.

More Tuesday night highlights

Last night also saw the second keynote of the conference. In keeping with my interest in observability, I was very much looking forward to Sarah Novotny (Microsoft) and Liz Fong-Jones (Honeycomb)’s talk on OpenTelemetry, which included a project update AND a live demo (which some lucky folks got to preview on the #OPSLive stream on Monday):

Live demo with style, substance, and lots of #kubecon audience support. @sarahnovotny: “Demos are hard.”@lizthegrey: “I’ve never done this before in front of 10,000 people, but there’s a first time for everything.”

And it’s fabulous! pic.twitter.com/JigYvMMqeq

— Bridget Kromhout (@bridgetkromhout) November 20, 2019

https://twitter.com/kstewart/status/1196970171140689920

So impressed by @lizthegrey and her live demo at the #KubeCon key note. My favorite part of the day so far.

— Rose Judge (@rosejudge5) November 20, 2019

While the demo itself did not turn out exactly as planned, consensus was that the entire enterprise was worth an evening trip to the keynote hall.

Another evening keynote highlight: Kelsey Hightower (Google)’s talk on “Reflections.” The response to this talk–which was, by all accounts, very much a demonstration of master-class storytelling–indicates that the CNCF should consider more careful prioritization of narrative in the way it presents even technical information on the keynote stage. 

The man, @kelseyhightower, is back from hiatus. Reviewing and reminiscing about the evolution #kubecon and the #Kubernetes community. People from different companies, different backgrounds…supporting each other and celebrating together. Powerful stories. Thanks for all you do! pic.twitter.com/AF2yl5vZDY

— David Williams (@DavWilliams) November 20, 2019

There's a storyteller on the stage. No one is doing anything but listening. That's how you know a master storyteller. ❤️ #KubeCon pic.twitter.com/8mpPsugXCm

— Phil Estes (@estesp) November 20, 2019

I did not expect to cry like a baby in the company of 10,000 people tonight, but @kelseyhightower brought it. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/FBSF32C1JD

— Ian Coldwater 📦💥 (@IanColdwater) November 20, 2019

I was there for the @kelseyhightower keynote. That was truly one of the most inspiring talks I’ve ever heard. Be inspired for our community.

— Michael Lorant (@mikelorant) November 20, 2019

Hightower’s talk also speaks very much to the importance of inclusion and the effects of exclusion:

When people get the courage to show up, we need to welcome them so they come back and bring a friend. @kelseyhightower with a powerful message on inclusion. #kubecon pic.twitter.com/5V7NO0rLYl

— Bridget Kromhout (@bridgetkromhout) November 20, 2019

"What's it like to be the only black person at KubeCon?" 'I get preferential treatment. People know me and they think I know what I'm talking about. But if you're unknown, you don't get those benefits. This con is about people.' @kelseyhightower #Kubecon19 #KubeCon

— Kaslin Fields (@kaslinfields) November 20, 2019

And indeed, KubeCon is experienced by some as welcoming and focused on community. However, this sense of welcoming is not quite enough to overcome some of the representational imbalances and prevalent biases that, as Hightower’s talk points out, are still at play in the tech industry.

Wednesday Highlights

Although I was heavily booked with meetings today, I did manage to catch the morning keynote and a few other events. Highlights include:

The motto-esque proclamation of “Project over Company” from Tim Hockin (Google) and Kal Henidak (Azure) in their talk on “The Long Road to IPv4/IPv6 Dual-stack Kubernetes.”

Don’t look now but @thockin and @khenidak have entered the #KubeCon + #CloudNativeCon keynote stage to profess “Project Over Company” pic.twitter.com/oQ2D6Y2xqP

— CNCF (@CloudNativeFdn) November 20, 2019

Some Telco news regarding 5G:

@HeatherRKirksey takes the stage to intro #5GCloudNative networking to the #KubeCon #CloudNativeCon audience. pic.twitter.com/n4uCQEs2wA

— LF Networking (@LF_Networking) November 20, 2019

When telcos start adopting technology you know that it can really scale. I see this 5G talk as a huge vote of confidence in the work that our community does #KubeCon pic.twitter.com/5JfY8glaeI

— Liz Rice 🐝 (@lizrice) November 20, 2019

A standing-room-only crowd for a session on OpenTelemetry:

Room was full for for @opentelemetry talk today. Thank you for your interest! pic.twitter.com/beRnwsncA6

— Sergey Kanzhelev (@SergeyKanzhelev) November 20, 2019

Another rainy evening (which intruded upon the all-conference party): 

Sunny San Diego pic.twitter.com/vZLi4iLjQF

— Justin Cormack (@justincormack) November 21, 2019

The rain also drove me indoors where I had a chance to catch up with Tracy Miranda (CloudBees/Continuous Delivery Foundation), meet some new lovely people, and talk tech without talking shop. 

Pupdate: I have yet to find time to make it to Puppy Pawpalooza; prioritizing this may have to be part of me self-care on Day 3.

Related posts:

• KubeCon North America 2019: Day 0
• KubeCon North America 2019: Day 1
• KubeCon North America 2019: Day 3

Disclaimer: The CNCF is a RedMonk client and paid for my T&E to KubeCon. Microsoft, Google, and CloudBees are RedMonk clients. Honeycomb and the CDF are not RedMonk clients.