Past, Present, Future, and Brotherly Love: My Final RailsConf Journey

Table of Contents

• 1 Getting There: From Kraków to the City of Brotherly Love
• 2 First Impressions: Heat, Humidity, and Hospitality
• 3 Day 1: Technical Content and Community Connections
• 4 Day 2: Past, Present, and Future Panel
• 5 Exploring Philadelphia: Food, Culture, and Conference Social Events
• 6 Day 3: Presentations and Concerns About AI
• 7 Day 4: RubyGems Team Meeting
• 8 Community Reflections: Age, Support, and the Future
• 9 Final Thoughts: The Magic of In-Person Gatherings

A few weeks have passed since RailsConf 2025, which was running from July 8th to 10th in Philadelphia, PA, and I've had time to process what was my first (and last) RailsConf experience. It wasn't just any RailsConf – it was the final edition after nearly 20 years of bringing together the Rails community. There's something poignant about attending what the organizers called "the last celebration" of Rails' longest-running conference.

After attending RubyKaigi 2025 in Matsuyama this past April, I was eager to compare it with RailsConf. RubyKaigi emphasizes Ruby internals and provides a unique bridge between Japanese and Western cultures, while RailsConf focuses on the Rails ecosystem and