DevOpsDay Wellington 2027¶

Status: Proposal — seeking co-organisers and community feedback
Proposed Dates: Thursday 11 & Friday 12 February 2027
Venue: Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Campus
Organiser: OpsDev.nz collective (via SMUNZ fiscal host)

Why Now¶

The last New Zealand DevOpsDay was in 2019 — an 8-year gap. The community still needs a gathering space, especially with security now part of the DevOps conversation. Code Camp Wellington showed there is appetite, but it is not a real unconference.

We are proposing to revive the event for 2027, following the global DevOpsDays framework with our own open-space-first approach.

Proposed Dates¶

Thursday 11 & Friday 12 February 2027 — the week after Waitangi Day (Saturday 6 February).

Why These Dates¶

Why Not Other Options¶

• One day — not enough room for open space; sponsors get less value; harder to justify travel for out-of-town speakers
• Tuesday-Wednesday (9-10 Feb) — too close to Waitangi Day; people extend the long weekend; attendance risk
• Four days — far too much for a first event; organising burden and burnout risk

Keynote: "Is DevOps Dead?"¶

Proposed keynote talk by John Billings (OpsDev.nz)

DevOps was never a job title — it was a movement. But the landscape has shifted: platform engineering is eating CI/CD, AI agents are writing deployment pipelines, and "DevOps engineer" has become the new sysadmin. So is DevOps dead? Or is it being reborn as something we have not named yet?

This talk will explore:

• The evolution from DevOps as culture to DevOps as job title (and why that matters)
• Platform engineering and the internal developer platform movement
• AI-assisted operations — what changes when agents manage infrastructure
• Why the community gathering matters more than ever in an age of remote work and automation
• What "outcome engineering" means for the next decade of delivery

This is designed as a provocation, not an answer. The real conversation happens in the open space sessions that follow.

Event Format¶

Morning: Scheduled Talks (Draw Cards)¶

• 4 x 30-minute talks per day on the main stage
• Mix of technical and cultural content
• Balance of local and out-of-town speakers
• Encourage new voices — DevOpsDays is a supportive environment for first-time speakers

Afternoon: Open Space (Self-Organised)¶

• Marketplace of Ideas — attendees write session topics, choose timeslots on the agenda wall
• Break-out Sessions — self-organised discussions in smaller rooms (10-40 people)
• Law of Mobility — if you are not learning or contributing, move to another session
• Closing Circle — brief reflections at end of each day

This is our differentiator: DevOpsDay Wellington will be primarily an open space event. The morning talks are the draw cards; the afternoon is where the real community value lives.

Venue¶

Victoria University of Wellington — Kelburn Campus

• Cost: $0 (confirmed via Ian Welch, university board member)
• Main room: Capacity for 250+ attendees
• Breakout rooms: Multiple smaller rooms (10-40 people) for open space sessions
• Accessibility: Public transit access, parking available
• Catering: External caterers permitted

Budget Tiers (NZD)¶

We use the DevOpsDays "Good / Better / Best" approach with go/no-go decision points.

Good — Bare Minimum Viable Event¶

Better — Standard DevOpsDays Experience¶

Best — Full Experience¶

Sponsorship Tiers (NZD)¶

DevOpsDays sponsorship prices are intentionally lower than commercial conferences. These are localised from the USD/EUR benchmarks.

Target: 80%+ of budget from sponsorship. This allows us to keep ticket prices nominal.

Additional sponsorship options: lanyard sponsor, captioning sponsor, evening event sponsor, lunch sponsor, coffee break sponsor.

Ticket Pricing¶

• Do not make the event free — 30-40% of free-ticket holders do not show up
• Aim for 10-20% of commercial conference prices in the region
• Early-bird discount to encourage early sign-ups
• Free/discounted tickets for under-represented communities, students, and speakers

Proposed pricing (NZD):

Organising Team¶

Hard requirement: Minimum 3 organisers from 3 different organisations.

Current Status¶

How To Help¶

If you want to be involved, reach out via the OpsDev.nz collective or the DevOpsNZ Slack. We need:

• Co-organisers from different organisations (hard requirement)
• Volunteers for day-of coordination
• Session facilitators for open space
• Sponsorship liaisons

Timeline¶

Assuming event dates of February 11-12, 2027:

Fiscal Host¶

OpsDev.nz collective via SMUNZ / OpenCollective

We already have:

• OpenCollective collective structure
• Beancount ledger for accounting
• Stripe integration for payments
• Governance framework in place

This needs to be confirmed with the DevOpsDays global core organisers before proceeding. The global org requires a fiscal host capable of handling invoicing and payment processing — our OpenCollective setup should satisfy this requirement.

Next Steps¶

Immediate (April-May 2026)¶

1. Circulate this proposal — share with DevOpsNZ Slack, local meetup organisers, Code Camp Wellington connections
2. Recruit co-organisers — need 2 more people from 2 different organisations
3. Contact DevOpsDays global core organisers — express interest, confirm fiscal host approach
4. Contact DEVOPS EVENTS LIMITED — understand their intentions for the devopsdays.nz domain

Short-term (June-December 2026)¶

1. Attend another DevOpsDays event (if possible)
2. Draft sponsor prospectus
3. Confirm venue booking details with Victoria University
4. Establish OpsDev.nz collective on OpenCollective

Resources¶

• DevOpsDays Organizing Guide
• DevOpsDays Sponsorship Guidelines
• DevOpsDays Open Space Format
• DevOpsDays Web Repo (for event PR)
• Pretalx — free CFP and talk management
• Vaultwarden — free credential management for organisers

Feedback¶

This is a draft proposal — we want your input. If you have thoughts on:

• Dates and timing
• Format and structure
• Sponsorship approach
• The keynote topic
• Anything else

...please reach out via the OpsDev.nz collective or the DevOpsNZ Slack.