Dogo Onsen scenery

Connecting two worlds

Technology and family time. This year again, I traveled to fuse two worlds that may look separate. RubyKaigi 2025 was not only a technical conference for me, but also a special experience with my family and an opportunity to grow as an organizational manager.

This article looks back on RubyKaigi from three perspectives: technology, family, and organizational management. I write not about Ruby talk details, but about connections with people and harmony between family and work.

Walking the technical path with family

My participation in RubyKaigi has changed year by year. In Sendai 2018 and Fukuoka 2019, I attended alone and tried to keep the trip short to reduce the burden on family. From Mie 2022 I began considering family participation, and in Okinawa 2024 all four of us finally attended. Matsuyama 2025 also became a family trip. RubyKaigi is becoming an important annual event for us.

The pandemic-era shift to full-remote and full-flex work made the boundary between work and family more flexible. Through that process, I developed the belief that life is central, and work and technical training exist to make the world better. I want my children to touch my work world as much as possible, and I treat them as team members for making society better.

Because they would miss school, I gave the children a research project: study Matsuyama’s culture and history and summarize it on postcards. We enjoyed Matsuyama Castle, Ehime Children’s Castle, and library research, turning the trip into both play and learning.

Conference strategy for growing an organization

As director and CTO, I cannot make conference-support rules simply because people want to go. I need to explain why RubyKaigi is valuable, how costs and returns work, and how fairness is maintained.

Our current rules are:

• Company support once per year for accommodation, transportation, and conference fees
• Self-payment ratio depending on cost
• A special company-covered limit of 100,000 yen for RubyKaigi
• Consultation with a manager for additional events

When proposing the system, I was asked to explain cost-effectiveness, especially since we are not actively hiring. The strongest logic is that attendees are key contributors, and their growth connects to organizational growth.

We value both technical curiosity and interest in education when hiring. Because our business axis is education, technical curiosity alone is not enough to return the “Kaigi Effect” to the organization. People who care about education receive stimulation at RubyKaigi and bring it back to student growth.

I also consider members who do not attend by proposing other conferences, holding internal reading groups, and creating sharing opportunities. During RubyKaigi, organizational operations continue, so I triage emergency issues and provide first responses so first-time attendees can enjoy the conference.

Record of this stay

In Matsuyama, I cared about breakfast with family. Waking at 6:30 was difficult for a night person like me, but local food such as tai-meshi and morning conversation became precious family time.

4/15 Tue: travel day

• Work from early morning, light meal at the airport, Dogo Onsen sightseeing and foot bath after arriving
• Dinner with family, then light work after putting children to bed

4/16 Wed: Day 1

• Breakfast with family, then conference separately
• Lunch with company members
• Family climbed Matsuyama Castle and went to karaoke
• Joined family in the evening and attended Official Party with the children

4/17 Thu: Day 2

• Met outside acquaintances and visited sponsor booths
• Family spent the day at Ehime Children’s Castle

4/18 Fri: Day 3

• Stopped by Dogo Onsen between sessions
• Family did library research and revisited Ehime Children’s Castle

4/19 Sat: final day

• Enjoyed nature with family at Kashima, introduced by Deep Research
• Lunch at Matsuyama Station, souvenirs, then returned home

Kashima sea and Meotoiwa

What RubyKaigi taught me

This article was triggered by Imaizumi’s keynote and a talk with Shioi. Looking back on connections with people active in the Ruby community, I re-recognized the value of the connections RubyKaigi brings.

For me, technical conferences are not only places to learn languages and technologies. They are opportunities for human connections to become discoveries, growth, and sometimes organizational change. Bringing family makes those connections wider, deeper, and more complex. It is not easy, but it is a precious experience and memory.

Toward creating new value

Through family participation in RubyKaigi 2025 and organizational management, I learned again about the fusion of technology and life, and growth through immersion.

Technology connects curiosity and life, family connects heart and experience, and organizations connect people and the future. I want to continue valuing connections and creating new value. My family is already looking forward to visiting Hakodate.