Just start the thing: Building community with Michael Dyrynda
Michael Dyrynda is the director and organiser of Laracon AU, the Australian conference bringing together developers, product builders and members of the wider Laravel community.
Michael joins Gavin to unpack how Laracon AU grew from an idea into a major annual gathering for developers across Australia and the broader Asia-Pacific region. They explore why in-person connection remains valuable, especially for people working remotely, and how conferences can create friendships, mentorship opportunities, new careers and even new businesses.
Michael also shares the behind-the-scenes work involved in producing Laracon AU, including responding to difficult feedback, supporting speakers, leading volunteers and learning to delegate. He explains why community builders should start small, stay consistent and resist waiting for the perfect moment.
The conversation also covers how AI is changing software development, why experienced developers will remain important and why human creativity will continue to be fuelled by human connection.
Links
- Laracon AU
- Laracon AU alternative website
- Laravel
- GitHub
- Claude
- Meetup
- Laracon AU on LinkedIn
- Laracon AU on X
- Michael Dyrynda on LinkedIn
- Michael Dyrynda on X
The topics covered
In this episode, we cover:
- What the Laravel framework is and why it has developed such a strong global community
- Why Michael created an Australian Laracon event for the Asia-Pacific region
- Growing Laracon AU from its first Sydney event into a major annual conference
- Why people still travel to conferences when technical information is available online
- Combating isolation and creating human connection for remote software developers
- Designing networking opportunities before, during and after a conference
- The small behind-the-scenes details that make attendees feel welcome
- Using feedback to improve an event, including feedback that is difficult to hear
- Creating a more thoughtful and community-led speaker selection process
- Supporting speakers and building connection before they arrive at the event
- Maintaining community engagement between major annual events
- The challenges of ticket sales, marketing and unpredictable buying behaviour
- Recruiting, communicating with and leading event volunteers
- Delegating responsibilities to avoid community-builder burnout
- Measuring event success through feedback, repeat attendance and community stories
- How Laracon AU helped create opportunities for SixSides co-founder Mitch
- How community events can launch careers, products and businesses
- The future of software development and developer communities in the age of AI
- Why human creativity will continue to rely on human connection
- Michael’s advice to start small, find a sustainable cadence and simply begin
Chapter markers
00:00 Welcome to Changemakers
01:17 What community means to Michael
03:05 Understanding Laravel and Michael’s journey
05:54 Why Australia needed Laracon AU
09:37 Why developers still meet in person
15:04 Designing belonging and meaningful connection
18:39 Feedback, speakers and improving the experience
23:27 Maintaining momentum and selling the event
30:07 Volunteers, delegation and measuring success
37:43 Community impact, AI and advice for new organisers
About SixSides
01:17 What community means to Michael
03:05 Understanding Laravel and Michael’s journey
05:54 Why Australia needed Laracon AU
09:37 Why developers still meet in person
15:04 Designing belonging and meaningful connection
18:39 Feedback, speakers and improving the experience
23:27 Maintaining momentum and selling the event
30:07 Volunteers, delegation and measuring success
37:43 Community impact, AI and advice for new organisers
About SixSides
SixSides is a community-led events platform founded by Gavin Tye and Mitchell Davis to help organisations build stronger, more engaged communities.
It brings together memberships, events, communication, directories, content, networking and engagement into a single platform, making it easier for community managers to create meaningful connections and measure their impact.
It brings together memberships, events, communication, directories, content, networking and engagement into a single platform, making it easier for community managers to create meaningful connections and measure their impact.
The idea for SixSides began after Mitch built Event Kit, an event app for Laracon AU. The enthusiastic response from the Laravel community showed there was a genuine opportunity to build tools that help communities thrive.
That initial spark evolved into SixSides, which now powers communities across associations, professional networks, chambers of commerce, not-for-profits and membership organisations.
Links
- SixSides - https://sixsides.co
- Gavin Tye (LinkedIn) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavintye/
- Mitch (LinkedIn) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchdav/
- Chat with the Team: https://call.sixsides.co/call