Foojay Podcast #18: Atlanta JUG and DevNexus
Running a Java User Group takes more than a meeting room and good intentions. It takes volunteers, a legal structure, venues, sponsors, and years of steady work. We sat down with Pratik Patel (Lead Dev Rel at Azul) and Vincent Mayers (Dev Community at Gradle) to hear how Atlanta JUG grew into the team behind DevNexus, one of the largest Java conferences in the US. This is Foojay Podcast #18, part of our Java User Group World Tour.
What we talked about
- The origins and history of Atlanta JUG
- Why Pratik and Vincent joined as organizers
- How COVID-19 changed the local community
- Venue choices, from hotels to co-working spaces
- Running Atlanta JUG as a US non-profit
- The team behind the scenes
- Membership numbers and attendance
- Memorable sessions and speakers
- Practical advice for starting your own JUG
- DevNexus history, tracks, and programming
- Who attends DevNexus and why
Why it matters
Most JUG stories stay inside the group. This conversation pulls back the curtain on the organizational work, the legal side, and the long timeline that turns a local meetup into a conference like DevNexus. If you organize a community or think about starting one, the practical tips here save you time.
See the Foojay Podcast #18 for all info, shownotes, links, etc.