Collective Code: When Tessitura Developers Share and Learn

At the beginning of the year, our Technical Lead and eight-year agency veteran, Cyrus Collier, said he was thinking about hosting a meetup in our office for web developers, specifically those who have worked with Tessitura, in the Spring. Always one to support a party, I told him I thought it was a great idea and, despite the many events we’ve hosted at Situation in the past, I couldn’t remember us ever putting one on specifically for an audience of software engineers. Cyrus has shepherded some incredibly complex web applications for our live events clients and understands the common challenges faced by those building tools in this industry. I sat down with him recently to ask about the event, both why he thought it would benefit the work we do and what he learned from those who attended.

Peter Yagecic: Cyrus, I feel like you were possibly inspired by the 2023 Tessitura Learning and Community Conference we attended last August in Kissimmee, FL when you came up with the idea for the developer event you recently held in our NYC office. Why did you want to bring together a group of software developers and database engineers for a day of in-person conversation?

Cyrus Collier: I saw at TLCC last year how valuable it was for developers to be in the same room learning more about Tessitura, sharing ideas and helping each other through challenges. Most of these developers work on small teams or by themselves on Tessitura the rest of the year, myself included, and I felt a need from the community for increased connection and collaboration in other settings besides TLCC.  

PY: How did you come up with the agenda for the day? Were there some specific challenges you wanted to try and have the group consider?

CC: Since I’m still fairly new to the Tessitura ecosystem, I really just wanted to create an agenda that sounded like something I would be really excited to attend myself! I knew I wanted to present on some topics and I held a presenting spot open in case another attendee wanted to speak on a topic. The rest of the time was really just dedicated to open discussions around things like developer experience, documentation and training, and wrangling our collection of community-sourced code repositories. 

PY: Since this was your first go at hosting an event like this, did you find yourself having to field any questions from some of the prospective attendees about what to expect from the event?

CC: One question I got from several people as I was planning the event was whether it was going to cater specifically to developers working with the Tessitura API versus those who primarily work directly with the Tessitura database. I had always thought about those as two sides of the same coin, but I learned there is really a spectrum of focus and ability across those two disciplines within the Tessitura community. In our promotional efforts, we tried to make it clear the event was open for anyone who worked on Tessitura in a technical capacity, whether you’ve specialized in API engineering, database administration, or both.

Peter Yagecic: What were some of the things that surprised you once you had everyone assembled? Did the agenda proceed the way you’d hoped it would?

Cyrus Collier: Most attendees have been working with Tessitura for over 15 years! It was humbling being in the same room as others with that much depth of knowledge and historical insight into the platform. That fact, combined with everyone being excited to talk with others like them for a whole day, meant that some of the structured agenda topics shifted into more of just a guide for steering the organic discussions that arose. People discussed things I didn’t even know existed in Tessitura.

PY: Do you have any plans for more events like this in the future? How will you continue the conversation you and your attendees started during the in-person session?

CC: Many attendees said they would like to do something like this again, perhaps with a rotating host location, so I could easily see us planning another event this fall. There was also interest in planning an extended pre-conference session at TLCC this year just for developers. The actual conference days feature a full developer track already with lots of presentations, but we all agreed something more informal and collaborative before the conference started would attract interest. I’d also like to start a regular virtual meeting with the attendees to make some progress with some of the community initiatives we discussed.

PY: How do you want to see the relationship between live events marketers and software developers grow in the future?

CC: I think for any technology platform to truly succeed, it has to provide a great experience for the community of engineers who actually implement solutions using that technology. Marketers and other vendors in an industry can support that developer experience by hosting events, by providing useful content, and by building and supporting 3rd-party tools. I’ve seen great examples of agencies who have a culture of building custom, in-house tools to solve their client’s needs and then immediately open-sourcing it for the whole community to use and give feedback.

PY: Thanks for chatting today Cyrus, and thanks for being willing to take on the not-insignificant task of getting people in a room to problem-solve some of the shared challenges facing live events technologists.