Email the Author
You can use this page to email Jeroen Leenarts about Conference Bootstrap.
About the Book
You don’t need permission to build something remarkable. You don’t need a massive team, a deep-pocketed sponsor, or decades of event planning experience.
What you *do* need is a vision — a belief that gathering people around a shared passion can create momentum, forge friendships, and spark ideas that last far beyond the closing keynote.
This book is for you — the developer, DevRel, indie creator, or community leader who’s been to a few great conferences and thought: *“I wonder what it takes to run one myself.”* Whether you're dreaming of a single-track indie event or preparing a large-scale production, what follows is a practical, transparent, and honest guide to organizing tech conferences that developers don’t just attend — they love.
You’ll learn from the trenches: what to do, what to avoid, how to build community, and how to handle chaos with a smile. This is not theory. This is lived experience. My hope is that by the time you finish reading, you’ll feel confident to bring your own vision to life — and know exactly how to do it.
Let’s step behind the mic.
About the Author
My name is Jeroen Leenarts. I am a software developer currently specialised in iOS development. But I have a long and varied history working on all kinds of technical challenging systems. I started working as a software developer in 2002. Currently, I am working as a Developer Relations Engineer iOS at Stream
I publish a podcast for iOS app developers with a weekly news & community episode and an interview episode when available. More info on that: https://appforce1.net/podcast/
I am also one of the main organizers of the Dutch CocoaHeads, a monthly meetup community for iOS developers: https://cocoaheads.nl/