API Summit? API Standards? Getting us all together

In 2022, I dreamed about the "APIs Summit"—a community-driven conference to discuss APIs, network, and hold open conversations without businesses looking over our shoulders. Trying to drive the idea through official channels of various standards felt like a burnout-inducing nightmare. I gave up after a few meetings.

Fortunately, apidays and Mehdi Medjaoui stepped in, offering us a vendor-neutral booth free of charge.

Of course, I had my doubts: This is a commercial event; should we really do it? But my philosophy has always been, Try it and see. You don’t have to continue if it doesn’t work.

The booth offer was for the AsyncAPI Initiative, but to me, it felt natural to say: Yes, but not for AsyncAPI alone—we need a shared community booth.

We had our first "API Specs and Standards" booth at APIDays Paris in 2023. Fast forward to December 2024, and we’ve organized the booth four times—and I love that we did.

Above you can see a booth staff photo from APIDays Helsinki with people from OpenAPI and AsyncAPI.

"API Standards" (is that the final name?) is growing. Can I already call it a community? I’m not sure—you tell me. What I can say is that it’s a group of friends from different standards, companies, or even freelancers. What connects them is a shared passion for open-source, community, and APIs. They work at the booth during events, cover for each other when someone needs a break, and offer support—even if their companies have their own vendor booths. It’s a small pack of amazing people. Honestly, if that’s not a definition of community, then I don’t know what is. 😃

So, what about the "APIs Summit"? I’m no longer sure a dedicated conference is necessary. At the booth, I’ve already had so many valuable discussions—not just with conference attendees but also with other booth staff from communities like OpenAPI Initiative, JSON Schema, or GraphQL Foundation. Why create a new conference when APIs are well-established, and there are already many great API conferences out there? Wouldn’t it make more sense to focus on strengthening the "API Standards" community? Maybe even secure some funding to expand and represent this unique, vendor-neutral group at more events?

"APIs Summit" was never about profit or generating revenue. The goal for me was always community. You can’t build a community while prioritizing money.

So, is it wrong to merge a non-profit idea with a commercial conference? As an open-source fanatic and advocate for community-driven projects and open governance, I don’t think so. To me, it’s a perfect example of symbiosis. Conference organizers provide "API Standards" with free space at events, access to new communities, networking opportunities, and free tickets. In return, they get a great marketing asset—experts at the event who are accessible, knowledgeable, and supportive.

What’s missing from this setup? Panel discussions? I doubt that’s an issue. If the "API Standards" folks wanted to host a panel, I’m sure it would be easy to arrange with conference hosts.

I still think about the "APIs Summit," but now I imagine it as a small, non-profit, intimate gathering of 50–100 people within the "API Standards" community—perhaps an unconference format. Maybe in 2026?

Lol, this was supposed to be a short message shared in the morning, but it turned into an article.

What do you think? What should we do in 2025?

Folks, there is no opt-out :)