Building a community in North East England and beyond
In 2015 I co-founded Frontend NE, a meet-up and conference for frontend developers in the North East of England. Over the course of five years we hosted 57 meet-ups, with 82 speakers and well over 3,000 attendees, and 2 conferences, which welcomed 400 people and 14 speakers from far and wide. But more than that, we built a genuine community; open, inclusive, and lasting.
At the time, Newcastle didn’t have much going on for frontend developers. There were a few general tech meet-ups, but nothing that really spoke to those of us who cared about HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. When Colin Oakley put out a tweet asking if anyone fancied starting a frontend-focused meet-up, both Sam Beckham and I replied, and that was the start of Frontend NE.
Our goal was to bring together the people behind the user-facing parts of digital products. That included not just developers, but also designers, UX specialists, and anyone who cared about how things look, feel, and function. We wanted to create a space where people could learn from each other, share what they were working on, and feel part of something.
Establishing the meet-up
We kicked things off with a simple structure:
- Drinks, pizza (both free) and chat
- Two talks with a short break in the middle
- More drinks in a designated pub afterwards
We had some ideas we wanted to follow too:
- Each event should have a theme; Sass, frontend frameworks, tooling, performance, mental health, and so on
- Meet-ups would be recorded for anyone who couldn’t make it in person
- No workshops! People have spent all day at work so it should all be passive
Finding a venue was the first hurdle. We settled on Campus North in central Newcastle, which had the space and the right kind of community feel. Getting the word out was the next challenge; we started with Twitter and a bit of word of mouth; from there we built a mailing list.
From the very beginning, we put a lot of energy into making the meet-up welcoming. I made a point of having a brief chat with everyone who came through the door, especially people who were on their own. It wasn’t just about the talks; the community side of it all was extremely important.
Consistency played a big part in making it all work. We ran the event on the same day each month and kept our comms tight: announcements, reminders, and thank-yous always went out at the same time. The meet-up schedule itself was sacred, and over the five years we only missed one date due to heavy snow.
I took on the role of compere, opening the evening, introducing the speakers, handling sponsor shout-outs, and generally making sure things felt smooth and relaxed. Behind the scenes, we were always iterating things like the AV setup, the food and drink offering, and our approach to communication and planning.
We asked local companies for sponsorship to cover the cost of drinks, pizza, and venue hire, and as we grew, we set up a limited company to handle finances. One guiding principal that arose, and carried through to the conference, was that any money left over should be reinvested into the event.
Growth and consistency
The meet-up grew steadily each month and we built a solid core of regulars as well as continuing to welcome new faces. Most months we were at full capacity and, once the venues’ sizes allowed it, we consistently had 70 to 80 people in the room. Over time, Frontend NE became a key fixture in the local tech calendar.
We maintained our two-talk format for the most part, but some months we only had one speaker if their talk needed more time or they were a more well-known figure like Chris Coyier or Rachel Andrew. We also hosted the occasional panel discussion and lightning talks, but never strayed far from what worked.
Aside from booking speakers and covering their travel and accommodation if they came from further afield, a lot went into keeping things running smoothly behind the scenes, for example:
- Ordering beer, wine, and soft drinks for delivery, and filling fridges early in the day so that drinks were cold
- Placing pizza orders, catering for a wide variety of diets including vegan and gluten free
- Ensuring the projector, mics, and recording equipment were all set up
As we grew, and as venues shut down or changed direction, we moved locations a few times: from a back room at Campus North to their larger meeting space, then to The Mining Institute, Bamburgh House, and finally to TusPark.
At each venue we arranged discounts at a nearby pub for anyone who fancied carrying on the conversation after the event. That social side helped strengthen the community and gave people a reason to stick around after the talks ended.
We found we needed more than three people to make it work, and some volunteers from the community helped out on a regular basis; it also became clear that we needed a limited company to handle sponsorship and finances.
Taking it further
By 2017, the meet-up was in a strong place. We had a consistent audience, a good reputation, and the sense that there was still more we could do. So we decided to run a full-day conference.
It was a big step up! Organising a conference meant things like:
- booking a venue
- a ticketing system
- speaker logistics
- catering
- sponsorship
- insurance
- giveaways and swag
- a website and branding
- an after-party
Even though it increased the financial risk, something that was very important to us was to keep the ticket price down, to allow as many people as possible to attend.
The first Frontend NE Conference, held in April 2018, was a huge success. We sold 178 tickets, brought in a brilliant set of speakers, and kept the atmosphere friendly and relaxed. It was important to us that the conference felt like an extension of the meet-up, not a polished corporate event, so we carried over the same attention to detail, the same openness, and the same focus on creating a good experience for everyone.
The 2019 conference raised the bar again. We grew the audience to 220, refined how we ran things, and added small touches to make the day run more smoothly. Not everything went to plan; we had an AV issue as the first speaker, Jeremy Keith, was taking the stage, but he was a total pro and handled it expertly. We built on what worked, fixed what didn’t, and embraced all the hiccups. Exhausting, but completely worth it.
Those two events were some of the proudest moments of the whole Frontend NE journey. We took a risk, stayed true to our values, and delivered something special for the community.
Stepping back
After the 2018 conference, I stepped away from organising the monthly meet-ups. Things were getting increasingly full-on at home: we’d just had our second child, moved house, and I was adjusting to a new job after redundancy, while still wrapping up freelance projects. My time and attention were stretched too thin, and something had to give.
Stepping back was a hard decision. I loved being part of the meet-up, and it had become such a central part of my identity and routine. But I also knew I couldn’t be half-in. The only way the others could know if they could sustain it without me was if I stepped away completely.
I stayed involved in the background, continuing to handle the finances and working with Colin and Sam to deliver the 2019 conference. That gave me a way to stay connected without being caught up in the month-to-month logistics.
Looking back, setting that boundary was the right call. It gave me space to focus on family, health, and other commitments, and it gave the rest of the team clarity and autonomy. It also let me appreciate the meet-up from a different perspective: as something I’d helped build, but that didn’t need me at the centre to continue.
Bringing it to a close
By early 2020, Colin and Sam had decided that the monthly meet-up wasn’t something they could continue running. We were all still recovering from the effort of the second conference, and although we’d talked about doing another, we knew we didn’t have the energy for it. It felt like the right time to wrap things up properly.
We had planned our final meet-up for April 2020, but as the coronavirus pandemic began to escalate, it became clear that going ahead would be risky. Large social gatherings were being cancelled, even before official guidance changed, so we made the call to do the same.
With that, we turned our attention to closing things down. There was a lot to take care of, such as:
- announcing the end
- shutting down software accounts
- archiving the website
- contacting our accountant to wind up the company
We wanted to do it all properly, with the same attention to detail we’d brought to the events themselves.
For a while we talked about rescheduling the final meet-up, and I had even planned to return to help run it. But momentum had gone, and in the end, it felt right to let it rest.
It was sad to see it end, but it didn’t feel unfinished. We’d had five great years, built something we were proud of, and closed the door on our own terms.
Looking back
Frontend NE was a huge part of my life for five years. It started with a tweet and grew into something much bigger than we could have expected: a meet-up, a conference, and a community that kept showing up month after month.
I learned a lot, including:
- How to plan and run events, end to end
- What it takes to build and maintain a community
- The value of consistency and communication
- How much the little things matter
I’m proud of what we built. Proud of the talks we hosted, the connections people made, and the support the community gave each other. I met brilliant people, made lasting friendships, and played a part in creating something that made the North East a better place to work in tech.
It’s easy to focus on the stress and the admin and the late nights, but what sticks with me most is the energy in the room. There was a buzz before a talk started, conversations at the break, and great craic at the pub afterwards. That’s what made it special, and that’s what I’ll remember.