Editor’s note: Todd Lewis is the founder and chair of All Things Open. He marvels daily at what open source can enable and accomplish. All Things Open 2017 will take place October 23 + 24 at the Raleigh Convention Center WRAL TechWire asked Todd to write this blog about the event, its history, and its future.

RALEIGH – We started All Things Open in 2013 with a simple goal in mind – to make a world-class technology and open source conference available at a fair cost. In our opinion, there were simply not enough around.

Fast forward 5 years and it appears more than a few people agreed. While the number of technology conferences being hosted in the U.S. has increased drastically, few have seen the growth of ATO.
We feel the trend line speaks for itself and is one any analyst or business owner would be proud of:

  • 2013 – 700 attendees

  • 2014 – 1100-1200 attendees

  • 2015 – 1600-1700 attendees

  • 2016 – 2400-2500 attendees

  • 2017 – 3,000+ attendees

While there are many reasons for this growth and our increasing ability to “cross the chasm” a few seem to stand out, at least to us:
1. The Raleigh/RTP area is a rocket ship when it comes to a sophisticated tech audience.
While other geographic areas might have a larger overall number of technologists, few if any can match the sheer level of sophistication we see in the RTP.
2. Local support and the number of people who “get it”.
The open source methodology and associated revenue models can be tough to understand, even for seasoned technology veterans. However, there are many people in both government and the private sector that not only understand it, but truly “get it” and are willing to support it in the region. This is highly commendable and says a lot about the amazing support infrastructure in place.
3. The existing open source cluster.
It helps to have the world’s largest open source company headquartered in Raleigh, but that’s only half the story. Much like a manufacturing and distribution cluster has emerged in Arkansas around Walmart, we see the same sort of cluster around Red Hat. So many people contribute to open source projects, or have open sourced projects themselves in the area, the audience we market to are already embedded and invested.  That is an amazing strategic advantage.
4. The growth of open hardware and IoT.
Perhaps the hottest area in technology at the moment is hardware and IoT (of which open source is fueling), and the RTP happens to have one and the largest and smartest hardware/IoT organizations in the Unites States in RIOT. We have now partnered on two events and have formed a strategic alliance for many years into the future.  This will bode well for the area and will help both organizations expand size and scope faster. 
We are incredibly grateful for the growth we’ve experienced, and although fraught with unexpected obstacles and difficulties, we’re doing everything possible to keep the momentum going.
As unreasonable as it sounds our goal is to host 5,000 in 2018. We feel it’s possible, but it will have to be a community effort.