BACKGROUND

VictoriaMetrics, a leader in monitoring, observability, Kubernetes, and cloud technologies, struggled to navigate global tech conferences. Focused on product development, its founders and tech team lacked the time to research and submit proposals. Additionally, they faced challenges in identifying the right events and establishing a strong speaking presence. To enhance their visibility, they partnered with Underdog Consulting in February 2024 to implement a structured conference submission strategy.

CHALLENGES

1. Time Constraints – The founders, Roman Khavronenko and Aliaksandr Valialkin, along with their tech team, were focused on product development and had no bandwidth to research and submit conference proposals.

1. Lack of Conference Insights – Identifying the right conferences with the best audience fit was a challenge, given the broad landscape of DevOps, observability, and cloud-related events.

1. Low Speaker Profile Recognition – While VictoriaMetrics was well-known in its space, its team had not yet maximized opportunities to establish a strong speaking presence at major industry conferences.VictoriaMetrics, a leader in monitoring, observability, Kubernetes, and cloud technologies, struggled to navigate global tech conferences. Focused on product development, its founders and tech team lacked the time to research and submit proposals. Additionally, they faced challenges in identifying the right events and establishing a strong speaking presence. To enhance their visibility, they partnered with Underdog Consulting in February 2024 to implement a structured conference submission strategy.

SOLUTION:
Partnering with Underdog Consulting

Underdog Consulting stepped in with a data-driven approach to:

• Research and Identify Target Conferences – Focused on high-impact events aligning with VictoriaMetrics’ expertise.

• Craft and Submit Proposals – Developed compelling abstracts, ensuring they matched the themes and priorities of each conference.

• Manage Speaker Engagements – Coordinated logistics, follow-ups, and speaker training where needed.

RESULTS:

2024/2025 Conference Submission Stats

• Conferences Accepted: 18
• Guaranteed KPI Met: 15 accepted talks within the first year

Conferences Accepted and Audience reached:

• FOSDEM 2025 – One of the largest open-source conferences in Europe, attracting 8,000+ attendees. Focuses on free and open-source software development.
• Big Data Conference Europe 2024 – A premier event for data professionals, covering big data, AI, and cloud. Hosts 1,500+ attendees, including engineers, architects, and business leaders.
• DevOps & Agile Summer Retreat 2024 – An exclusive gathering for DevOps practitioners and Agile teams, fostering deep discussions on culture, automation, and transformation.
• FRoSCon 2024 – A conference for free and open-source software, featuring technical talks and hands-on workshops. Draws 1,000+ developers and sysadmins.
• Conf42: Observability 2024 (online) – Virtual event focused on monitoring, tracing, and logging, attracting a global audience of SREs and observability engineers.
• KubeCon + CloudNativeCon + OSS China – The flagship event for Kubernetes and cloud-native technologies, with over 6,000 attendees including developers, architects, and CIOs.
• DevConf.US – A Red Hat-sponsored conference for open-source communities, focusing on DevOps, cloud, and AI, attended by 1,500+ engineers and developers.
• Tech Summit London – A key event for enterprise tech leaders, covering cloud, DevOps, and cybersecurity. Draws senior decision-makers and IT professionals.
• OSACon 2024 (online) – Online conference for open-source analytics, bringing together data engineers and observability professionals.
• DevOpsDays Warsaw – A regional DevOpsDays event attended by 500+ practitioners, focusing on automation, security, and culture.
• Linux Foundation Member Summit – Unconference – An invite-only gathering of Linux Foundation members, featuring discussions on open-source trends and collaboration.
• BSides Chicago 2024 – A security-focused conference attracting 400+ attendees from the cybersecurity and DevSecOps communities.
• Conf42: SRE (online) – Virtual event dedicated to site reliability engineering, covering topics like incident management and system resilience.
• Software Architecture Conference 2024 (online) – Online gathering of software architects, discussing modern architectural patterns and cloud-native systems.
• Dev Innovation Summit 2024 – A conference exploring software innovation, AI, and DevOps, drawing 1,000+ engineers and tech leaders.
• KCD Denmark 2024 – A Kubernetes Community Days event, focused on local cloud-native enthusiasts and developers.
• SFSCON 2024 – One of Europe’s largest sustainability and free software conferences, attracting 700+ attendees from open-source and sustainability sectors.
• Percona University Berlin – local open source database meetup.

IMPACT & KEY TAKEAWAYS

• • Increased Leads & Brand Recognition – More direct engagement with potential users and partners.
  • Expanded Industry Network – Strengthened connections with key figures in the observability and cloud-native ecosystems.
  • Enhanced Speaker Profiles – More exposure led to invitations for panels, workshops, and future speaking opportunities.
  • Scalability for 2025 – Based on this success, VictoriaMetrics extended its collaboration with Underdog Consulting for another year and expanded the speaker lineup to include two additional US-based team members.

Conclusion

By partnering with Underdog Consulting, VictoriaMetrics transformed its conference strategy, securing key speaking slots, strengthening its industry presence, and opening doors to further opportunities. The structured, expert-driven approach not only met but exceeded their goals, making this collaboration an essential pillar of their marketing and thought leadership strategy moving forward.