Blog: Kubernetes Contributor Summit: Behind-the-scenes

Every year, just before the official start of KubeCon+CloudNativeCon, there’s a special event that has a very special place in the hearts of those organizing and participating in it: the Kubernetes Contributor Summit. To find out why, and to provide a behind-the-scenes perspective, we interview Noah Abrahams, whom amongst other roles was the co-lead for the Kubernetes Contributor Summit in 2023. Frederico Muñoz (FSM) : Hello Noah, and welcome. Could you start by introducing yourself and telling us how you got involved in Kubernetes? Noah Abrahams (NA) : I’ve been in this space for quite a while. I got started in IT in the mid 90’s, and I’ve been working in the “Cloud” space for about 15 years. It was, frankly, through a combination of sheer luck (being in the right place at the right time) and having good mentors to pull me into those places (thanks, Tim!), that I ended up at a startup called Apprenda in 2016. While I was there, they pivoted into Kubernetes, and it was the best thing that could have happened to my career. It was around v1. 2 and someone asked me if I could give a presentation on Kubernetes concepts at “my local meetup” in Las Vegas. The meetup didn’t exist yet, so I created it, and got involved in the wider community. One thing led to another, and soon I was involved in ContribEx, joined the release team, was doing booth duty for the CNCF, became an ambassador, and here we are today. FM : Before leading the organisation of the KCSEU 2023, how many other Contributor Summits were you a part of? NA : I was involved in four or five before taking the lead.