Technology

FurSquared runs differently from other conventions. While others will go with a different off-the-shelf solution every year or publish a Google sheet for their programming schedule or Dealers Den… we opt to make it our own.

Why create our own things?

First of all, it's fun! We can be creative in own way while solving real problems that our attendees and staff have.

Consider how tedious it is to set up a programming schedule over 10+ spreadsheets or to manage and decide on Dealers, Adult Dealers, and so on with just forms and sheets. It is possible, but we can do better. Convention staff are volunteers! We all have a lot of love for the event and for all of you that come, but hair pulling shouldn't be a part of the job description. Good software has made the difference in keeping dedicated people on staff each year. Being on the Technology team means you'll have an impact to every staff member we have, and through them, all the attendees too.

Have you been to a convention with over 10,000 people and their Dealers list is an obtuse spreadsheet that doesn't scroll right in the phone? Or another that has you install a new app every year because they can't settle on one provider or another and the website for the schedule is broken? It should not be so confusing and bothersome to figure out what to do at a convention. Our site and services (and maybe a custom app) can do a better job at providing all the info and affordances attendees need to have a good time.

What we're looking for:

We're looking for web and backend developers that have experience with TypeScript, databases like PostgreSQL / MySQL / SQLite, caches like Redis, and development tools like git, Docker, Dev Containers, and serverless platforms like Cloudflare.

We're also looking for mobile app developers that have developed with Kotlin Multiplatform. This might be our first year with our own app!

And if you're interested in embedded Rust development for an IoT network, we welcome that too! Also infrastructure DevOps and maybe something about a custom Debian linux distribution for our fleet. Not all at once though!

We may also be interested in Telegram Bot and Slack bot integrations.

General Expectations:

Solid convention software gets delivered early and consistently. You'd be committing to a few hours a week for several months. It adds up to around 40-60 hours before the convention — most of it before New Years.

You test your work before handing it off, you nudge your peers for code review, and you confirm it works on the development / staging environment before ever deploying production.

All software contributions and configurations are released to Two Ferrets Co. such that it may continue using said contributions with or without you remaining on staff and it may one day become open source or leased or licensed to operate other events. Also, software that is not currently public may not be shared unless authorized.

It takes a lot of equipment to run a con and to help other teams do their best work. From printers to networking and the computers in between, we need someone who'll ensure the on-site deployment goes well and if we have to account for a surprise you've got the hardware or configuration in mind to pull it off.

The Technology team is separate from Audio / Visual which rents and configures its own hardware, though we may collaborate from time to time.

We're seeking someone experienced with physical network deployment and its configuration, asset tracked hardware, and linux experience.

As the Physical Hardware Lead you will:

• Seek out and record the needs of all fellow departments and functions, such as Registration, Video Games, Dealers Den, Con Store, Artist Alley, and more.
• Thoroughly plan what we can deploy given the wants vs needs and what we have to work with.
• Escalate hardware requests that we cannot fulfill.
• Where relevant, identify opportunities to purchase hardware that will satisfy the needs we will have at the next event.
• Receive, update, and ensure all hardware is configured or otherwise prepared the month before the event. I hope you like updating over 20 chromebooks!
• Produce a deployment plan for the convention down to the hour with destination, which asset tagged hardware will be deployed, and for how long.
• Oversee the pack-up and collection of all Technology hardware.
• Oversee and asset tag all new or unlabeled hardware.

Specific experience that'll make you stand out:

• Unifi Network configuration
• Ubiquiti ISP hardware configuration
• Debian Linux administration