Austin Tech Leaders is growing, thoughtfully (and we have the photos to prove it)

Thoughtbot's Austin team shares how they built a curated tech leadership community called Austin Tech Leaders, starting with intimate January 2026 meetups for alumni and clients, scaling up to a SXSW event at an East Austin art gallery, and returning to smaller gatherings. The post reflects on the value of intentional, filtered community over scale, noting Austin's high remote work rate as a driver for in-person connection. Nearly 100 people joined the waitlist around SXSW, and future events including Rails World 2026 are planned.