Open Source Event Manager

Open Source Event Manager (OSEM) is a full‑stack, self‑hosted platform designed to orchestrate every facet of a software conference—from call‑for‑papers and session scheduling to marketing splash pages and ticketing. Built by a small, distributed team of FOSS developers, OSEM exposes a rich REST API and a flexible plugin architecture that enable teams to extend or replace core features without touching the core codebase. The application is released under a permissive license, allowing commercial deployments while preserving the open‑source ethos.

Technical Stack

OSEM is primarily written in Ruby on Rails (v6+), leveraging the framework’s convention‑over‑configuration model for rapid development and maintainability. The backend uses PostgreSQL as its relational database, benefiting from robust ACID guarantees and advanced query features such as JSONB columns for dynamic event metadata. The front‑end is a modern SPA built with React and TypeScript, communicating through the Rails API. Asset bundling is handled by Webpacker, while server‑side rendering of static pages (splash, agenda) is achieved via Rails’ view layer for SEO friendliness. The project includes a suite of RSpec tests, integration checks, and continuous‑integration pipelines on GitHub Actions.

Core Capabilities

• Paper Submission Workflow: Customisable review pipelines, reviewer assignment algorithms, and status tracking. Exposes endpoints for creating proposals, uploading PDFs, and managing review comments.
• Event Scheduling & Agenda Generation: Data models for tracks, rooms, and time slots; algorithmic conflict detection; export to iCalendar and JSON‑LD for rich snippets.
• Marketing & Registration: Dynamically generated splash pages, contact forms, and ticketing integration (Stripe support via an optional plugin). The API allows programmatic registration of attendees and retrieval of ticket sales analytics.
• Analytics & Reporting: Built‑in dashboards that aggregate session attendance, paper acceptance rates, and ticket revenue. Exposes CSV export endpoints for external BI tools.
• Extensibility: A plugin system based on Rails engines lets developers hook into lifecycle events (e.g., before_submission, after_registration) and inject custom UI components. Webhooks can notify external services on key events.

Deployment & Infrastructure

OSEM is designed for self‑hosting in a variety of environments. A Docker Compose file ships with the repository, encapsulating the Rails app, PostgreSQL, Redis (for background jobs), and a side‑car Nginx reverse proxy. For Kubernetes deployments, Helm charts are available in the community repository. The application scales horizontally by running multiple Rails workers behind a load balancer; PostgreSQL read replicas can be added for heavy reporting workloads. Persistent storage is abstracted via ActiveStorage, allowing integration with S3 or local filesystem.

Integration & Extensibility

Developers can expose OSEM data through OAuth2‑protected endpoints or GraphQL (via the graphql-ruby gem). Custom authentication providers (LDAP, SAML) are supported through Devise extensions. The plugin API enables third‑party developers to add new event types (e.g., hackathons), integrate with CI/CD pipelines for automated speaker demos, or embed OSEM components into existing corporate portals.

Developer Experience

The codebase follows Rails best practices, with a comprehensive README, detailed contributing guidelines, and an active issue tracker. Documentation is hosted on the project website and includes API reference pages generated by Swagger/OpenAPI. The community operates through GitHub discussions, IRC (#osem on libera.chat), and a dedicated Slack channel. The project’s CI pipeline ensures code quality, with badges for build status, coverage, and dependency health visible on the main page.

Use Cases

• FOSS Conference Organizers: Deploy OSEM to manage the full event lifecycle, from CFP to post‑event analytics.
• University Seminar Series: Use the paper submission and scheduling modules to run recurring academic conferences.
• Corporate Hackathons: Leverage the extensibility to integrate with internal CI systems and generate automated feedback reports.

Advantages

OSEM offers a complete, open‑source stack with minimal vendor lock‑in. Its Ruby on Rails foundation provides rapid development, while the plugin system ensures that custom workflows can be implemented without forking. The application’s licensing model (MIT) and active community reduce total cost of ownership, making it an attractive alternative to commercial event platforms that often impose restrictive data controls or subscription fees.