Last year during Hacktoberfest, I took the opportunity to create a new project so some of us could work on. It was something many of us had experienced and we thought it would be a fantastic way to ensure we all got to contribute during Hacktoberfest; if you don't know what Hacktoberfest is, it's an annual event that celebrates open source software by encouraging people to contribute to GitHub repositories during the month of October.

As the person who started this new project I became the maintainer by default. I can tell you I learned a tonne! As a maintainer of an open source project, participating in Hacktoberfest can be both exciting and overwhelming. In this talk, we will explore the lessons learned from maintaining an open source repository during Hacktoberfest. We will discuss strategies for managing incoming contributions, including ways to communicate with contributors, merge conflicts, and more. We will also explore how to create a welcoming environment for new contributors and foster a culture of inclusivity in open source projects.

By sharing this fun (and sometimes scary) experience, I hope to inspire others to participate in open source projects and help make the world of software development a more collaborative and inclusive place.