Since the earliest days of the OpenSearch Project, community meetings have been an important part of how we stay connected. They gave us a space to share updates and spark conversations. Contributors could show off what they were building, brainstorm ideas, and champion the things they cared about most. In many ways, these meetings were the heartbeat of the project.
But communities grow. And as ours has, so too have the ways we come together.
A community that’s outgrown a single meeting
The OpenSearch Project looks very different today than it did at the start. The project has expanded in size, scope, and complexity; and so has the ecosystem of ways to engage with it. Consider what’s available now:
- User groups are thriving, giving community members the chance to connect and share ideas in person, locally and globally.
- OpenSearchCon has seen remarkable growth, becoming a premier destination for the community to gather, learn, and present.
- Triage and TAG meetings hosted by maintainers, repository owners, and project area owners run on regular cadences, keeping contributors aligned and informed.
With so many meaningful touch-points already on the calendar; weekly, bi-weekly, and beyond, it became clear the traditional “community meeting” needed to evolve to engage the OpenSearch community and serve it better.
Introducing The Search Party
In late 2025, the project released two exploratory episodes to test a new format and gather insights to shape a long-term strategy. The response helped chart a new course.
The Search Party is the next chapter of the OpenSearch community conversation; and we think this format will continue towards the goals we’ve always had as a format for the community to talk about what they are building.
Rather than a live meeting, The Search Party is a prerecorded, on-demand series built for streaming. It’s community-driven, developed in collaboration with OpenSearch Ambassadors and The Linux Foundation, and designed to reflect the full breadth of voices across the project.
Here’s what to expect:
- 🎥 Hosted on our YouTube channel and featured on a dedicated landing page at opensearch.org
- 🎤 Guests drawn from the community: builders, contributors, maintainers, foundation members, OpenSearchCon and User Group speakers, and the global community moving OpenSearch forward
- 🌍 A dynamic roster of community leaders and perspectives—not a single voice, but many
Why this matters
The Search Party is another step forward with community engagement. It meets contributors and users where they are, respects their time, and opens the door to a wider, more diverse range of voices than a scheduled meeting ever could.
Whether you’re a longtime contributor, a curious newcomer, or someone who’s never been able to make a live meeting work with your schedule, The Search Party is for you. We encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel and join the party!
Want to suggest a speaker or volunteer to host an episode? Get involved: https://sessionize.com/opensearch-the-search-party
