Ten years of .Astronomy: Scientific and cultural impact

In the last decades, the growth of the internet and the accessibility of powerful computing systems has driven dramatic change in how we perform scientific research, and how we communicate about science with collaborators, students, and the public. Since 2008, the .Astronomy (pronounced “dot-astronomy”) conference has sought to create a community of professionals working in astronomy-related fields who are keen to exploit the enormous potential of computing and the web in all its facets: for research, public engagement, scientific communication and publishing. From the outset the conference has used a unique programme structure, and hosted the first astronomy-themed hack events. In 2017, following the 9th edition of .Astronomy, we set out to gather feedback from our past participants on their experience of attending the conference: have we succeeded in building a community; has the conference influenced our participants’ career or study choices, or impacted their research in a meaningful way; is the conference contributing positively to the overall advancement of the field? The survey shows that a high fraction of participants report that their participation in .Astronomy has resulted in new ideas and inspiration (90%), and has impacted their day-to-day work (67%). We provide concrete examples of outcomes from the conference, and discuss the role of conferences like .Astronomy in advancing the field.