Last year @jzb wrote this article about FOSDEM and the lack of transparency in it's processes, in the wake of the Jack Dorsey Keynote that was replaced.

It's a good overview of the conference and also covers some of the difficulties for folks attending.

https://lwn.net/Articles/1006351/

Many conferences aren't transparent, but I'd argue that the volunteers, Dev rooms and attendees put so much of their time into making this conference.