Expert Knob Twiddlers was conceived by technical people in small higher-ed institutions who wanted more technical conferences for small higher-ed institutions. The first EKT meeting was held in June 2009 at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.

The moniker “Expert Knob Twiddlers” is based on the term “knob” as it applies to many areas in information technology.  For instance, local preference and communities are two attributes (knobs) in BGP, and modifying (twiddling) them is used for traffic engineering.

It’s also the title of a collaborative ambient-techno album by Richard D. James and Mike Paradinas, as well as a vanity domain of one of the organizers.