dotSwift 2016 - a review of a very instructive conference

One of the most instructive conferences I’ve been to — you should not miss it next year.

dotSwift 2016 has been an interesting conference, different in lots of ways from a “traditional” one.

The Venue

I’ll start with the venue — using a theatre was a great move. Built in 1861 and feeling very dramatic, it was a nice contrast with the very young topic at hand.

Lots of people complemented the organisers choice on Twitter and it’s fair to say it has been memorable.

Another departure from the “standards” was the schedule; I’ve never been to a technical conference that lasted less than a day. However, opening the doors at 12:45 for a 1:30 start, made for a great pace of the talks — fast but not rushed.

This also made it practical for UK peeps to come by train in the morning and leave late afternoon (after pub of course).

The Talks

They were very informative; here are the speakers that left a particular impression on me:

TJ Usiuan

Loved the slow happy pace for the review of Swift’s young life and the advice on making the most of the future. He’s definitely a speaker I want to see again.

Roy Marmelstein

Localisation is always a great (albeit hard) topic - as Daniel Steinberg said on stage, this calls for a short book. 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇷🇺 🇺🇸

Ayaka Nonaka

Again great topic - I particularly loved the trick of taking the Apple’s Swift Evolution process and use it inside your biz for feature requests. Someone famous once said that great artists steal. 🍏 And if someone had to use Taylor Swift images, I’m happy she did 😃

Last and most importanly…

Chris “THE MACHINE” Eidhof

I don’t believe he’s human. It’s been, by far, the best live coding session I’ve ever assisted at. I know it’s probably been rehearsed (I wouldn’t expect it not to be) but he got the whole theatre hooked onto this screen. Was great to see his train of thoughts and the step by step abstraction.

And a special mention to my friend Daniel Steinberg — he’s post-talk quick fire questions were brilliant at uncovering certain aspects that the speaker didn’t mention.

There were also 8 lighting talks (I had the pleasure of delivering one — thank you Sylvain and Daniel!). There was a particularly awesome one Grégoire Lhotellier) that used Nintendo princesses and a developer knight; you’ll enjoy the video when out.

Conclusion

All in all, it was a great experience — definitely recommended for next year.

I’ve met lots of old friends, started new friendships and had fun - exactly what one would expect from a great community. 🖖

Safe journey home

Written on Jan 30 2016, in a McDonalds in Charles de Gaulle Airport, on the way home.