{"id":4705,"date":"2022-11-12T01:29:49","date_gmt":"2022-11-12T01:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/?p=4705"},"modified":"2022-11-12T01:44:17","modified_gmt":"2022-11-12T01:44:17","slug":"tech-events-are-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/?p=4705","title":{"rendered":"Tech events are back"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve loved the return of (in-person) tech events and conferences this year. I&#8217;m not expecting to go to any more events in 2022, so I thought this would be a good time to look back over some of my highlights for this year.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Infoshare F3<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/f3.infoshare.pl\">f3.infoshare.pl<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d4753530.099520435!2d14.098132559673102!3d54.42658080085152!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x46fd0ac365da11a5%3A0x1bbf61503ff75145!2sERGO%20ARENA!5e0!3m2!1sen!2snl!4v1668187131258!5m2!1sen!2snl\" width=\"450\" height=\"250\" style=\"border:thin black solid;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A tech conference in a 15,000-seat stadium arena. Two stages &#8211; one at each end of the arena, one called the Red stage, and one called the Blue stage. In the space between, there was an expo with stands from a variety of tech companies.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/mwf38ou6bwv5kii\/infoshare-1.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/2mpv9tgv1e1dpzt\/infoshare-1.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I gave a talk on the Blue stage, about the impact that cloud APIs has had on the role of the AI developer.<\/p>\n<p>I was using my snowman photo to illustrate AI winters&#8230; that is my photo, too &#8211; all-but-one of the photos in my talk were photos that I&#8217;d taken. (It was nice to not have to resort to stock photos!)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/icjkpjqob791ycx\/infoshare-2.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/3immtpv49c6zso5\/infoshare-2.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It was a very developer-focused agenda, with a lot to learn. There were tutorials on things I hadn&#8217;t tried before like <a href=\"https:\/\/f3.infoshare.pl\/#talk31-8\">mutation testing<\/a>, and sessions on things it&#8217;s always useful to hear a fresh perspective on like <a href=\"https:\/\/f3.infoshare.pl\/#talk32-8\">domain-driven design<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: thin black solid; \" width=\"450\" height=\"220\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NhplPC2r7fY\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I got to see a little of Gdansk while I was there. My favourite bits were having dinner sat on the beach at Brzezno Pier, and hiring an e-scooter to explore Ronald Reagan Park.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/10hy768ohrsssov\/infoshare-3.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/gls9vxw9we5iszm\/infoshare-3.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 5em;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dalelane\/status\/1527315262613389312\">what I said at the time (twitter)<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>HalfStack (Newquay)<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/halfstackconf.com\/newquay\/\">halfstackconf.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d2603455.575326883!2d-7.324535528665994!3d50.414327586190325!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x486b0ff7c48b0a7f%3A0x6a7976df826eb2a9!2sCSpace%20Newquay%20-%20Cowork%20and%20events%20space!5e0!3m2!1sen!2snl!4v1668187620702!5m2!1sen!2snl\" width=\"450\" height=\"250\" style=\"border:thin black solid;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A tech conference by the beach in Newquay. It was hard not to love the sound of that.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/vwtcra8dms2fw19\/halfstack-1.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/runumt2o46f6exv\/halfstack-1.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I gave a talk about what I&#8217;ve been doing recently with <a href=\"https:\/\/machinelearningforkids.co.uk\">Machine Learning for Kids<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BQBKYqFjjBI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/0biimjyn2psod6d\/halfstack-3.png?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It was a small event &#8211; I felt like I spoke to everyone there! It was lovely, friendly, and relaxed. It was geeks sharing silly and creative things with each other.<\/p>\n<p>The content had the eclectic vibe of a <a href=\"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/?s=barcamp\">BarCamp<\/a> except there was only one track, and no timetable in sight (we all just took our turn to share our piece, with no-one clock-watching).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border:thin black solid;\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BQBKYqFjjBI\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Other than spending time on the beach, and going for long walks around Fistral Bay, I think my favourite bit of sight-seeing while I was there was finally getting to go to Land&#8217;s End!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/zes37pumb4su5j8\/halfstack-2.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/c1yddleyynkqd5j\/halfstack-2.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; margin-bottom: 5em;\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>NDC (Porto)<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ndcporto.com\">ndcporto.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d6153405.255513642!2d-13.104132140656763!3d41.143422918944204!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0xd24651e5418666b%3A0x586d876c499097be!2sAlfandega%20Congress%20Center!5e0!3m2!1sen!2snl!4v1668187199394!5m2!1sen!2snl\" width=\"450\" height=\"250\" style=\"border:thin black solid;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>NDC was a huge, packed conference. There were over a hundred presentations, often with five or six sessions to choose from at any point in the day.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/xi5rnv44ydtifh4\/ndc-2.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/kyfcq353fmtujzr\/ndc-2.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>There were a lot of very deep, very technical sessions. There were also sessions on social subjects like mentoring and being a technical leader. And a few fun and silly ones, too.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/k3db2bclrww0hra\/ndc-1.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/mevgjogdo2e26ih\/ndc-1.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I did a couple of talks.<\/p>\n<p>One was a joint talk with Lori, where we gave an intro to ChatOps with a bunch of demos of how to manage a Kafka cluster from Slack.<\/p>\n<p>The other one I did solo, which was a developer&#8217;s intro to AI\/ML.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: thin black solid;\" width=\"450\" height=\"350\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ludYp6Ykq4w\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Porto is a beautiful, beautiful city. I loved exploring it &#8211; walking for miles every day. One highlight was doing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.portobridgeclimb.com\">Porto Bridge Climb<\/a> &#8211; a little bit nerve-wracking at the time, but I&#8217;m so glad I did it!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/qjgyzv2e90rzcaz\/ndc-3.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/ammhieq87398gef\/ndc-3.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 5em;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=(from%3Adalelane)%20until%3A2022-04-30%20since%3A2022-04-26&amp;src=typed_query&amp;f=live\">what I said at the time (twitter)<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>EMF Camp<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.emfcamp.org\">emfcamp.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d2513519.3294864222!2d-4.624827405559723!3d52.03222547991488!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x0%3A0x621a71035f69da57!2zNTLCsDAxJzU2LjAiTiAywrAyMycwMS4wIlc!5e0!3m2!1sen!2snl!4v1668187736901!5m2!1sen!2snl\" width=\"450\" height=\"250\" style=\"border:thin black solid;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A camping festival, except everyone there is a geek and a maker.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to describe the event in a way that does it justice. If you think of yourself as a geek or a maker at all, go look at their website or watch the video below &#8211; because there is a good chance you&#8217;ll love it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/7libhicj81d7gwj\/emf-camp-3.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/f9fpxe27l9wepi4\/emf-camp-3.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I ran a hands-on AI\/ML workshop in the Youth Zone (with a lot of help from <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.cohen-rose.org\">Adam<\/a>), which was a lot of fun.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" style=\"border: thin black solid;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UWQuMnWcmwc\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Everywhere I went, there was something to play with, tinker with, and learn from. Everything was hackable (even the name badges!) and everyone there was fizzing with creativity.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/fct6lycwuyponjn\/emf-camp-1.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/l96dzmsicdqf7yr\/emf-camp-1.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I had the best time there. I wish I&#8217;d gotten a ticket to stay for the whole four days &#8211; I&#8217;d been put off by the cost, but it is absolutely worth it. I can&#8217;t wait for the next one &#8211; I&#8217;ll definitely be there.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/q9dpf31zjajv0et\/emf-camp-2.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/z6zjujzzj0n6qkh\/emf-camp-2.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 5em;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=(from%3Adalelane)%20until%3A2022-06-05%20since%3A2022-06-04&amp;src=typed_query&amp;f=live\">what I said at the time (twitter)<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Heapcon<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/heapcon.io\">heapcon.io<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d11833757.18584377!2d11.362447078316126!3d44.828814796614445!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x475a65aefcdf6061%3A0xfdad4167f0f9fd0b!2sOpera%20%26%20Theatre%20Madlenianum!5e0!3m2!1sen!2snl!4v1668186787324!5m2!1sen!2snl\" width=\"450\" height=\"250\" style=\"border:thin black solid;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A tech conference in a 500-seat opera and theatre house. The main stage held the &#8220;C&#8221; track, and upstairs a smaller theatre held the &#8220;U&#8221; track. And there was a floor with stands from a range of tech companies.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/ivk6c5hq1r9kqi9\/heapcon-2.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/ivk6c5hq1r9kqi9\/heapcon-2.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>My talk was a series of stories of AI\/ML lessons I&#8217;ve taught in schools &#8211; how I&#8217;ve seen children react and respond to machine learning tech, and what they&#8217;ve learned from it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/wqyfp1qm9izdesl\/heapcon-1.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/cghx1m2x11fpl5o\/heapcon-1.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As is often the case with tech conferences, I came away inspired, with a list of tech I want to try out &#8211; tools, programming languages, and techniques I haven&#8217;t tried before.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/CkiXEvDqAQ6\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\"width: 450px;\"><\/blockquote>\n<p>I had a day to explore Belgrade while I was there. My favourite bit was exploring Belgrade Fortress, which was beautiful. I spent an afternoon walking around it and the surrounding parks, and loved it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/espe5ucpkiuk2zp\/heapcon-3.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/1ds0f37rzwdkfnx\/heapcon-3.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 5em;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=(from%3Adalelane)%20until%3A2022-11-05%20since%3A2022-11-02%20-filter%3Areplies&amp;src=typed_query&amp;f=live\">what I said at the time (twitter)<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Devoxx (UK)<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.devoxx.co.uk\">devoxx.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d158834.03283772361!2d-0.24512234331432745!3d51.535562516364415!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x48761b42aca314f1%3A0x26e058fdce21434a!2sBusiness%20Design%20Centre!5e0!3m2!1sen!2snl!4v1668187332859!5m2!1sen!2snl\" width=\"450\" height=\"250\" style=\"border:thin black solid;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve presented at Devoxx many times now, and I always love it. It&#8217;s a large, slick, professional tech conference, that somehow has managed to keep the friendly, welcoming vibe of a much, much smaller event.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/125714253@N02\/52084808368\/in\/album-72177720299083546\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/gjrab82qw2rlrtf\/devoxx-3.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lori and I gave a talk about ChatOps. We ran a bunch of Java and Kafka apps in OpenShift, and then demo&#8217;ed how to manage them from Slack using Hubot.<\/p>\n<p>(And more importantly, talked about the cultural and team benefits that come from ChatOps practices).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/125714253@N02\/52085290975\/in\/album-72177720299083546\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/qzr39hgmudkmcu7\/devoxx-1.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>There were hundreds of sessions, on so many topics. I tried sessions on tech that I haven&#8217;t used before, like Pulsar and golang, and a delightfully silly talk about a <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/j5iVUhXOlbA\">Shitposting AI<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" style=\"width: 450px;\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">That&#8217;s a wrap! Thank you for participating in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DevoxxUK?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DevoxxUK<\/a>! ?<\/p>\n<p>We had a fantastic few days, and we thank you for being a part of this amazing community!<\/p>\n<p>We look forward to seeing you in 2023! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kGY989qqTb\">pic.twitter.com\/kGY989qqTb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 DevoxxUK ?? 10th &#8211; 12th May (@DevoxxUK) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DevoxxUK\/status\/1526110157310246913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 16, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/125714253@N02\/52084799156\/in\/album-72177720299083546\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/lw8oxs10sq4ru14\/devoxx-2.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; margin-bottom: 5em;\"\/><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Kafka Summit (London)<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kafka-summit.org\/kafka-summit-london-2022\">kafka-summit.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d77853.21394345979!2d-0.05578805812244947!3d51.494251649769986!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x487602a786d042e1%3A0xe75c7debf7b59834!2sInterContinental%20London%20-%20the%20O2%2C%20an%20IHG%20Hotel!5e0!3m2!1sen!2snl!4v1668187439397!5m2!1sen!2snl\" width=\"450\" height=\"250\" style=\"border:thin black solid;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been to many <a href=\"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/?s=kafka+summit\">Kafka Summits<\/a> before, in London, New York, and San Francisco.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/hfignjo35lghzzi\/kafka-summit-1.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/yfhz4sd87lhbe00\/kafka-summit-1.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kafka Summit is a rare event for me &#8211; I don&#8217;t often go to tech conferences with such a narrow technology focus. I don&#8217;t go there to broaden my horizons, I go to dive deep. It brings an intensity that you don&#8217;t quite get with other tech events.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/9it3e8iqcf0mora\/kafka-summit-2.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/rtct0jbi96ex235\/kafka-summit-2.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; \"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Everyone there is interested in Kafka. Some of them have been using it for years. Some are looking to get started. But everyone has a single technology in common. It&#8217;s an unusual event, but the discussions there are super useful and interesting.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"450\" height=\"250\" style=\"border:thin black solid;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Y17QucyN1ts\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This year, Kafka Summit was at a hotel next to The O2 &#8211; which is a bit of London I&#8217;m always happy for an excuse to visit again.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/tlmjm291kde55zx\/kafka-summit-3.jpg?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/iznnyh854awb5fc\/kafka-summit-3.jpg?raw=1\" style=\"width: 450px; border: thin black solid; margin-bottom: 5em;\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Virtual events are still a thing&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p>I haven&#8217;t totally abandoned online tech events. I&#8217;ve still given more talks at online events and webinars this year than I have been to in-person events.<\/p>\n<p>For example, I presented at APIdays Hong Kong about how to introduce Kafka into existing applications, and I presented at EDA Summit about using AsyncAPI.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Any excuse to encourage devs to adopt Kafka is always a good thing! It was great to speak at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/APIdaysGlobal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@APIdaysGlobal<\/a> today and show a few live demos of how to use Kafka to introduce asynchronous APIs into existing applications <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NO588fUP0L\">https:\/\/t.co\/NO588fUP0L<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dale Lane (@dalelane) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dalelane\/status\/1562733691633143808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 25, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">there is something very painful about watching (and even worse, hearing!) yourself give a presentation ? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rIuUiU6tOs\">pic.twitter.com\/rIuUiU6tOs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dale Lane (@dalelane) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dalelane\/status\/1521926577243762688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But, as useful as they are, I don&#8217;t come away from online events nearly as energised or inspired as I do from in-person events.<\/p>\n<p>A huge thank you to all the organisers who have worked so hard to bring back tech conferences and events this year, and I hope I&#8217;ll get to visit even more in 2023.<\/p>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve loved the return of (in-person) tech events and conferences this year. I&#8217;m not expecting to go to any more events in 2022, so I thought this would be a good time to look back over some of my highlights for this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4705\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dalelane.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}