2019 Events

Front-End

Stuck in Class? React Hooks is your "Get Out of Class" Pass

Friday June 7, 1:30 PM (45 min)

There are 11 new React Hooks functions that enable a full range of functionality and possibilities. These hooks are different and set the bar high for fewer re-writes and highly sustainable code. React Hooks enable the functional component use of the state, context, lifecycle methods, etc. without writing the class component. Basic hooks that we have seen are UseState, UseEffect, and UseContext. In this talk, we will look at some advanced React hooks and how they will optimize your code.

Speakers

Don't Be Afraid of the JavaScript Stack Trace

Thursday June 6, 3:45 PM (45 min)

At some point, your code will not work. You could spend hours trying to google for a solution. Instead, use the JavaScript stack trace to find the problem. A beginner-friendly overview of the JavaScript stack trace and tips on how to use it.

Speakers

Build Accessible UI with React!

Thursday June 6, 11:00 AM (45 min)

If you browse web applications today, you'll often find issues that are found in modern web applications and lack of empathy for disabled users. You may be unaware or uncertain on how to go about implementing accessibility into your code. In my presentation, I'll provide solutions to those issues that can quickly be implemented and show a simple and efficient example of making your React application more accessible!

Speakers

A React Developer’s Guide to Tech Interviews

Friday June 7, 2:30 PM (45 min)

React is one of the latest and greatest frameworks everyone is buzzing about. You've done some projects and you want to become an official React Developer. We will talk about the most important concepts that every React Developer should know and questions they might ask you in your next interview. I will also include any new ES6 and ES7 features that will be very helpful.

Speakers

Complexity Management with NgRx

Friday June 7, 11:45 AM (45 min)

As your Angular application grows and becomes more complex, you need a consistent way of describing and controlling application flows. NgRx is a reactive framework for managing state and side effects in your Angular application. NgRx allows you to decrease responsibility of your components, isolate interactions with external APIs, and organize your application into smaller modules of code. We'll look at using state management with common patterns, practices that help you scale up your application, and how to keep your state management infrastructure manageable.

Speakers

The Schematic Rises: Schematics for noobs

Friday June 7, 10:45 AM (45 min)

Schematics is a workflow tool for the modern web. They are generators that transform an existing file system. It can apply transforms to your project, such as create new components, or updating your code to fix breaking changes in dependencies. In this talk, we will use schematics to build a game.

Speakers

The Great MiniBar Challenge: MixoLogy

Thursday June 6, 2:45 PM (45 min)

How many hours of human potential are wasted by standing in front of a refrigerator, trying to figure out what kind of ingredients can pair together to create a meal? For folks who travel, the end of a day at work is often brought to a crashing halt as you stare sadly into your hotel’s minibar, trying to figure out a nightcap from the odd assortment of tiny bottles on the shelf. What if there was a mobile app that could intelligently scan the bottles and use machine learning with a custom trained model to suggest for you the World’s Greatest Minibar Cocktail? What if that app was written using NativeScript-Vue, and the training was done using TensorFlow? In this talk, we’ll learn how to create a native mobile app using Vue.js, and how to integrate TensorFlow custom models, allowing your mobile app to train data on device. Join me as we walk through the creation of MixoLogy, sampling an original creation concocted for you via machine learning, based on a scan of a minibar. One more of life’s little problems, solved through technology.

Speakers

Planet Of The APIs

Friday June 7, 9:45 AM (45 min)

A quarter century has passed since the first browser was released. Tim Berners-Lee’s pioneering followed by Marc Andreessen's groundbreaking Mosaic browser come Navigator, spawned an industry that regaled in loading information onto a screen for users of the internet all over. But in 2019, webpage complexities have resulted in resource loading and rendering intricacies. Added, consumer comportment has shifted dramatically. Late 2016 saw the mobile client usage eclipse the desktop one for the 1st time in history. This has left developers with new found duties, notably: the disciplined delivery of data. We once referred to raw timing data provided by the browser to measure performance. The modern web experience soon demanded metrics beyond DOMContentLoaded and onLoad events. We've now introduced more complex measurements with Paint Timing API, Network Information API and Time To Interactive to name a few. Planet Of The APIs peruses present-day and even experimental APIs employed in assessing and accelerate resource loading and measuring page renders. And with an increasingly favourable browser landscape, we will look at how we can start to use these in the on going pursuit of providing stellar and speedy mobile user experiences.

Speakers

Progressive Web Apps across all frameworks

Thursday June 6, 10:00 AM (45 min)

Progressive Web Apps! You may have heard of them, but how does one actually go about building one? In this session we'll go over the basics of PWAs and what tools exist in the JavaScript ecosystem & frameworks that can make writing PWAs simple for everyone.

Speakers

Diving into GatsbyJS

Thursday June 6, 12:00 PM (45 min)

Have you ever used a website template before? Well, that's how the original Refactr website was built. It was a template that included lots of html, css and javascript written by someone else. We took things a step further by moving that template into a GatsbyJS project. In doing so, the Refactr offers a better user experience and is much easier to sustain. Join this session to learn about my experience using GatsbyJS for the first time and the lessons learned along the way.

Speakers

Workshop

Next-Generation End-to-End Testing with Cypress

Wednesday June 5, 9:00 AM (45 min)

We all want to consistently ship quality software. One of the best ways to do that is by end-to-end (E2E) testing our code as it simulates the real actions of our beloved users. Let’s be frank though, E2E testing is notoriously time-consuming, expensive, slow, and often flaky. Unfortunately, these issues lead to developers doing very little to no E2E testing, and taking solace in a plethora of unit-tests that cannot fully test the intended experience of users. We can do better. In this hands-on session, we’ll dive deep into using Cypress, an open-source tool that enables us to easily and beautifully write flake-free, reliable, deterministic E2E tests for our web applications. Like a good friend, E2E tests should be there to give us confidence in the software we ship down the wire.

Speakers

Vue Vixens Skulk

Wednesday June 5, 9:00 AM (45 min)

The workshop is a free addition to the REFACTR.TECH main conference ticket. Vue Vixens is an initiative that aims to create workshops to teach Vue.js in a cool and fun way to foxy people who identify as women. It is based on the successful model pioneered by ng-Girls, Rails Bridge and Django Girls initiatives. The format is a self-driven code lab completed in a workshop format in groups with mentoring by conference-goers and speakers who volunteer to help. The goal of the program is to familiarize women and those who identify as such in a supportive and inclusive location with Vue.js and general web and mobile programming concepts. Welcome to the skulk!

Speakers

We're Not In East Egg, Anymore: Gatsby.js in Practice

Wednesday June 5, 9:00 AM (45 min)

Did you know that Gatsby.js is much more than a static site generator? Well, let’s build something to find out just what makes Gatsby.js not only an excellent choice for your personal website but also a great option for client and production sites, also. In this workshop, we’ll build a few different sites with Gatsby in order to learn how: Gatsby sources data (from almost anywhere) using GraphQL Gatsby generates your site as a progressive web app (PWA) and why that matters Gatsby simplifies deployment of your site by building it as static files How liberating the developer experience can be with Gatsby.js Attendees can expect to leave with at least one deployed Gatsby.js site. (Based on the desires of the attendees and time permitting, we will also demo hosting a Gatsby site at your own personal domain name - I’ve done it and have not looked back since.)

Speakers

Get Flapping with Flutter

Wednesday June 5, 9:00 AM (45 min)

Flutter is tool from Google for quickly creating beautiful native apps for iOS and Android. In this introductory workshop, we'll take you from zero to soaring and you will leave with a fully functional app that you can build on.

Speakers

Let's Learn GraphQL: The End Of REST

Wednesday June 5, 9:00 AM (45 min)

GraphQL is a technology that is poised to replace, or at the very least, drastically change the way APIs are designed and presented. In this hands-on workshop, you'll learn GraphQL from the ground up. We start with creating a backend server using Node.js then learn about schemas, mutations and using GraphiQL to test queries. By the end of this workshop, you will understand how to install and utilize GraphQL. Pre-workshop requirements: NodeJS installed on your computer Text Editor (Atom, VIM, Sublime Text, Visual Studio Code, WebStorm Terminal Create an account on mLab

Speakers

Cool Shit

Intersection of Awesome: Building AI enabled IoT solutions powered by the cloud

Friday June 7, 9:45 AM (45 min)

As you all have probably heard by now the Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most exciting trends in the tech industry. By 2030, IoT is projected to explode into a technical industry that will be around $14 trillion that’s almost the size of the China’s current economy. Simultaneously, artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm and creating technical solutions we never thought possible. By combining AI and IoT using the cloud and Edge capabilities, we can build something that can only be described as the intersection of awesome. In this session, we will explore and join AI cloud-native deep learning technologies and IoT cloud enabled devices by walking through and building an IoT solution with AI superpowers. Join for a demo session exploring the awesomeness of IoT and AI.

Speakers

How Big Data is Powering the Internet of Things (IoT) Revolution

Friday June 7, 2:30 PM (45 min)

The Internet of Things has made easier for people to create and invent new devices due to lower costs and greater access. As a result, there has been an exponential growth of data in the IoT. Come to explore with me how Big Data is helping to generate insights from it.

Speakers

How to Make a Programming Language

Thursday June 6, 12:00 PM (45 min)

Have you've ever wondered how a programming language is made? Come see for yourself! In this talk, you'll be treated to an overview of the parts a typical programming language is made out of, and you'll see a new language invented right in front of your eyes.

Speakers

The "R" in AR means data and Augmented Images makes it happen

Thursday June 6, 11:00 AM (45 min)

Today there are lots of case studies for Spatial Computing (Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality etc) in education and entertainment. Unfortunately, the newly released ARCore features like Augmented Images still lack tutorials and practical examples. In this interactive session, Noble Ackerson, a seasoned Technical Product Lead and GDE, shares insights with examples through a fun "choose your own adventure" technical talk (Bandersnatch-style), on how to build marker-based AR with Augmented Images to create experiences to transform data from the world into practical utility for your users.

Speakers

Solving diabetes in 2019 with an Open Source Artificial Pancreas

Friday June 7, 11:45 AM (45 min)

Scott has been a Type 1 diabetic for nearly 25 years. When he first became diabetic he did what every engineer would do...he wrote an app to solve his problem. Fast forward to 2019 and Scott lives 24 hours a day connected to an open source artificial pancreas. After years of waiting, the diabetes community online creating solutions. Now the future of diabetes care is more promising than ever and open source (and open data standards) are making it possible. Scott will go through the history of diabetes online, the components (both hardware and software) needed for an artificial pancreas, and discuss the architectural design of two popular systems (LoopKit and OpenAPS). We’ll also learn how social networking can influence national health policy. Plus, you'll see Scott *not die* live on stage as he's been "looping" for over a year!

Speakers

Blockchain Imaginarium

Friday June 7, 1:30 PM (45 min)

What does the future look like for blockchain as it converges with IoT, AI and other new emerging technologies? We will discuss the impact and the disruption that is to come.

Speakers

Getting started with AI for free

Thursday June 6, 3:45 PM (45 min)

Curious about AI? Find out how you can get started today! We’ll walk through several tools that are open source and commonly used in data science. I’ll also provide information about the algorithms being used and use-cases you can try after the session.

Speakers

IoT for the Introvert

Thursday June 6, 10:00 AM (45 min)

You can’t spell “introvert” without “IoT”, which is why Chloe is here to show us how she used Azure IoT services to help her get out of not-so-fun social situations. In this talk, she’ll walk through how you can use a simple Flic button and Azure IoT to save yourself from your next awkward convo.

Speakers

Quantum Computing Demystified

Thursday June 6, 2:45 PM (45 min)

To some Quantum computing is the next big frontier in Tech that is going to be revolutionary while to others it is all hype. In this talk we will explore the brave new world of Quantum Computing, how it works, its applications today and the big players in this space. We will also get our feet wet with a Hello World program written for a Quantum Computer and run it on the Cloud!

Speakers

Learning From Machines

Friday June 7, 10:45 AM (45 min)

Why can't you tickle yourself? How do you know where you are? Why do DeepDream images look so trippy? Why does trauma come in waves, washing over us again and again? Computational neuroscience provides insight into these questions and more. In visually lush presentation, I'll take us on a journey through biological and artificial minds, exploring how models of cognition informed by machine learning and computation can help us illuminate and reconfigure our own processes of being.

Speakers

Software Engineering

WebAssembly: Your Browser is the new OS

Friday June 7, 11:45 AM (45 min)

WebAssembly, or Wasm for short, is a stack-based virtual machine that runs on existing browser engines. It is a cross-platform binary portable target for language compilers. WebAssembly makes it possible to build high performance Single Page Applications (SPA) without relying on JavaScript and/or other front-end frameworks. Learn what Wasm is and does and see it in action with examples using Go, Rust, and C#.

Speakers

DevOps: A Love Story

Thursday June 6, 2:45 PM (45 min)

This romance involves the partnership of Docker, Kubernetes, and Jenkins. These technologies are a huge part of the DevOps movement, and are making the heart of many development teams flutter. Let me introduce you to these three. You’re going to fall head over heels.

Speakers

Serverless Architecture: The New New Cloud Native

Thursday June 6, 11:00 AM (45 min)

Serverless doesn’t mean no servers—it’s a metaphor for a new way of designing applications that builds on microservices. Moving to serverless allows you to take your application development, deployment, and economics to a new level while delivering software to your customers faster and with cheaper. But there are also significant trade-offs to keep in mind. Pratik Patel walks you through a short introduction to serverless architecture and explains why it’s an architectural style to pay attention to, especially if your company is already deploying cloud applications. You’ll learn how serverless architecture fits into the world of microservices and examine the pyramid of application development and deployment. You’ll then put on your architect hat to look at serverless options and how they impact applications architecture. You’ll leave with a solid understanding of the benefits (faster deployment, more often, with lower cost) and challenges (debugging, data stores, testing, and more) of moving to a serverless architecture.

Speakers

Visual Studio Code Sparks Joy

Friday June 7, 10:45 AM (45 min)

Microsoft's Visual Studio Code is on the rise! It is now a preferred tool of many developers. If you're new to VS Code come learn some beginner tips, and tricks that will make you a faster and more efficient developer. We'll dive into useful keyboard shortcuts, snippets, plugins, themes and debugging!

Speakers

"When do you say “this” is a problem?” Lessons on implementing a plan to clean-up technical debt

Friday June 7, 2:30 PM (45 min)

One thing that every application has is technical debt. We’ve all seen the skeleton’s in the closet (and may have even hid some in there), but at some point the crows come to visit and in order for the business to move forward we have to clean-up some of the accumulated debt. But when management is being stubborn what can you do to at least get the ball rolling? We’ll talk about technical debt, how it accumulates, and why the business doesn’t have any interest in cleaning it up. As well as, how to implement practices around your engineering practice that can help alleviate you of future debt accumulation.

Speakers

Phoenix: the Rise of the Live Web

Thursday June 6, 3:45 PM (45 min)

Phoenix allows us to create rich and interactive web applications written in the beautiful and elegant Elixir syntax. Under the hood the battle-proven Erlang VM allows us to handle millions of concurrent processes. The Channel and LiveView technologies enable us to build real-time, stream-based, interactive products. We'll discover how all those features are wrapped in a simple and modular architecture which makes Phoenix one of the most productive, stable and scalable frameworks currently available.

Speakers

Cultivating Production Excellence

Friday June 7, 1:30 PM (45 min)

Taming the complex distributed systems we're responsible for requires changing not just the tools and technical approaches we use; it also requires changing who is involved in production, how they collaborate, and how we measure success. In this talk, you'll learn about several practices core to production excellence: giving everyone a stake in production, collaborating to ensure observability, measuring with Service Level Objectives, and prioritizing improvements using risk analysis.

Speakers

Creating a Culture of Quality

Thursday June 6, 12:00 PM (45 min)

A culture of quality gives your company the ability to build and launch high-quality products that meet your stakeholders’ needs. The idea of quality is often synonymous with the role of Quality Assurance Engineer, and the responsibility of quality considerations is often relegated to those with the title. I believe software companies can do better, and create a culture of quality that allows everyone to contribute to quality practices!

Speakers

DevOps 101: Automation without frustration!

Friday June 7, 9:45 AM (45 min)

The world of infrastructure is rare for many. One of the most amazing "gifts" of this era is to be able to provision and deploy infrastructure as code. It doesn't have to be obscure and complicated. In this talk I have a practical example of migrating a complex infrastructure to the automation world and share how I eliminated the frustration factor from the automation process!

Speakers

Rapid Prototyping and the Future of Software

Thursday June 6, 10:00 AM (45 min)

Rapid prototyping as an art presents a unique approach to creating software products. This talk argues that rapid prototyping presents a novel solution to the new software crisis. It further explores how engineers can leverage prototyping to provide value to their companies. Lastly, it presents several strategies for incorporating rapid prototyping into the software life-cycle.

Speakers

Keynote

Forging a Path Through Inclusive Entrepreneurship

Thursday June 6, 1:45 PM (45 min)

Being an entrepreneur is hard and there is more than one path to success. But what happens when you don't fit the mold of a typical tech entrepreneur or investor? What are some of the barriers to inclusion in entrepreneurship? And how do you find ways to make it work as a founder from an underserved group? Panelists will discuss the challenges that they have faced, as entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds, as they look to raise money, build their businesses and build community. They’ll discuss what has worked, things they would have done differently and the resources that kept them moving.

Speakers

Empowering the Mind

Friday June 7, 3:30 PM (45 min)

What is the next way we interact with technology? The input source is getting closer and closer to the brain. Alex Castillo will share how Neurosity empowers the mind with JavaScript and AI. There is an evolution taking place in how humans interact with their computing devices. In 1985 when Apple introduced the Macintosh, consumers began using a mouse instead of only their keyboards to interact with their personal computers. Today, where would we be without a mouse, trackpad or touchscreen? We are on a path, and at Neurosity, we are working on the next logical step; interacting with our devices through our minds.

Speakers

DIVERSITY - IS IT A PIPELINE PROBLEM? INCLUSION - IS IT THAT HARD? HOW TO CREATE A BETTER CULTURE IN TECHNOLOGY, YOUR COMPANY, AND THE COMMUNITY

Thursday June 6, 9:15 AM (45 min)

Everyone is talking about diversity and inclusion these days. But why does it really matter? And if you’ve had a hard time finding women to hire, how do you solve that problem? What are some ways companies have done D&I right, and how can you learn from them? We’ll explore some practical reasons why you should be aware of how D&I impacts your business and easy tips to begin changing how you and your team think today. We’ll also cover do’s and don’ts of how to build an inclusive team culture and creating a sustainable environment that includes everyone.

Speakers

Finding Purpose Through the Things We Build

Friday June 7, 9:00 AM (45 min)

Developing software that addresses some of the world's most pressing problems relies on a human centered approach as it provides a context in which to investigate solutions and their potential impact. It can help us to create better, more useful software, while also questioning the proper ways to develop and design products. By examining the trajectory of Appolition, a software product designed to make contributing in bail relief easy for users and that centers the black experience, I will talk about how community engagement and empathy and have been crucial to its success and how Appolition serves as a template for future innovations.

Speakers

Product/UX/UI

Aligning people and product through design systems

Thursday June 6, 11:00 AM (45 min)

With the rise of design-led organizations, the role of designer has shifted from that of mere stylist to being a business' number one problem solver. To build products that people love, designers have to do more than just solve problems. They must structure the way they work, establishing a system of guiding values and principles that support and drive the design process. This design system includes documentation, workflows, and even code. To be successful, it requires the support and participation of the entire organization. This is because design systems are not just for designers. A good design system will provide a solid foundation for your organization, enabling product managers and engineers to make decisions without relying on constant feedback from designers. In turn, designers will gain time to focus on exploring and solving other problems. Based on material from her upcoming book with co-author Taurie Davis, Sarrah will guide you through the basics of building a design system. You will learn how to define a design language that can be understood across teams and establish a communication strategy to sell your system to key stakeholders and other contributors.

Speakers

Why designers should practice Integrative Thinking, the lesser known sibling of Design Thinking.

Thursday June 6, 2:45 PM (45 min)

Design Thinking recommends we teach others to design, but how could this work in practice? Our teammates are working towards goals which may not align neatly with user experience. When building a culture of designing for the user, it must be self-sustaining. Allow me to introduce the practice of Integrative Thinking. In this talk, I’ll explore the process of an effective designer. Design Thinking recommends we teach others to design, but how could this work in practice? Our teammates are working towards goals which may not neatly align with user experience. If we are to build a culture of designing for the user, it must be self-sustaining. The most effective designers are bridges between functions. These folks are practicing Integrative Thinking. Integrative Thinking holds opposing ideas at once. It observes their dualities and generates a new solution. We unblock and enhance process instead of forcing design onto others. In this talk, we will explore Integrative Thinking. I will share a practice which will have your team to: - Navigate complex, and often conflicting, user needs. - Build a self-sustaining culture of user centered design. - Enjoy multiplier effects on productivity and fulfillment at work.

Speakers

UX, Empathy and inclusivity in the age of Intelligence

Thursday June 6, 12:00 PM (45 min)

We'll walk through what UX looks like in the age of smart products with AI and Machine Learning (ML). Touch base on the basic 508 accessibility requirements and create a checklist of how we can make simple solutions for them. You'll also learn about a list of UX principles you can take with you to help fend against the unintended consequences of what we can call Artificial Unintelligence and unintentional biases in the age of intelligence because smarter isn't always better.

Speakers

Secrets for innovating disruptive products

Thursday June 6, 3:45 PM (45 min)

Everyone wants to create the next great product, but often the team's efforts fall flat. Teams that really want to disrupt their market can use a few easy techniques to create a vision for the future, transform their conversations from talking about features to describing experiences, and take the incremental steps needed to get there.

Speakers

Intro to Data Analytics -- SSRS and PowerBI for data visualization

Thursday June 6, 10:00 AM (45 min)

Data is everywhere today, but how do you take advantage of it? Are you making data informed decisions? Or is the data of your business too hard to read? Join Jamie Anne Harrell in this session as she walks you through how to transform data into insights. Learn some quick and easy techniques to turn the data of your business into visualizations that can create a meaningful impact on your decisions. This session will focus on a beginners look at the Microsoft Business Intelligence suite including SSIS, SSRS and PowerBI.

Speakers

Social Impact

Web Accessibility 101: Intersectional inclusion in the digital world

Friday June 7, 10:45 AM (45 min)

According to the World Health Organization, there are 1 billion people with some form of disability. To mitigate the negative social and economic effects produced by an inaccessible digital world, and given that the world wide web is still the most popular form of accessing the internet, we have to think of web accessibility as one of our top priorities. Web accessibility can be an intimidating subject for web developers, information is hard to find and gather, and sometimes, out of date. I will provide the basic information that developers need to dive into the complex world of web accessibility. The starting point will be a review of the POUR principles that dictate that websites should Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust, and after that, I will dive into more hands-on topics related to the coding and development of accessible websites and the testing tools and techniques available for determining how accessible our applications are. I will do live demos of tools like screen readers and visual impairments simulators with the goal of helping attendees understand the challenges faced by people with disabilities when surfing the web and to show the difference that accessible coding can make for users of assistive technologies. disabilities who are excluded from the amazing opportunities created by the digital revolution, given its transformative power the United Nations now considers access to the internet a basic human right and since the world-wide-web is the most popular way to access the internet, web accessibility has to be one of our top priorities as an industry.

Speakers

The challenges in building a social app

Friday June 7, 2:30 PM (45 min)

Anyone can create and change the way things are by using tech to solve a problem in the community. How I, as a woman seeing my female family members and friends being abused, decided to do something about it. That is why I created a social app - PEVO - that can change the world.

Speakers

Refactor your body for better performance

Friday June 7, 9:45 AM (45 min)

Our bodies are like codebases — the more we take care of them, the longer they last and the more we get out of them. We all know what “technical debt” is, but what about “fitness debt?” Fitness debt is what we owe our body in order to be back in good health and get the most out of our bodies. Just as there are simple steps we can take to lower the amount of technical debt we accrue in our code, there are simple steps that we can take to lower the amount of fitness debt we accrue in our bodies. This talk will focus on introducing some simple steps as well as providing information about going further.

Speakers

Writing inclusive docs

Friday June 7, 11:45 AM (45 min)

I believe that docs—particularly those in English—are for everyone. They're not just for native speakers, or people exposed to the same pop culture, or from the same generation, or with the same abilities and preferences as me. In this talk, I'll share concrete strategies we use to make the Vue docs more globally accessible, including how these refactors also improve the experience of native speakers.

Speakers

Reconfiguring Our Mindset from “Self-taught” to “Community-taught”

Friday June 7, 1:30 PM (45 min)

We learn from those around us, whether it be through articles, walkthroughs, well-written code, videos, meetup and conference talks, Twitter, StackOverflow, etc. No matter our educational background, we have all benefited greatly from the vast number of resources available in the community. Together, we’ll see how shifting our mindset from "self-taught" to "community-taught" recognizes these resources as well as the responsibility we all have as members of the community to be responsible in and with it, to help sustain it, and to make it available to others who are in different stages of their educational journey.

Speakers

Career & Leadership

Mentoring the way to diversity and inclusion

Thursday June 6, 3:45 PM (45 min)

Do you work at a company that is “difficult” or “not set up for” juniors? Do you care about diversity and inclusion of under-represented groups at your workplace? Do you ever stay awake at night with the gnawing feeling that these two ideas are somehow incompatible, but can’t put a finger on why or explain to your company how? This talk is for you. Often, the endeavors of hiring and mentoring junior engineers and of bolstering diversity and inclusion efforts are seen as “nice to haves” at best and “extraneous” (or even “impossible”!) at worst. But in reality, building diversity and inclusivity and fostering the ability to incorporate and mentor junior engineers go hand-in-hand. Engineering teams would do well to approach each of these efforts in service of the other. Together, we’ll articulate the value of investing in mentorship efforts in terms of its impact on the ability to attract and retain diversity at your company. As an attendee, you will walk away with a clearer understanding of the connection between the two efforts, and ideas for incorporating mentorship and D&I processes at your place of work.

Speakers

Let's talk about money

Friday June 7, 2:30 PM (45 min)

Setting other people’s salaries is terrifying business. Often HR doesn’t give useful advice and the system is set up to perpetuate inequality. Let’s talk about a better way of approaching performance reviews and how that can lead to easier conversations about compensation and promotions.

Speakers

Ignite the Fire: How Managers Can Sparks New Leaders

Friday June 7, 9:45 AM (45 min)

Nick discusses the three ingredients for inspiring your non-manager leaders to emerge and provides a simple techniques any new manager can apply.

Speakers

Being Original and Leading in Software Engineering

Thursday June 6, 12:00 PM (45 min)

Netflix will deliver a stunning panel who will share with you their experiences leading, developing and navigating their careers as Senior Black Software Engineers. This is guaranteed to be a great event to learn from and engage with /dev/color A*members!

Speakers

Inclusive Architecture - Designing your applications and team for the future.

Friday June 7, 11:45 AM (45 min)

We are all too familiar with projects and companies that only seem to be able to support senior developers, but this can get expensive, unsustainable, and your team can begin to look very myopic. Teams begin groupthink, ideas become stale, and it can be difficult to reinvigorate the growing sense of mundane development. It doesn't have to be this way. In fact, creating an inclusive architecture can help development go faster and become more cost effective. It's not difficult to begin adjusting your sails and create an architecture and process that is inclusive in nature to support junior developers, project managers, and designers. No application is too critical, complicated, or obscure to be able to achieve this. We'll talk through frameworks, tools, abstractions, and simple steps that can help you start building inclusively. We will also talk through how you can build a corresponding culture that allows inclusivity on your team, and why this is so critical to your business. We'll walk through processes you can incorporate, team roles, and how you can build a better template for the future of your business.

Speakers

Bootstrapping Inclusion

Friday June 7, 10:45 AM (45 min)

Diversity and Inclusion are hot topics right now. But, year after year, our industry fails to move the numbers significantly. It seems everyone is talking about it, but how do you actually bring about change? In this presentation, I’ll share the concrete actions from my efforts to bring inclusive practices into an engineering organization. From conceptualization to communication and implementation, you’ll hear about what worked and where I struggled. You’ll walk away with real world tactics—going beyond unconscious bias training and rooney rules—that you can use to start building your own inclusive workplaces.

Speakers

Influence - Witchcraft and Wizardry

Thursday June 6, 11:00 AM (45 min)

Knowing the right path, and having managers, coworkers, or family dismiss your hard-won wisdom? You need influence; a thin web that is far too ignored by those who need it because all who wield it aren’t noticed as magical creatures, but leaders. Turn your words into magic.

Speakers

Harnessing your team superpowers

Friday June 7, 1:30 PM (45 min)

Joining a new company or team can be terrifying but imagine joining a team where you are expected to lead and have very little context. I'm prepared to share stories and tips from my six year management journey on how to lead with empathy while harnessing your team superpowers. Will share an exercise we used at Slack to determine everyone's superpower and how it can be used for good or cause harm. The audience for this talk should be managers or inspiring managers.

Speakers

Building Inclusive Engineering Teams

Thursday June 6, 2:45 PM (45 min)

Mekka has built inclusive engineering teams both at start-ups, and major tech companies like Google. In this talk, Mekka shares practical, effective tips for building inclusive teams.

Speakers

How we change the world: Ethics, power, and leadership in tech

Thursday June 6, 10:00 AM (45 min)

Knowledge is power and software is leverage. We have the ability to create change with each commit made, feature built, team led, product shipped. How can you use your power for good? Whether you’re a tester, developer, engineer, designer, manager, product owner, or founder, your voice and actions matter. We’ll think about some common situations and patterns and how we make changes large and small. Unfortunately, the dark side has cookies.

Speakers