This was my first year attending Nor(Dev)con: and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. The conference was held across three days, with the first day being full of workshops and the final two days hosting talks and presentations from a variety of speakers.
Nor(Dev)con: was set up a little differently this year, with the inclusion of more business sessions and talks which were brought in by popular demand, as well as tech sessions and talks and I think that it worked very well. There was a wide variety of sessions to go to and the majority of them were very engaging and interesting.
My favourite talk by far was presented by Dom Davis who talked about “Fake it until you make it” and gave a very engaging and well planned out presentation. He talked a little about ‘imposter syndrome’, which is where you feel like you are in imposter in a situation you are in and then went on to talk about people’s perceptions of other people and how one person may perceive him to be a confident speaker with excellent presentation skills, but in reality he perceives himself to be an anxious public speaker who must plan out and rehearse his presentation so that nothing is left to chance. He proved his point when he used voice commands to enable an assistance system in a game, but then explained that it was all staged for effect to give a better presentation and to leave nothing to chance. Faking it, until he made it.
The tech talks were brilliant throughout the day, with lots of tips and insights into the world of technology, but I also thoroughly enjoyed the inclusion of business talks as well. I went to a session that was run by Matthew Draycott and he covered the topic of building a ‘Growth Business’. I thought that this was a great session because it gave a lot of insight into the world of business, how you might wish to grow your business and the strategies you can use to build a long-term, successful business. It covered things that I wouldn’t have thought of myself and gave me useful tips for the future if one day I decide to start my own business.
Nor(Dev)con: 2016 was the most successful conference so far, with over 400 people turning up on Friday and around 250 people on Saturday. No small feat at all, but what I really liked was the wide variation in age groups that came along to both days of the conference. We saw people ranging in age from high-school students to those who have been running their own businesses for a long time and who were experts in their field. It was great to see a crowd of tech and business enthusiasts coming together at the many sessions that the conference had to offer.
Being my first ever conference, I am greatly looking forward to Nor(Dev)con: 2017 and am sure that it will be just as good, if not better, than this year’s.
For more information on the Nor(Dev)con: lineup, as well as information on all of the speakers, go to https://www.nordevcon.com/
by Lewis Leeds
