The Developers are Coming (to Fredericton)!
FREDERICTON –Brace yourselves, Fredericton, the developers are coming.
And it’s probably going to be a really cool time.
Maritime DevCon is a software development conference for Atlantic Canada aimed at promoting a strong developer community in the region. This year’s conference is taking place on June 4 at the Wu Centre.
“We have corporate sponsors to help cover some of the costs but it is a non-profit initiative. The organizers are all volunteers and we have an open call for session proposals,” said Derek Hatchard, DevCon’s founder and chair. “There is no hidden corporate agenda. Nobody is trying to sell you anything. It is by developers for developers.”
The conference is for software development professionals or those on the path to becoming one. This includes programmers, testers, development managers and anyone else who is at all connected to the technology.
“It’s not for folks looking to learn how to code. We assume everyone attending has a decent working knowledge of at least one programming language,” Hatchard says. “But hobbyists and programming enthusiasts are definitely welcome, even if programming isn’t their day job.”
The format is a two-track conference with 45-minute sessions. Attendees can move between sessions in each track as they please. Topics being covered this year include game development in the browser, actor-based programming, concurrency, alternative programming languages and modern tools for deploying software.
“I’m also really pleased this year to be moderating a panel discussion on fostering inclusive workplaces,” Hatchard said. “We have three really great female professionals who are going to come share their perspectives on things like ‘bro’ cultures and unconscious bias in tech workplaces. I think it will be a challenging and thought-provoking discussion.”
“Mingling around a common table, sharing an informal meal. That’s a really great way to strengthen the connections in the community,” Hatchard said. “We want people to leave DevCon feeling like they had good conversation on top of attending great sessions.”
Hatchard says it’s a good time to be a software developer in the region.
“There are amazing jobs with excellent compensation at world-class companies right here. . . and as these teams flourish here, we are establishing a base of employees with new expertise,” he said. “Things like product management, release management, data science, user experience, and user research are essential for software product companies but we haven’t had a big talent pool for these specialties.”
“As more companies expand here, we grow our talent pool, which makes it more compelling for other companies to invest here and the signals I’m seeing indicate that the trends are heading in a good direction right now.”
Though things are looking sunny for the industry, there are still things that can be done better. Hatchford says this includes improving the pipeline of new developers; convincing technologists to move to the region; convincing companies to build a presence here and bolstering the community of not just developers but all disciplines in the space.
“Of course we could come up with a much longer laundry list of things to do, but anybody tackling any of those things will help. I’ve already been thinking about how Maritime DevCon can play a role in some of these things,” he said.
“We are scratching the surface a little bit on program management this year. Don’t be surprised if you see topics like product management show up in 2017. Strengthening the industry is at the heart of what we are doing with Maritime DevCon.”