Tuesday
No Sessions
Wednesday
No Sessions
Thursday
Technical debt must die - Communicating code to business stakeholders
Presented by: Matt Eland
Time: Thursday 8:00 AM - 9:00 AMOur software sucks. We're up to our necks in bugs and technical debt, yet we often seem to hit roadblocks explaining things in ways that bring about meaningful change. In this session you'll learn to gather, analyze, and interpret data in order to create effective presentations to communicate...
Room: ZambeziTrack: Project Leadership/Soft SkillsFormat: General SessionLevel: IntermediateThreat Modeling on the Family Road Trip and Other Strategies for Delivering Secure Applications
Presented by: Angela Pinney
Time: Thursday 8:00 AM - 9:00 AMGene Spafford said: “The only truly secure system is one that is powered off...” Everyone wants secure applications, but creating them is hard, and we don't all have security certifications. How do you know where to start when "security" is not your full-time job? And how do you get the rest of...
Room: Aloeswood / LeopardwoodTrack: SecurityFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewAntifragile Teams
Presented by: Charlie Sweet
Time: Thursday 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMSoftware development is an activity that’s fraught with complexity, ambiguity, and therefore risk. Many organizations attempt to mitigate that risk through stringent processes, but there is a better way. In nature, there are three types of systems. 1. Fragile systems that break under stress,...
Room: OrangeTrack: Project Leadership/Soft SkillsFormat: General SessionLevel: IntermediateMake More 💰 Money with Less 🛠Effort: 🧪 Experimentation Before Implementation
Presented by: Scott Showalter
Time: Thursday 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMDeveloping apps is time consuming, with little guarantee of success. The Web, App Store, Google Play and beyond are littered with apps making low or no revenue because they don't solve problems people actually care about. Before you build your “killer” ap, how can you truly know beyond the...
Room: Portia/WisteriaTrack: MobileFormat: General SessionLevel: IntermediateA Mobile App Success Starter Pack
Presented by: Jeff Kelley
Time: Thursday 11:45 AM - 12:45 PMWhen you’re pitching a mobile app to a prospective client, it’s easy to focus on the app’s raison d’être. A pizza-ordering app should order pizza, a messaging app should send messages, and a game should be fun. For an app to succeed, there are countless other hidden tasks to consider: does...
Room: Indigo BayTrack: MobileFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewBringing Order to Chaos
Presented by: Scott Connerly
Time: Thursday 11:45 AM - 12:45 PMSo, you find yourself coding in a code base that has some warts. OK, let's be honest, its a steaming pile of gum and toothpicks you're afraid to touch lest it might fall apart. How do you get from there to ... anywhere, let alone viable, architecturally useful, and stable? In this talk, we'll...
Room: NileTrack: ArchitectureFormat: General SessionLevel: IntermediateHobby Projects Are Awesome!
Presented by: Joel Byler
Time: Thursday 11:45 AM - 12:45 PMThere you are, enjoying a hobby that you love. One that gets you away from your screens and keyboard. Then out of nowhere an idea comes to mind, maybe its spurred by a problem that you encountered or a way that you could improve on a technique, you pull from your experiences and decide to start a...
Room: OrangeTrack: Programming PrinciplesFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewWhy You Fail to Make Good Predictions and What You Can Do About it.
Presented by: Sho Fola
Time: Thursday 11:45 AM - 12:45 PMWhat sets good predictors apart from others? Is good judgment innate or something you can nurture? As a knowledge worker, your ability to make good decisions will set you apart from your peers. Whether you’re planning out a work project or playing fantasy football good predictions are essential...
Room: Salon ETrack: Project Leadership/Soft SkillsFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewGoing Fast: The Art of Delivering Quality Software Quickly
Presented by: Josh Carroll
Time: Thursday 1:00 PM - 2:00 PMBuilding software is tricky business and the demands are higher than ever. Agile was meant to free us from the confines of red-tape driven software, but most of us can't help but feel something is off in our software process. Do you wonder why startups can launch an entire product in a few months,...
Room: Indigo BayTrack: Project Leadership/Soft SkillsFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewHacking Radiowaves for fun (but not profit)
Presented by: Craig Hills
Time: Thursday 1:00 PM - 2:00 PMAs a child, did you ever play with walkie talkies? Do you remember how fun it was to talk with friends and family from the other end of the house, or across the neighborhood? Capture that feeling again, except this time learn some science behind it and how to use the same technology to contact...
Room: MangroveTrack: HardwareFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewThe Immutable Laws of Software and Life: Code Accordingly
Presented by: Cory House
Time: Thursday 3:30 PM - 4:30 PMThe first Law of Ecology: you can never merely do one thing. Actions have side-effects. In this session, we'll explore how changes in software design can have unexpected, profound impacts. In this story-based session, I'll reference both popular and little-known "laws" of computing and life. I'll...
Room: ZambeziTrack: Programming PrinciplesFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewCoaching & Communicating with Diverse Teams
Presented by: Kiera Prioleau
Time: Thursday 3:30 PM - 4:30 PMDon’t worry; this isn’t the standard lecture on what diversity means and why it matters. Research shows that diverse teams are more innovative, productive, and just darn interesting. Diversity encompasses more than gender and race, which creates challenges for development team members and...
Room: Salon ATrack: Project Leadership/Soft SkillsFormat: General SessionLevel: IntermediateTwelve Spins on User Experience
Presented by: Keith Instone
Time: Thursday 4:45 PM - 5:45 PMWhat is “user experience,” really? Sure, it’s that feeling people get when they interact with your software, but the term UX is being used for more than that, in confusing ways. “We need some UX magic before we launch” “The UX team just gave us the designs, so let’s start...
Room: CypressTrack: UI/DesignFormat: General SessionLevel: IntermediateDevOps as a Force Multiplier for Agile
Presented by: Nate Berent-Spillson
Time: Thursday 4:45 PM - 5:45 PMSo your development team uses Agile, but you keep running into process constraints because the rest of the organization is wedded to the status quo? In retros, you’re constantly coming up against inefficient, manual operations? Every step of building a software product eats away at your...
Room: NileTrack: DevOpsFormat: General SessionLevel: IntermediateThe Definitive Guide to Organizing Community Events
Presented by: Jennifer Wadella
Time: Thursday 4:45 PM - 5:45 PMCommunity organizing is no small feat and is VITAL to sustaining a technical workforce of learning, growth, and diversity. Since its foundation in 2013, Kansas City Women in Technology has grown to a volunteer team of more than 60 leaders running 6 technical/coding programs and several events per...
Room: Salon HTrack: Project Leadership/Soft SkillsFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewFriday
Technical Leadership 101
Presented by: John Rouda
Time: Friday 8:30 AM - 9:30 AMWe all have potential to be technical leaders. What is a leader? My daughter says it’s the person in front of you in line. She’s right… in a way. A leader is just someone we follow. This talk will explore how we can lead those to our right and to our left. How to lead from any level, not...
Room: ZambeziTrack: Project Leadership/Soft SkillsFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewThe Creative Process of Coding
Presented by: Charlie Sweet
Time: Friday 8:30 AM - 9:30 AMThe process of writing software is often misunderstood. When you write business software you are not doing science, but rather art. Your job is not to build, but rather to design. Designing good software is about more than writing code. Knowing what code to write requires empathy and good...
Room: Portia/WisteriaTrack: Programming PrinciplesFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewOwning Your Experience: Talking about Mental Health In the Workplace
Presented by: Arthur Doler
Time: Friday 9:45 AM - 10:45 AMYour thoughts and your emotions affect your work, no matter how much you pretend that you can leave them at the door of your workplace. It's easy to deny your own experience the importance it deserves, especially if it's only inside your own head. But boxing it all away because you have "work to do"...
Room: Salon DTrack: Project Leadership/Soft SkillsFormat: General SessionLevel: IntermediateHiring and Inspiring an Exceptional Team
Presented by: Seth Petry-Johnson
Time: Friday 11:00 AM - 12:00 PMManagement gets a bad rap in technical circles, and for good reason: many managers are terrible, and it shows! Rising above the pointy-haired-boss stereotypes is easier than you might think. By grounding your leadership style in management science, and adding a touch of emotional intelligence, you...
Room: NileTrack: Project Leadership/Soft SkillsFormat: General SessionLevel: IntermediateProgrammer burnout: how to recognize and avoid it
Presented by: Santosh Hari
Time: Friday 2:45 PM - 3:45 PMBurnout among software professionals is far more widespread than we would like to admit. It sneaks up on us. At first we dread going in to work each day. We can barely focus enough to get through the day and struggle with otherwise simple-for-us tasks. It starts there and gets much worse. So what...
Room: Indigo BayTrack: Project Leadership/Soft SkillsFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewTrans Eye for the Cis Ally: Ensuring an Inclusive Community
Presented by: Julien Fitzpatrick
Time: Friday 2:45 PM - 3:45 PMTrans and non-binary people are becoming increasingly visible in the workplace, as well as in community spaces such as meetups and conferences. Most managers and event organizers want to be inclusive and welcoming but frequently, in spite of their best intentions, often come up short. Wouldn’t it...
Room: Salon DTrack: Project Leadership/Soft SkillsFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewWalking A Mile In Your Users' Shoes
Presented by: Jameson Hampton
Time: Friday 2:45 PM - 3:45 PMDeveloping apps for users in different demographics is inherently differently than developing apps just for ourselves and for other programmers. Understanding the needs of our users and learning to foster empathy for them is just as much of a skill as learning Rails or ActiveRecord — and it’s a...
Room: Portia/WisteriaTrack: UI/DesignFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewExample Mapping: The New Three Amigos
Presented by: Thomas Haver
Time: Friday 4:00 PM - 5:00 PMExample Mapping is a collaboration technique used by teams to help refine requirements. Every team should have a set of “ready” criteria that includes some kind of workshop between development team members to establish a shared understanding. In a time-boxed Example Mapping session, rules will...
Room: NileTrack: Software QualityFormat: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overview