A Mobile App Success Starter Pack
Presented by: Jeff Kelley
When 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewAntifragile Teams
Presented by: Charlie Sweet
Software 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. ...
Format: General SessionLevel: IntermediateBringing Order to Chaos
Presented by: Scott Connerly
So, 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: IntermediateCoaching & Communicating with Diverse Teams
Presented by: Kiera Prioleau
Don’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...
Format: General SessionLevel: IntermediateCoaching Katas - In Search of The Answer to the Agile Kobayashi Maru
Presented by: Faye Thompson, Charles Husemann
These virtues are formed in man by his doing the actions. ...
Format: PreCompilerLevel: IntermediateContinuous Deployments - the survival guide
Presented by: Eric Rabinovitch
Continuous Deployments - The holy grail for many DevOps teams, but did you consider what will change besides amount deployments into production and your team velocity? Did you consider how it will affect the development process, how much testing your team will write, the recruitment process, QA...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewDecision Making in the Face of Uncertainty
Presented by: Gary Short
Decision making in the face of uncertainty is one of the hardest things to do. In this pre-compiler session, we'll borrow methods from machine learning, statistics, trading and computer science to compose a methodology which will allow you to make the best decision possible given the evidence you...
Format: PreCompilerLevel: IntermediateDevOps as a Force Multiplier for Agile
Presented by: Nate Berent-Spillson
So 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: IntermediateExample Mapping: The New Three Amigos
Presented by: Thomas Haver
Example 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewGoing Fast: The Art of Delivering Quality Software Quickly
Presented by: Josh Carroll
Building 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. ...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewHacking Radiowaves for fun (but not profit)
Presented by: Craig Hills
As 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? ...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewHacking Your Emotional API: Emotional Intelligence in Practice
Presented by: John Sawers, Aaron Aldrich
Being a good developer isn’t just about slinging code; we’re part of a community. Interacting with others in a community means feelings are involved. ...
Format: PreCompilerLevel: Introductory and overviewHands On Threat Modeling Workshop
Presented by: Robert Hurlbut
Threat modeling is a way of thinking about what could go wrong and how to prevent it. Instinctively, we all think this way in regards to our own personal security and safety. When it comes to building software, some software shops either skip the important step of threat modeling in secure software...
Format: PreCompilerLevel: IntermediateHiring, Firing and Inspiring an Exceptional Team
Presented by: Seth Petry-Johnson
Management gets a bad rap in technical circles, and for good reason: many managers are terrible, and it shows! ...
Format: General SessionLevel: IntermediateHobby Projects Are Awesome!
Presented by: Joel Byler
There 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewMake More 💰 Money with Less 🛠Effort: 🧪 Experimentation Before Implementation
Presented by: Scott Showalter
Developing 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: IntermediateOwning Your Experience: Talking about Mental Health In the Workplace
Presented by: Arthur Doler
Your 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"...
Format: General SessionLevel: IntermediateProgrammer burnout: how to recognize and avoid it
Presented by: Santosh Hari
Burnout 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewProtecting Yourself Online and IRL
Presented by: Steve Grunwell
There's an old adage about fools and money being easily separated, but the same can be said for data. Every day, people are finding new and innovative ways to harvest information about you, whether it's for fame, fortune, or just for the lulz. ...
Format: KidzMash SessionzLevel: Introductory and overviewSuper-Secret Spy Club
Presented by: Matt Insko
Get inducted into the first-ever KidzMash “Super-Secret Spy Club!” ...
Format: KidzMash SessionzLevel: Introductory and overviewTechnical debt must die - Communicating code to business stakeholders
Presented by: Matt Eland
Our 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: IntermediateTechnical Leadership 101
Presented by: John Rouda
We 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewThe Creative Process of Coding
Presented by: Charlie Sweet
The 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. ...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewThe Definitive Guide to Organizing Community Events
Presented by: Jennifer Wadella
Community 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewThe Immutable Laws of Software and Life: Code Accordingly
Presented by: Cory House
The 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewThreat Modeling on the Family Road Trip and Other Strategies for Delivering Secure Applications
Presented by: Angela Pinney
Gene Spafford said: “The only truly secure system is one that is powered off...” ...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewTrans Eye for the Cis Ally: Ensuring an Inclusive Community
Presented by: Julien Fitzpatrick
Trans 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewTwelve Spins on User Experience
Presented by: Keith Instone
What 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. ...
Format: General SessionLevel: IntermediateWalking A Mile In Your Users' Shoes
Presented by: Jameson Hampton
Developing 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...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overviewWhat to expect when you’re concepting - Product Learning Lab
Presented by: Saad Kamal, Ryan Frederick
You have a great idea for a digital product and have committed to making your vision a reality. What now? Product Learning Lab will walk you through the basics of how to communicate that great idea to the rest of the world - and more importantly - the rest of your eventual product team. Learn to...
Format: PreCompilerLevel: AdvancedWhy You Fail to Make Good Predictions and What You Can Do About it.
Presented by: Sho Fola
What sets good predictors apart from others? Is good judgment innate or something you can nurture? ...
Format: General SessionLevel: Introductory and overview