I’ve received a few questions as to what we are exactly looking for in /dev/summer talks or sessions. Imagine you are talking to another developer about what you do (can be a tool you use or make, a practice etc.). This developer may or may not have heard about your tool, but has not had the time to explore it in depth, let alone try it out in a real situation.
As a developer, you can’t experience everything that is out there, and you tend to mingle and read in a limited space. A general developers conference is a good place to be surprised by new things, and find solutions for problems you experience for a while.
So the particular topic can be anything. We’re thinking for instance of NoSQL, javascript, craftsmanship, devops, functional programming, practical user experience and security.
Even if you know a lot in any of those areas, there probably are still areas you haven’t explored yet. For instance, I’m doing more functional programming now, I developed an application in clojure, now one in haskell and am supporting a client in Scala. I’ve never developed a system in Erlang and am aware of only a fraction of the libraries and tools available for the other languages. For you, it’s probably the same in the area you want to cover.
So think of yourself in another area that you are interested in, but don’t know that much about. What would you want to know? What style of learning works best for you? (hands-on, talk?). Apply that to the topic you want to talk about.
Also, you don’t have to be an expert to produce an interesting session. Useful experience delivered well can be very valuable.
The call for sessions is open until Saturday night. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
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