Cheers to DevOpsDays DC 2018
The big takeaways from this year’s event (compiled by Nick, Blackstone Studios)
Our second year at DevOpsDays DC did not disappoint. From engaging Ignite Talks by Blackstonians Elise, Lizzie, and Khadijah, to robust video and photo coverage as a returning media sponsor, to our collaborative recruitment efforts with our favorite community partner, HopeOneSource, we stayed quite busy during the two-day conference at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria.
I was selected to do an Ignite Talk alongside one of my teammates, Elise. Let me tell you — it’s difficult to fit a topic into 5 minutes and 20 auto-advancing slides! The best part about the event for me was that Elise and I got to step out of our day-to-day and do something completely different and fun.
-Lizzie, Blackstone Impact
This was my first time at DevOpsDays DC, and I was struck by the positive energy all around me. Everyone was passionate and eager to learn. The Ignite Talks were a great way for people to quickly showcase their skills and interests in front of the entire community, which naturally opened doors for networking and collaboration.
The casual structure of the Open Spaces in the afternoon allowed for much more natural relationship building. It also warmed my heart to see how people loved to give each other kudos, in person and via the web, throughout the event. They even gave several shout-outs to the awesome stenographer!
-Erin, Blackstone Studios
Julie Anoshechkina’s presentation on breaking down silos was the presentation that truly resonated with me, as the challenge of communicating within and across silos are often major roadblocks in DevOps implementation.
Two of Julie’s points really stuck out to me:
1. Getting all shops — Security, Operations, and Development — to agree to the same language and metrics is essential to DevOps success.
2. How can you learn if you don’t fail? To truly grow, organizations must invest in developing a culture that rewards learning, even when it comes from failure.
My favorite Open Space was the DevOps and Kids group, where attendees told stories of using Agile methodologies with their kids, both the wins and the failures.
-Omar, Blackstone Impact
The concept and definition of Open Spaces is such a valuable part of smaller scale technology-centric conferences. For starters, it eliminates the management/company argument that you need to need to go to conferences because you can learn everything you need to know from the Internet (a lot of conference presentations are available on YouTube).
Yes, sitting down and listening to a speaker and watching slides and demos is important learning. But having a loosely facilitated group conversation with a variety of individuals with varied experiences and backgrounds and job functions is how you actually get to the level of an interactive Q&A session. This is where opinions and ideas are presented, expounded upon, and debated in a non-threatening environment, and truly innovative solutions to problems are formed.
The personal reinforcement of both “I’m not the only one struggling,” and “Hey, I actually do know something I can contribute that is valuable to others,” is such an important byproduct of the Open Spaces. I personally pitched and facilitated one Open Spaces topic each day, and the conversations I had and the new contacts I made during the sessions were invaluable.
-Mike, Blackstone Forge
A big thank you to the organizers for putting together such an amazing event — we can’t wait until next year!
