Remembering past DroidKaigi offline events and getting excited for DroidKaigi 2022

<Edit: 7 July 2022 18:45 JST>
The offline event of DroidKaigi 2022 will take place at Tokyo Dome City Prism Hall.

Hi, I’m DroidKaigi co-organizer KeithYokoma.

The DroidKaigi Committee is currently preparing for DroidKaigi 2022! This year, in addition to the online event, we are planning our first offline event in three years. We are now talking with the venue staff to plan for an amazing event.

While we are getting ready to announce the venue, three years has been more than enough to forget how fun it was to attend an offline conference, even among the Committee staff. Since recent DroidKaigis have been online exclusive, it may even be the first offline conference for some of you. Let’s look back at some of the past DroidKaigis and ready ourselves for October!

DroidKaigi 2022 will be held online as well as offline. Rest assured, we are preparing for a great online experience as well! 👍

Sessions

Sessions are the most important aspect of DroidKaigi. Thanks to the many submissions we receive each year, we’ve previously had as many as seven concurrent tracks and a selection rate as low as 20–25%.

As you may have noticed from the Call for Speakers announcement, there will be talks from a variety of different categories. There might be sessions about areas you haven’t even heard about. There might be sessions about something you know about but explained from a completely different perspective. DroidKaigi’s sessions are an opportunity for you to come into contact with new knowledge.

At DroidKaigi, you not only can watch sessions, but directly engage with speakers during their office hours. This is your chance to ask questions and dive in deeper into topics discussed in their talks.

The Call for Speakers for DroidKaigi 2022 is currently open! We look forward to receiving many submissions this year as well. Please also refer to the articles and meetups on how to write your proposal.

DroidKaigi opening with a keynote speech. We make original opening videos every year as well.

Attendees watch talks in session rooms. There are many submissions and attendees from all over the world. Some sessions even have people standing in the back.

Office hours are held after each session. Attendees can ask questions and talk about session topics with speakers.

Codelabs

In addition to sessions, DroidKaigi has Codelabs as a place for picking up new knowledge. With Codelabs, you can learn about technology by writing code with a step-by-step guide. Past DroidKaigis have had Codelabs featuring Kotlin, Android Things, and Google’s official Android Developer Fundamentals. Codelabs are especially recommended for beginners, as there are tutors ready for your questions at any time.

Attendees working on Codelabs. You can work with a friend and ask tutors if you have any questions.

Sponsor Booths

Every year, DroidKaigi is supported by many sponsor companies.

In offline events, sponsor companies have set up exhibit booths in spaces where attendees and sponsors can get together.

The sponsor booth space also has free coffee, so you can enjoy exhibits with freshly brewed coffee in between sessions.

Booths are thoughtfully designed, each introducing their products, and have fun factors such as handing out swag like Kotlin cheat sheets and stickers and having quizzes and questionnaires.

Sponsor booths are where everyone gathers in between sessions. It’s a place to socialize regardless of affiliation.

Booths provide various activities such as making LAN cables, experiencing VR, and joining technical discussions.

Lunch

Since DroidKaigi is an all-day event over two to three days, lunch is also served. Menus are carefully chosen every year, sometimes even trying to emulate the lunch boxes of Google I/O.

Lunch was served “bento” style in session rooms.

Afterparty

Once sessions are over, it’s time for the afterparty! Not only can attendees socialize with each other over food and drinks, but we also bring arcade cabinets and hold Fireside Chats, so attendees can enjoy themselves in a different mood from the day.

We also asked speakers to hold balloons so that they are easy to spot. Attendees can ask questions about anything they missed in the office hours.

Everyone enjoyed the afterparty with the food, games, and Fireside Chat!

One time we even crafted our own beer which attendees enjoyed!

Preparing for DroidKaigi 2022

The DroidKaigi Committee is preparing for DroidKaigi 2022 and we hope many of you can join us. We will make sure there are preventive measures for COVID-19 in the offline venue such as social distancing to ensure a safe and secure event.

Once the offline venue is determined, we will announce it on Twitter, Medium, and Youtube. We will also notify you about sponsors and tickets once the venue is decided.

Of course, DroidKaigi 2022 will be an online and offline event. Stay tuned for more information about the online event as well!

!?

Online and offline, the DroidKaigi Committee hopes to see you at DroidKaigi 2022!