#GDGDevParty UKI: The journey

My journey with the GDG community started in January as a co-lead @gdglondon. I must admit this was something very new for me. Although I have attended many meetups, Dev Fests in the past, and helped organise some of them, this was my opportunity to give back to this amazing community.

The onboarding process was very smooth since the beginning and it made me feel welcomed and valued. We started having weekly meetings to plan our next steps, discussing new ideas and locations, until the unexpected happened. We knew we needed to turn around many plans, adapt to the new situation, as well as look after our safety and the safety of our families, fast forward to the GDG Dev Party UKI.

#GDGDevParty: The beginning

Following the announcement of GDG Italia hosting the online GDG Dev Party conference, we have decided to bring this experience closer to the GDG United Kingdom & Ireland community, knowing it will be a success. As a result, 5 GDGs in the UK and Ireland: GDG Galway, GDG London, GDG Milton Keynes, GDG Oxford and GDG Southampton, have worked together to organise another Dev Party, a multi-track online conference.

Our main goal was to offer interactive sessions from experts in a range of fields and provide a great chance to connect with other developers from across the world. Just like any other event, we started to collaborate and discuss the details. We needed a break down on the format and the platforms we will use, the topics that will be covered and most importantly to ensure a smooth transition from week to week, the team structure which gave everyone a clear action item for our weekly call.

And the journey started. Within the first couple of weeks, we decided we would use YouTube Live for our streaming platform, Slack for communication and Google Meet for our online party. Furthermore, we established the attendee journey, the promotion including social media and website, registration, the structure of the event and the tracks and speakers.

The 4 tracks included in this Dev Party, yes, this Dev Party since there are rumours about organising more, were: Cloud, Mobile, Machine Learning and Ethics & Diversity.

#GDGDevParty: The organisation

Once we had all these details in place, the rest was still to come. I consider myself very lucky to be part of the GDG community and the Dev Party team. The amount of effort and passion given by everyone made this journey even more exciting.

I was able to interact with many of the speakers, who are experts in their fields. This presented me with an opportunity to experience first-hand new challenges, from approaching and inviting a speaker, to providing support on the event day.

In the weeks approaching the event, the communication understandably increased. We went through many demos, promotions, discussions, and of course, some unexpected changes, to which I will point out were embraced and actioned by everyone involved.

#GDGDevParty: The day

The day finally arrived. I woke up at 5 am since I could not sleep due to the excitement. It reminded me strongly of when I was little, and I was told I was going on an excursion the next day. On the other side, I was nervous since I had never spoken before in live streaming in front of a large audience. As one of the moderators on the Cloud track, I needed to ensure a smooth transition between sessions and to provide speaker introduction and discuss session details, thus my anxiety jumped even more at this point.

The day started with the final checks of the live streaming, the Audio & Video part to make sure everything is ready and we had the great news that we reached 1000 registrations. WOW!!! Well done everyone!

As we approached the event time, we discussed so many details and I was provided with so much support that the anxiety disappeared. I was confident at this time that according to the structure and team we have, we would be able to provide an amazing experience to each attendee.

Kick-off time was shortly before 4:30 pm, we began the live streaming by introducing the team and then the sessions started. Suddenly it felt so real, attendees started to post on Slack and social media, discussing and outlining each session in detail. One session after another, it appeared internally that this was not our first online event together. We were able to welcome each and every speaker, discuss session details and the speaker’s role in a more informal way. At that time, we had over 700 unique visitors across all the tracks. Consequently, as the event sessions were coming to their final minutes, everyone was excited to attend the #Party, hosted on a Google Meet call.

#GDGDevParty: Not all about the tech

Following the interactive sessions, we got together for an online party, where we were able to chat, network, and “maybe” have a drink or two. This was a great opportunity to get to know fellow developers from all over the world.

Over 90 attendees, speakers and organisers were able to discuss various topics in detail. Many of the speakers were part of our journey from the beginning of the event. From discussing in the staging area to presenting their talk and answering questions, to providing support and guidance, offering their time and ensuring everyone to feel welcomed. What an amazing energy and vibe throughout!

Certainty increases feelings such as confidence.

I would like to thank everyone for being part of this event, one way or another:

• Thanks to everyone who is part of the Dev Party team for all the effort they’ve been putting in!
• Thanks to all the speakers for their time and dedication!
• Thanks to all the attendees taking part from anywhere in the world!
• Thanks to Noa and Alessandro from the Developer Relations team at Google for their continuous support and guidance!
• Thanks to everyone supporting this event by spreading the word: GDG Athlone, GDG Bristol, GDG Edinburgh, GDG Glasgow and GDG Reading. You have earned a special place in our ❤️!

For more details, or to subscribe for any future events, please visit: https://www.dev-party.io

Let the party continue.

Goran on behalf of GDG UK&I DevParty Team