100 Months of Technical Sessions

On November 18, 2022, HENNGE celebrated the 100th installment of Monthly Technical Session (MTS)! On this very special occasion, I represented MTS organizers in presenting a look back to the 8-year history of the event.

What is MTS?

MTS is a platform for members to share knowledge with their peers. Each speaker gives a talk for 10 - 20 minutes, followed by a Q&A session. Occasionally, there are also lightning talks (5-minute talks, often without a Q&A session afterward) at the end of an MTS.

1st Era: May 2014 - September 2016

Maki-san presenting Fighting With JSON Schema and Scaffolding Go Apps in MTS #20 (March 18, 2016)

In the 1st Era, MTSs were held on 10F.

MTS #1 was held on May 30, 2014. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any photos or videos of this inaugural event.

I did find a video of MTS #3 (July 25, 2014), probably the first MTS to be recorded on video.

Iskandar presenting Automated GIP Admission System in MTS #3 (July 25, 2014)

MTS #6 (October 24, 2014) is the first MTS to be recorded in a blog post on HDE Blog. HDE Blog is the precursor to HENNGE Blog, the Medium publication you are currently reading.

The 1st Era includes the only months in which no MTS was held, i.e.

• December 2014
• August 2015
• November 2015

2nd Era: October 2016 - September 2019

Beer Bash of MTS #36 (July 21, 2017)

In the 2nd Era, MTSs were held on 5F. This is the longest Era so far.

MTS #27 (October 21, 2016) is the first MTS to be recorded in a blog post written in English, still on HDE Blog. MTS #44 (March 23, 2018) is the first MTS to be recorded in a blog post on HENNGE Blog.

On September 21, 2018, HENNGE (or rather HDE, i.e., the company name at the time) celebrated the 50th installment of MTS!

🎉 MTS #50 (September 21, 2018) Celebration Cake 🎉

3rd Era: October 2019 - February 2020

GIP Honor Day in MTS #67 (February 28, 2020)

In the 3rd Era, MTSs were held on 4F. This is the shortest Era so far.

You probably already figured out the reason why.

4th Era: March 2020 - April 2022

Tanabe-san presenting Cgo Is Not Go in MTS #68 (March 27, 2020)

Yup, COVID-19 happened. So in the 4th Era, MTSs were held on Zoom.

For the first few months of the 4th Era, MTS organizers tried to hold MTSs both on 4F and on Zoom, i.e., hybrid MTSs.

GIP Honor Day in MTS #69 (April 24, 2020) was held on 4F and streamed on Zoom

However, by the time MTS #73 (August 21, 2020) came around, it had been decided to keep holding fully-remote MTSs, due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and the complexity of holding hybrid MTSs.

Beer Bash of MTS #77 (December 18, 2020)

5th Era: May 2022 - Today

Hiroon presenting Microsoft Power Platform: The Future of App-Building in MTS #96 (July 22, 2022)

In the 5th Era, MTS is held on both 4F and Zoom. This is going to be the setup for MTSs in the foreseeable future.

By the 5th Era, the number of COVID-19 cases had decreased and MTS organizers had figured out an approach of holding hybrid MTSs. Today, MTS organizers are experienced enough in holding hybrid events that they share their knowledge with organizers of other events in HENNGE.

Beer Bash of MTS #98 (September 16, 2022)

The first 100 months of technical sessions