Øredev: A Conference Worth Attending
This year I had the opportunity to speak at and attend Øredev, a general technology conference in Malmö, Sweden. This was their 15th year, and it quickly became one of my favorite of the year, a perfect way to wrap up my speaking in 2019. There was something for everyone, from engineer to product manager, and I highly recommend anyone to speak or at least attend.
Topic Highlights
I learned so many things that would make this blog post way longer than intended if I enumerated all of them, so I’ll share some of the common threads I caught and really enjoyed. If you get the chance, watching the recordings that interest you would be a wonderful idea.
Communication
Of particular interest to me is the topic or remote work. At Øredev I learned about a resource, Collaboration Superpowers, that I really want to look into more. Included in here is the book, Work Together Anywhere, and supercards for video calls.
The audience also learned a lot about survey bias and how “Everybody Lies.” Through looking at honest Google search data, we learned the stories data can tell. I’m looking forward to reading Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are to hear more stories.
I also enjoyed a talk about how we communicate and ways that conversations can become personal instead of constructive. By leveraging things like tone, emphasis, and body language (especially hard in remote work!), we can shift the conversation from something personal to something productive.
Another cool talk showed a lot about how team structures and dynamics are reflected in the code. For example, it can show if there’s feature or functional teams, and if there’s a lot of turnover for those who are working on a specific section of code. This is something we can be mindful of when making people decisions.
Customer needs
From a number of talks, it became clear just how easy it is to assume what the customer needs or wants, especially when you’ve been working on a product for a long time. Even when you’re really familiar with an app, it pays to talk to and observe the people using it. Assumptions can be helpful, but only if they’re checked. This theme of checking in on the user’s needs, and optimizing for their time and resources rather than our own repeated itself throughout the conference.
One final lesson is that quality is more than just one team’s responsibility, but rather everyone’s. Not just engineers, not just QA, but everyone. Quality is best when everyone owns it, is willing to report places for improvements, and is excited to help.
You should definitely go back and watch these talks, and I’ll link to them here when they’re available! EDIT: You can watch them all here!
Speaking Internationally
Speaking at Øredev was the first time I gave a talk outside the United States. This has been on my professional bucket list, and I’m so glad this was the conference that crossed it off.
I gave two talks while I was there: Customize Your App With MLKit and Getting Started with AndroidX Test. The first was a new talk and the second a talk I had given before. Both of them opened up some really great conversation with other attendees, and I hope to keep in contact with those of you who I spoke with afterward!
Speaker Experience
No doubt, this was one of the best experiences I’ve had as a speaker. From the quality of communication, to the care put into gifts, and the organization of the events, I can only speak highly of this conference.
A Swedish Experience
From the start, I got a literal taste of Sweden through the Swedish treats gifted to me at check-in. Along with letters communicating expectations and local recommendations, I felt welcomed to the city of Malmö after my long flight.
The speaker events continued to impress. I was taken on a bus tour of the city, showing me the sights of the area and learning so much about the life of the locals. Seeing the different parts of the city gave me an appreciation of the history of the area and an understanding of the different parts of the city.
This was followed by a new experience for me: a sauna and dip in the Baltic Sea before dinner! I’ll admit, I was nervous for this event, but it turned out to be truly amazing. This was when I met many of my fellow speakers for the first time, and I’m sure many of our new connections will last.
As if that wasn’t enough, the following evening we had dinner with the mayor at the City Hall. We learned even more about the history of the city and enjoyed typical food for the area. The building was simply gorgeous and I couldn’t stop admiring the vaulted ceilings and artwork.
Going Green
Seeing my speaker gift put a smile on my face. Rather than some object that has the risk of landing in the trash or cluttering a drawer, our speaker gift was a donation to charity. This is something I hope more conferences pick up and I’ll be watching for in the future. 💚
This paired well with the swag provided to all attendees. We all got a water bottle we could use throughout the conference, rather than having the waste of many many plastic cups for water.
Inclusivity
Before I close, I need to take some time to share about the inclusivity of the conference. Everywhere you saw the special care the organizers took to make the conference comfortable for as many people as possible. Two things that stuck out the most to me were the gender-neutral restrooms and the labeled food for dietary restrictions. These are two areas that sadly get forgotten so often, leaving some people uncomfortable or questioning the best option for their health. With simple pieces of paper, signs for the restrooms and labels for the foods, such a big difference was made for many attendees.
With that, I can only be grateful for my opportunity to take part of Øredev. I hope you get the opportunity to experience the same, and I hope to return next year.
