Attending your First RubyConf
One of the things I enjoy about being a software engineer is the endless opportunities to continue learning. One way to do this is to attend conferences. This week I spent three days attending RubyConf at the Denver Convention Center as a Scholar (more on this later!). This was my first ever in person tech conference and I wanted to share some tips and tricks for future first time RubyConf attendees that helped me to have a good experience.
What to Bring with you to a Day at Ruby Conf
- Laptop with Charger Cord (I prefer handwritten notes, so I only brought my laptop to days when I was attending workshops)
- Water bottle (There were water bottles available with the provided lunch and snacks, but being able to refill a bottle can cut down on your waste!)
- Notebook and pens
- Bag large enough for swag (The exhibit hall had a number of conference sponsors with some really great swag, from t-shirts to candles to magic the gathering decks
- Jacket (for outside evening events)
- Phone with charged(The RubyConf website has the schedule and talk information, I primarily accessed this though my phone)
- Breath mints
- Face Masks (when I attended in 2021, face masks and covid vaccinations were required of all conference attendees)
How to choose what sessions to attend?
You will very likely have to pick and choose between which presentations or workshops to attend. Thankfully they are recorded so you do not need to worry about missing out!
- Choose more interactive ones over the ones that might be more technical, sometimes the recordings of more technical talks may be easier to watch later when you can pause.
- There may be a couple of talks with similar content, consider choosing a talk about security instead of testing if you are able to attend another talk later about testing.
- Pay attention to the tracks listed for a session, if you are wanting to learn more about Ruby Internals look for talks within the Welcome to Ruby Internals track
- Consider who is presenting, is it someone you admire or maybe follow online?
- How much energy do you have? I found workshops, which were 1.5 to 2 hours long, to be really valuable but a whole day of them draining. Taking a break when needed and splitting up the day with shorter sessions helped me to stay more engaged.
- Still not sure? Find someone going to a session you were not able to attend and share notes from the one you did attend.
What should I do in the Evening?
There were a number of events that happened in the evening. They may be hosted by conference sponsors, organizations related to ruby or even an impromptu dinner among people who meet at the conference. Note that some of these do require RSVPing prior. I really enjoyed getting to attend the networking events by WNB.rb. I got to meet a number of women and non-binary rubyist of all levels of experience, found a community I can continue to be involved with, and we even worked though a goal setting exercise which helped me get the most of my conference experience.
I would also emphasize that while you can make some really meaningful connections at evening events, you do not need to go to all or even any evening events. If you need an evening of rest, take it! You will feel better the next day and likely have more meaningful interactions if you take the time you need for yourself.
What is a lightning Talk?
Lightning talks are quick 5 minutes presentations that any attendee can sign up for. They can be on any topic and you can have slides or not. This year some of the topics were Machine Learning, Git Lint, Dinosaurs, Security, and Ice Cream. They are a great opportunity to practice public speaking or to share an idea you are really excited about. The crowd was really supportive and it was fun to hear about some topics that I may not have otherwise. I did not choose to do one this year but would consider it at the next RubyConf I attend.
Final Tip: Look into the Scholar and Guide program!
I was able to attend RubyConf through their Scholar and Guide program as a Scholar. This provided a scholarship to cover registration and paired me with a guide to help me navigate my first RubyConf. My guide was able to answer my questions, helped me in setting some goals, checked in on my goals throughout the conference, and was a friendly face to eat lunch with. I am very thankful that I was able to participate in this program, as an early career dev and someone who is more introverted I do not think I would have attended otherwise. I highly recommend applying to the scholar program to any early career developers or current students and volunteering to be a guide if you are interested in mentoring early career developers.
I learned a ton at my first RubyConf experience and hope to attend the 2022 RubyConf in Houston, maybe even as a speaker or guide!
