Last weekend on Saturday the 26th October 2019, as a Sponsor of DDD East Midlands, Searchability attended their first ever DDD conference. “Developer! Developer! Developer!” is held in tech hubs across the UK and Europe so to finally have one in the thriving Tech community of the East Midlands was amazing. Held in the Nottingham Trent Conference Centre, 4 lecture theatres saw 16 speakers discuss topics that where both “techy” yet practical. Not even the pouring rain and a couple of fire alarms could dampen the mood on the day! As a very much beginner level “techy”, it was easy to relate to several topics covered by the speakers including hints and tips on how to become more employable and how to boost your creativity both in and out of work.
Pulling together this year’s conference is Jess and Moreton, pillars of the tech Nottingham community and Tech enthusiasts. The event was sponsored by big names in the Nottingham tech scene; Experian, BJSS and First Response Finance, this day left no detail out of place. From the initial sign in (where you could chose as much swag that you could stuff in your pockets), right through to the Code of Conduct and the ever so approachable volunteers from the Nottingham Tech community, everything was designed to deliver a fantastic experience from start to finish.
My top 3 ‘take-aways’ from the event are;
Inclusivity is everything.
Inclusivity is the heart of DDD East Midlands, and the number one take away was how inclusive and welcoming the day was. The whole day revolved around the theme of inclusivity, here are a few examples:
- Name tags to include your preferred pronoun.
- You were able to pick your colour lanyard to indicate if you wanted your photo taken or not.
- Signs in the toilets to include directions to a safe zone if the day became too much.
- A code of conduct outlining how to behave, or not behave.
- Who to reach out to if someone is being inappropriate.
- All topped off by the meal plans, that included meals for everyone… even some vegan options.
(Image credit: Andrew Acford)
Not everyone in the Tech Nottingham community is a hard core techy.
We attended a multitude of talks including design which took a further insight into all things UX/UI. We were afraid we would be faced with tech jargon and get lost along the way, however the talks by Helen Joy, Jessica Salisbury and Cara Holland, focused more on how creative perspectives can influence and work hand in hand with tech heavy projects. Cara’s talk on DrawUX was particularly useful as she discussed how adding imagery to your content makes people 6 times more likely to recall it and 17% more believable. Working visually helps to create a more collaborate atmosphere and reduces stress drastically.
The Tech community in Nottingham is thriving.
With well over 30 meets up scheduled throughout the year, the community in Nottingham is showing no signs of slowing down, and with such variety there truly is something for everyone. From Hackathons, Women in Tech groups right through to Design, Testing and Developer meet ups. If you are enjoying anything with a techie flare there’s a meet up for you.
