As the tech world continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, the 2024 Kansas City Developers Conference stands out as a beacon for technical growth. This year’s event was a melting pot of ideas, bringing together developers, engineers, and tech enthusiasts from all over the Midwest. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a curious newcomer, the conference offers a unique opportunity to dive into the latest trends, network with industry leaders, and gain hands-on experience with new technologies. A few of our engineers share their journey through this exciting event, highlighting key sessions, inspiring talks, and the vibrant community that makes it all possible.

Sessions

The strength of a conference like KCDC is that there is no shortage of sessions and topics. The downside is that it makes it incredibly difficult to choose which ones to attend! While I'm sure our engineers would have loved to go to many more sessions, here is a sampling of some of their favorites:

• If They Don’t Find Your UI Handsome, They Should at Least Find it Handy
• Wizard Architecture and Managing Uncertainty
• How NOT to Choose a Third-Party Library
• Hypermedia Systems – Past is Now Future
• Stop Copy Pasting Code! Use Source Generators Instead!
• Building GraphQL APIs in C#
• Move Thoughtfully and Build Things

Thoughts from Our Engineers

“Attending KCDC was a thrilling experience for me, especially since it was my first developer conference. My expectations were not only met but exceeded! The event featured a diverse array of speakers and professionals in the field, each offering valuable insights. I learned something new from every session, whether it introduced a new topic or provided a deeper dive into a familiar subject. I also enjoyed spending time with my coworkers at the conference, exploring downtown, and experiencing the local food and events. The only downside was choosing just one to attend at any given time." ~ Ale

“This is my second time going to KCDC, and I have found it among the best conferences I have attended. They have top-notch speakers and a breadth of topics spanning Dev/DevOps, Project Management, and soft skills.  I started with the "OpenTelemetry" pre-conference workshop by Martin Thwaites and learned a ton.  I also enjoyed the session, "If they don't find your UI Handsome, they should at least find it Handy." For the most part, I am a back-end developer but occasionally get to work in the front-end space. So, any tips and tricks on making UI work and look better are always welcome. I would recommend KCDC if you want a great, affordable conference."~Brian

“This was my first developer conference ever, and it was a great experience. There were a lot of interesting session topics, but I think my overall favorite was Mark Volkmann's talk on HTMX. It's a framework I've been hearing about and wanting to explore, so it was really fascinating to see it in action. My favorite aspect of the conference was how motivating it was for me. I feel more motivated to learn, write, and speak myself. Who knows? Maybe I'll get to return to KCDC as a speaker someday!" ~ Matt

“I've attended many conferences, and each one has its own distinct feel. I loved KCDC's vibe! I went to many diverse talks covering various topics, including User Experience, Cloud Security, Architecture, and leadership. My favorite talk was "Move Thoughtfully and Build Things," given by Shar Chandar. In this thought-provoking session, Shar uses stories from his life to remind us of the human side of software - the products we build will have real human impact. At its core, the talk is a call to action: create time to engineer truly useful products and ignore the culture of "move fast and break things." ~Dustin