Why Volunteer at Conferences? My Experience at 360iDev

360iDev is an iOS Developer conference that takes place in Denver, CO every August. I’ve been fortunate to attend 360iDev several different ways over the years, including as a speaker in 2018. But this is the first time I’ve attended as a volunteer, and discovered that it comes with benefits you don’t get from just being a regular attendee. Let me share with you what those benefits were, along with some pro tips, and maybe you’ll decide to volunteer at your next tech conference!

10 Takeaways From Attending My First Write/Speak/Code Conference

Write/Speak/Code is a hands-on conference for technologists of marginalized genders to advance their careers through technical writing, conference speaking, and open source coding.

This past August, I attended my first Write/Speak/Code conference, in San Francisco.

Below are my takeways from W/S/C, including what I got out of attending the conference and some tips / advice for first time attendees for next year. 🙂

2018 – A Year End Review

Another year of native iOS, teaching, and women in tech!

What a year 2018 has been! Wait, you haven’t heard about it cause I haven’t been blogging, other than when I went to WWDC? Well, a lot has happened since then, so let’s get you caught up! And yes, I’m aware that it’s 2019 now but better late than never. 🙂

2018 has been all about continuing my transition to native iOS development (from cross platform), professionally, and through side projects; and continuing to teach and support women/under-represented in tech.

What WWDC 2018 Taught Me (About Choosing and Attending Conferences)

This year was the first time I attended Apple’s WWDC conference. It took 3 years of trying, but I finally got the golden ticket to attend this year, and was fortunate enough to have an employer to sponsor my trip as well!

This is the largest iOS conference in the world, and it’s the dream of many iOS developers to eventually attend a WWDC at some point in their careers. Given what a big deal WWDC is, was it worth it? More importantly, if you work for a company that will sponsor only one conference for you in a year, should WWDC be THE one? Or if WWDC is not in the cards this year, how do you select a conference to attend, and what’s the best way to get the most out of it? Come with me as I share my journey, and see!

10 Lessons from Teaching Newbie Programmers iOS

This past August, I volunteered to teach a group of beginner programmers iOS in Denver through Bridge Troll, an organization that provides free programming classes to women and underrepresented groups. I was glad to finally do what I had promised to do earlier in the year as a way to give back to women in tech through teaching iOS. (Speaking of giving back, I also have been mentoring a college woman studying STEM – go Stephanie, you rock! But that’s for another blog post. 🙂 )

I learned some things from teaching that iOS Bridge workshop that day, which I am happy to share here!

Android Developer? Help SimplyE Promote Information Equality

Note: The Android position listed in this blog post is no longer open. But feel free to continue reading to learn more about SimplyE! 🙂

For the past five months, I’ve been working as an iOS Developer on the SimplyE reader app, the e-book reader app for the New York Public Library. Originally developed for the New York Public Library, SimplyE is expanding, and will work with many other libraries over the next few years, which is an exciting development. In order to meet the needs of our growing user base, we are in need of an intermediate level Android Developer. Do you want to know how SimplyE helps people and how you can be a part of that? Keep reading! (no pun intended 🙂 )

Coming Full Circle in IoT and Women in Tech with FemmeHacks

In early 2016, I had a chance to get involved with the Internet of Things through my local Women Who Code hardware hackathon. Fast forward a year later, I’ve participated in multiple IoT hackathons, including the one that sent me to Beijing, China and have become an Intel Software Innovator as a result. This past February, 2017, I had the opportunity to give back to women in tech by mentoring at FemmeHacks, an Intel-sponsored women’s hackathon, and thus come full circle from participating in women’s hardware hackathons to now giving back and mentoring at one. Here’s my story of participating at FemmeHacks 2017 in Philadelphia.