Codegarden 2018: The 4 new & familiar concepts

Let’s start with the most familiar one - BetaGarden:  

BetaGarden - dare to share

What is it? BetaGarden is created to celebrate the people who go the extra mile to inspire the community, so whether it's a package, some documentation or a neat trick on an Umbraco site, don't be shy - show it to us. Even if it’s not finished! It's a blast to present and a phenomenal chance to develop yourself even further.

When is it? In the beginning of day 3 at 10:30. Previously BetaGarden was held at the end of day 3. Which, let’s be honest, is not ideal for slightly tired attendees, who might not be so energetic to present that cool implementation they’ve done. That’s why this year we’re changing that.

It will happen right after Alexander Kjerulf’s talk. Timing is perfect. Because Alexander will do a talk about purpose - purpose of attending Codegarden, but also in a broader sense - purpose in life. It makes for a perfect introduction to BetaGarden that’ll give us a better chance to celebrate those brave, amazing Umbracians who contribute and participate.

Do I need to sign up? Yes. And you can do it now already! The only thing to bare in mind: as much as we’d love to hear and see as many of your unique implementations as possible, we have to limit the number of presentations in order to give all of those watching a great experience.

We'll select 8 candidates who'll get stage time and we'll let you know if you’re one of the lucky ones right before Codegarden starts. Remember that you have to be a Codegarden attendee to participate 😉

Open Space - make​ Codegarden '18 yours

We're entering the most significant year in a long time in the Umbraco world. For the last couple of years we've been in a phase where we have focused on maturing what we had; Umbraco 7, Umbraco Cloud, Umbraco HQ and our community. 

With Umbraco 8 and Headless coming, with a community more active than ever and with a healthy and growing Umbraco HQ, it's time to take Umbraco to the next level.

But what will it take?

How can we make all the ambitious plans a success and at the same time make sure that neither the community, our beloved editors and our partners get left behind?

Our mission is to help you deliver delightful digital experiences by making Umbraco friendly, simpler and social.

The overall question we need to answer is:

"What is required for Umbraco 8 and Headless to fulfil that mission?"

In the name of improving Umbraco as a community, we'll do that on Day 3 using the open space format. (scrap the barCamp concepts you might have heard us announce previously - this is the such a big question, with so many layers, it's just perfect for Open Space!)

Lightning Talks - the shorter Codegarden talks

What is it? Short talks that couldn’t fit the three main stages. But this is also an impromptu space for ideas that happen during Codegarden. A lightning talk is set for 15 minutes plus a 5 minute Q&A session.

Our goal is to combine 3 lightning talks in the whole duration of 1 hour so that the audience can benefit from different perspectives and experiences which fall within the same theme or topic.

The 5 minute Q&A session will also be used as a transition time to the next talk, but we will make sure that everything is handled smoothly so that all speakers can enjoy their sessions.

3 main reasons for why we’re doing Lightning Talks:

1. We have more content than there’s room for it.
   
   
2. Not everything has to be explained in 45 minutes. Perhaps it’s a talk about a package that is super relevant, but where a short and concise talk is a better match than a full 45 minute talk.
   
   
3. The stages at Codegarden are pretty big, even the small ones contain 150 people. We believe that there are people out there who have something really great to say, but maybe if you’re not an experienced speaker, speaking in front of big crowds can be quite overwhelming.

When is it? All through day 1 and day 2 of Codegarden.

Do I need to sign up? Yes, but you’ll only be able to do that during Codegarden. We have already planned around a third of the lightning talks based on the submissions for Codegarden talks. As for the rest - there’ll be a board at the Codegarden venue and, if you’re inspired to do a short talk, you’ll just write your name and topic. Old school 😎

Hack Space - whiteboards, Wi-Fi and freedom

What is it? It’s a place of laptops, whiteboards, post-its and Wi-Fi. A place to discuss ideas with other attendees. It could for example be used by speakers to say: “Hey, if you want a more hands-on experience, I’m going to be at Hack Space, stop by.” So it is also a way to avoid some of the sessions getting too long, too technically detailed.

At certain time slots there’ll even be HQ or community experts around to, for example, answer your back office customisation question, get you started on Umbraco Cloud or make a pull request.

And, well, if for some reason you need to work during Codegarden, that will actually be a place with a table and a chair and a decent internet connection for you to do so.

When is it? All through Codegarden.

Do I need to sign up? No, you are more than welcome to hang around as you please.

That would be it with those new and familiar concepts. As you can see, if you’re coming to Codegarden, you have a lot to look forward to!

And if you’re not coming, there is only one thing to do…

Get your Codegarden 2018 tickets >>

See you there!