Highlights from the Frontend NE Conference
It's April 2018 and the first Frontend NE developer conference in Newcastle, UK. Frontend NE is monthly Newcastle meet up about frontend website development. All run by volunteers and sponsored by local businesses. This was their first full day conference with a range of speakers and talks about all things web and digital. I am keen to support events in my region and was keen to meet friends and colleagues in the profession.
The event had a range of speakers from development, animation, structure and business. A one track event which was an opportunity to see all of the speakers, here is a brief breakdown of the topics and speakers.
- Choose your Animation Adventure
- You're only supposed to blow the doors off
- A red Lego brick is always red: components of the web
- Having fun with WebBluetooth
- Your brain does not have a fix flag
- FrontEnd resilience
- 7 things you can do to become a happier JavaScipt developer
Choose your Animation Adventure.
This talk was from Val Head. All about different animation techniques online, including; CSS, JavaScript and SVG. I was particularly interested in the CSS and SVG details. She even included an animation island, which was a great visual cue.
You're only supposed to blow the doors off.
From Léonie Watson, a great talk about Accessibility and designing websites for screen readers.
A red Lego brick is always red: components of the web.
From Jack Franklin an insight into streamlining workflow using components to to reuse elements across your process.
Having fun with WebBluetooth
Niels Leenheer presented an entertaining look at devices and Bluetooth application, a fun session with music, lights and flying drones.
Lunchtime break
At lunch it was nice to get out in the sunshine and enjoy the surroundings of the location, as well as lunching with my colleague Mel Ashby and new friends we made during the day.
Your brain does not have a fix flag
After lunch the first speaker was Sara Vieira talking about mental health and the development profession. An insightful and very personal story.
FrontEnd resilience
From Ian Feather at BuzzFeed talked about improving your website environment to avoid a range of possible failure points. Designing in areas around your workflow to help you cope with possible outages and downtime.
7 Things you can do to become a happier Javascript developer
The final talk was from Christian Heilmann who works with the Microsoft Edge team and previously at Mozilla. His talk was highly entertaining and covered his insight and ideas around happiness and development. A great frame of mind.
The Takeaway.
Overall it was an informative and pleasant way to be involved with the web community in the region and to make new friends and meet associates. If you get the chance and the team at FrontEnd NE have another event next year, I recommend you come along.