Do. Or do not. There is no try: Be a speaker at I T.A.K.E Unconference 2016!

Nov 11, 2015 by Madalina Botez in  Announcements

Simon Brown_ 2015

Simon Brown, Keynote speaker I T.A.K.E Unconference 2015

 

We are proud to announce that in May, 2016, in Bucharest, we will host the 4th I T.A.K.E Unconference, bringing together 300 top-notch programmers, software craftsmen, architects, DevOps, technical managers, team leaders, startup CEOs, CTOs, technical consultants, and business analysts from more than 10 European countries.

James Shore is our first confirmed keynote speaker for this edition.

Each year, we strive to raise the standards for our participants. We are looking forward to offer them practical, hands-on sessions like workshops, smart talks, and best quality presentations. Side events, like Kata Lounge or programming contest, and networking opportunities will be included in the schedule, so get ready for one of a kind event!

As always, an invaluable role will have our speakers. Each of them brings personal experience and amazing insights, making the unconference the best place for finding inspiration and ideas for your work.

At this moment, we have just launched our call for speakers and we are looking forward to receive your submission!

If you want to make an outstanding contribution at one of the regional most vibrant events, get your proposal ready and submit it here.

We value practical, hands-on sessions, strong case studies, and personal experiences, delivered in an attractive manner. Our event is technology agnostic, so us, and the participants, expect a session that will apply to more technology stacks. No, talking only about Java or C# won’t go the finals!

While you prepare for taking the stage, take a look at what speakers and participants said about their experience:

 

Last week I had the chance to attend both as a speaker and an attendee my first un-conference (…). The overall agenda and the way the event is structured is very intelligent and it makes people communicate more and exchange ideas in various ways. (Patroklos Papapetrou, Speaker 2015, full blog post here)

The speakers proved to have deep understanding of the topics, and the information was clearly presented in easy-to-read slides. Nice job! (Adriana, participant 2015)

Open Space – very interesting. It’s like a round table. Everyone has the chance to say what he/she wants. Short sessions (as these: 35’, 40’) – OK. (Participant, 2015)

 

You can find all the details about the call here, and make sure to submit your ideas here by December 22nd.

Questions? Share your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter, using #itakeuncof.

Covariance and contra variance. Say what ?!

May 09, 2017

Enjoy the following series of interviews with the speakers, top-notch software crafters from across Europe, joining  I T.A.K.E Unconference, Bucharest, 11-12 May. Discover the lessons learned and what drives them to challenge the known path in their field.

Alin Pandichi, Software Developer at MozaicLabs and facilitator of the monthly Coding Dojo meeting that is part of the largerBucharest Agile Sofware Meetup Group, will share during his talk at I T.A.K.E Unconference more about Covariance and contravariance.

 

#1. Please share with us 5 things you did that helped you grow & become the professional you are today

I’ll answer this with a little bit of story telling about how I became a software developer. The first two things that helped me were attending the computer science oriented high school and college. There, I learned the basics of computers and programming languages. I also noticed how effortlessly I was solving CS related problems, so maybe I was onto something.

Number three: I got my first job straight out of college, developing a Swing rich client application saving data with JPA. This put me face to face with real world problems. I was faced with the fact that continuous learning is a must in this industry.

Therefore, number four on the list is learning. For the first few couple of years, I kept devouring every Java-related article I could find on DZone. With each one, I found out something new: a useful tool, a Linux terminal command, a development methodology, etc.

Last, but not least, is getting involved with local software development communities. I started attending meetups such as The Bucharest Agile Software Meetup Group and the Bucharest Java User Group. Gradually, I became an active member of both, giving a helping hand in organizing their events. On top of that, I also got involved in the wider community of Global Day of Coderetreat. My talk at I TAKE 2017 is one of the occasional opportunities I get to share what I know.

 

#2. What challenges will the participants find solutions to during your session at I T.A.K.E Unconference 2017?

They will find it easier to understand the concepts of covariance and contravariance, and how they are applied in the world of programming. In my experience, it was very easy to forget what these two words meant. Not anymore.

 

#3. Recommend for the participants 3 sources you find inspiration from and would help them better understand you

I dream big, so my biggest source of inspiration is science fiction. My first serious SF encounter was with Frank Herbert’s Dune series. Out of the contemporary authors, I enjoy Neil Gaiman’s work very much.

Whenever I get a chance, I tune into Nick Francis’ podcast called Quiet Music. It is a blend of low beat music of various genres: electronic, jazz, instrumental, folk, light rock, and so on.

Cinema is one of my other hobbies. I am very much interested in following every film festival happening in Bucharest. Also, the Romanian cinema of the past two decades has offered many gems so far, and it continues to do so.

 

Want to join Alin and ~300 software crafters from around Europe?

Register now for I T.A.K.E Unconference 2017!

Ansible, AWS & Elasticsearch

Apr 15, 2016

Enjoy the following series of interviews with the speakers, top-notch software crafters from across Europe, joining  I T.A.K.E Unconference, Bucharest, 19-20 May. Discover the lessons learned and what drives them to challenge the known path in their field. 

In today’s news is Phillipp Krenn, developer advocate @Elastic, who spreads the love and knowledge of full-text search, analytics, and real-time data. During his sessions, the attendees will cover the basics of Ansible by setting up a local environment in Vagrant and explore how Elasticsearch stores and interacts with JSON documents.

 i-take-unconference-speaker.001

#1. SHARE TOP 5 THINGS YOU DID THAT HELPED YOU GROW & BECOME THE PROFESSIONAL YOU ARE TODAY

  • Never stop learning: Keep up to date & don’t ignore either tried and tested solutions of the past
  • Participate at local events to learn and get to know other people in your field — meetup.com is a great starting point
  • Build stuff: Find interesting problems to apply and extend your skills
  • Attend at least 1 conference per year to broaden your horizon
  • Your dream job or project is just one interview away; there are way more opportunities than you would think at first, just give it a try

 

#2. What challenges will the participants find solutions to during your sessions @ I T.A.K.E Unconference 2016?

In my Ansible & AWS workshop we will learn how to automate your infrastructure, so you have a reproducible and documented system.
In the Elasticsearch talk we will try to overcome the object-relational impedence mismatch and make developmemt more productive and fun.

 

#3. What else would you like to share with participants?

The best place to learn more about my experience or ask any question is definitely Twitter – @xeraa

 

logo ITAKE 2016

 

Want to join Phillipp and many more software crafters from around Europe?

Join I T.A.K.E Unconference 2016!

Call for Speakers

Call for Speakers Opened

Aug 06, 2018

Send your proposal to become a speaker at I T.A.K.E. Unconference 2019. This year we are interested in specific topics, and choosing one of them might get you closer to becoming a speaker.

To increase your chances to become accepted, here are some tips:

#1. Get into the attendees shoes

If you have a very clear idea of who your audience is going to be, make the exercise to think from their point of view. They choose to attend your session, and they expect the best value from their investment.

#2. Customize, customize, customize 

Every audience is unique, so craft your proposal according to what you know about your audience and about the event. Try to bring an original approach for each session you submit.

#3. Pay attention to details

When you apply, make sure you have an excellent title, a clear description of what you want to present and a strong personal bio.

#4. Invest time in your application

Although it might seem at hand, making a proposal takes time. Make sure you follow the guidelines offered by the organizers and when in doubt, ask for more details. Make sure you offer the details requested in the application.

#5. And a little extra thing 

You’ve seen the call, you got your information in order and you are pretty sure you want to make a submission.

You can read more in detail about our tips here.

 

Have any questions about the call for papers or the Unconference? Let us know in the comments.

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