The world’s most awesome event for developers is taking place in less than a month! It’s been far too long since the last time we met in person, but that’s only going to make this year’s WeAreDevelopers World Congress a truly special experience.
Conferences still matter, probably more than ever. In case this is your first time visiting our community gathering, or in case you just want to make sure you use the most out of it, here are 11 tips and tricks that will help you use the most of not just WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2022 but any conference you might attend.
1. Define your goals
We’re starting the list with an obvious one and that is to know why are you coming to the event. Whether you’re looking for a job, networking partners, new learnings, or just looking to enjoy your time, we’re sure you’ll find it all at our congress.
The best way to make sure you get exactly what you want out of the event is to define your goals beforehand and plan your time accordingly. A simple to-do list goes a long way in helping you not to lose track and make you tick off all the activities you wanted to do.
2. Know the basics
Basics such as “who”, “what”, “when”, and “where”. Unsurprisingly, this is important for the event itself, knowing that WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2022 is happening on June 14-15 2022 at City Cube in Berlin. However, you can apply this logic to talks and presentations at the event itself too.
We’re sure you will have a list of talks and happenings you don’t want to miss at the congress, and the best way to make sure about it is to have it organized and written down. Downloading the official event app is the absolute must to keep it all together. Workshops, talks, community chatting, and expo area – it’s all included in the app, so make sure you download it before the event begins.
3. (Pre-)Register and prepare for showtime
Besides downloading the event app, another absolute must without which you won’t be able to attend the congress is to register yourself at the reception desk. To avoid queues and lines, we suggest pre-registering a day or two before the event. You’ll find all the pre-registration locations on our website.
Furthermore, once you have your app downloaded and after you finished your registration, it’s time to head for the adventure itself! Getting to the venue about an hour before the official start will give you enough time to grab your free WeAreDevelopers goodiebag, familiarize yourself with the event venue, get a cup of coffee, and save the best spot in the house.
4. Join workshops for hands-on experience
Apart from all those insightful talks and presentations, there will be over 50 workshops to attend at the World Congress 2022! How cool is that? Attending all of them is pretty much impossible within those two days, so make sure you check out the workshops list beforehand and pick the best ones that you don’t want to miss.
Just bear in mind that seats are limited, so make sure you pre-register for the ones you find most interesting via the event app. Furthermore, don’t forget to bring your machines since workshops are all about hands-on learning experiences.
5. Wander around the expo area
Once the event is up and running, it's a good idea to dedicate some time to the expo area. It’s not only about grabbing some freebies such as key chains and stickers (although we surely love them too), but it’s also about making connections with potential employers and/or working partners.
Hanging out in the expo area is a great way to build your network since pretty much everyone there is looking for expanding their networks. Someone might even help you enter a new career field. Simply put, it's win-win, you're having tons of fun while expanding your career opportunities. Pro tip: make sure to come by our WeAreDevelopers booth and have a chat and grab a candy or two.
6. Take notes
Listening to over 200 talks might be a bit demanding for the memory bank to say at least. However, there is a simple solution that most people overlook and that is to take notes. You can do it the old school way with actual pen and paper, or feel free to use your laptops, tablets, or mobile phones.
Yes, the talks will be available for rewatching on demand, but it’s always a good idea to write important things down immediately for an optimized learning experience. Furthermore, writing and sketching things down is a nice way to mapping new learnings out and sorting them within different topics.
7. Step out of your comfort zone
If you are flying to Berlin (or any other city) to join a conference, that means you're ready to get up and go learn new things. If you're ready to get up and do that, that means you're willing to step out of your comfort zone and grow as a developer. And that is an admirable personal treat.
Once at the World Congress, we highly suggest you to try new things. Whether it’s hearing talks you might not be super interested in at first, demoing new tech gadgets offered in the expo area, or simply trying new food and snacks, we're any of these new experiences will give you a fresh perspective and at least help you with the things you already know, if not make you learn new things.
8. Network and meet new people
As we have already mentioned above, each event offers great opportunities to expand your network. As we are welcoming over 5000 people to the World Congress this year, we’re sure there are thousands of opportunities for great networking chances. Maybe you could even land a job in Berlin, or Amsterdam, or Vienna.
It’s almost a public secret that most jobs are acquired through connections and networking, and even though you might not be looking for a job at the moment, it’s always a good idea to expand your network and the scope of connections. Honestly, we can’t think of many ways better to expand it than events and conferences.
9. Follow up with your new connections
Sure meeting new people is fun, but you know what’s even better? Staying in touch with them. After you’ve met all of those wonderful people, it’s time to follow up and stay in touch with your new contacts. A quick follow-up, either virtually or in person, can open many doors.
On the other hand, it doesn’t need to be a business-related association at all. A fellow developer can always help you with a buggy code you might be stuck with, a different opinion, or anything else related to code and not-code. Eventually, who knows, maybe it could grow into a real friendship.
10. Don’t forget to party
You know how they say: “Work hard, play hard”. Here at WeAreDevelopers, we are well familiar with that saying and that’s why we’re well-known for our super awesome parties.
This year’s official event party is taking place on the first day of the congress, June 14th at a still undisclosed location. More details are coming soon and you will love it, trust us.
11. Stay safe and have fun
Finally, it may seem obvious but we feel like it’s necessary to mention that the event is happening after a global pandemic. Taking all the necessary precautions is highly advised for the sake of not only your safety but the safety of those around you as well.
On top of that, respect everyone and remember that we’re all there to have a good time after all. If we all can make sure to stick to this simple rule then it’s going to be a better time for everyone and everyone will have more fun.
Conclusion
There you have it. With these tips, we’re sure you will have a great time that will stay in your memory forever and make you a regular conference-goer. As mentioned earlier, it’s been far too long since the last in-person World Congress, but that makes us just more excited for this one.
Lastly, if you have any questions about WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2022 feel free to reach out to us via help@wearedevelopers.com and don’t forget to grab your tickets if you haven’t already. It’s less than a month until we kick this wonderful event off and we are so looking forward to meeting you finally again.
