Developers Unite! Devcon Summit 2014
“The geeks shall inherit the earth”. You can often read this phrase over the Internet. We software engineers, I.T. professionals and developers, consider ourselves as geeks. With the evolution of technology at a rapid pace, it is very likely that we can make a great impact in the world. It is a good time to be a developer because you can create a lot of cool stuff like apps, games and programs that affect people’s lives. It is also hard because you need to solve real world problems to contribute to our society.
In order to create positive change in the world, we need to unite our experiences, knowledge and skills to achieve it. That’s why on November 29, 2014, Developers Connect Philippines or DevCon PH conducted their annual summit with the theme #DevelopersUnitePH at the Devcon Summit 2014.
A swarm of developers and shirts!
The summit last year emphasized on trends in mobile development, but this year, it was all about the developer community.
The goal of Devcon Summit 2014 was to unite different groups of developers, developer groups passionate in distinct technologies and fields. It also helped individuals find a group where they can fit in and hone their craft. Lastly, the Devcon Summit 2014 aimed to uplift the Filipino developer community and help developers compete in a global scale.
Brian Bibat, DevCon’s President, discussing the summit’s theme #DevelopersUnitePH
Different partners of Devcon shared each of their company’s vision. Some showed their portfolios to show if your interests align with theirs. Of course, the most used phrase for that day was “We are hiring”. #WooHoo
Devcon’s awesome partners! They are Hiring!
(Top L-R) Beverly Ann (Ideaspace), Erika Gatmaitan (Globe Labs), Paul Pajo (Smart DevNet), John Paul Palpalato (Accenture)
(Bottom L-R) Yves Sy (Freelancer.com), John Baylon (Satoshi Citadel Industries), Sophie Woo (Microsourcing), Tomonori Nishigawa (KlabsCyscorpions)
Calen Legaspi shared his talk about “How Technical Debt Can Ruin A Business”. His talk focuses on how quality of coding affects the success of business. Technical debt is costly because you more time is spent on maintenance instead of the development of a software.
Calen Legaspi on Technical Debt
Next up was a panel discussion about Rediscovering Developer Opportunities in the Philippines. Filipino developers are good. We just need how to sell ourselves. There are a lot of skilled developers here and a lot of mediums to find work are accessible to us. Some tips given are polishing your English, stick with code quality and best development practice, and learn to market your skills.
Panel Discussion on Developer Opportunities
We had the opportunity to know the different user groups in the Philippines. With a number of technologies and programming languages, a community of developers using such technologies is a great help. Groups present are Philippine Ruby User Group (PhRUG), Drupal Pilipinas, PHP User Group (PHPUGPH), Python Philippines, Philippine .NET User Group (PHINUG), International Game Developers Association (IGDA) – Manila Chapter, Google Developer Group (GDG), and Mozilla Philippines.
(Top L-R) Jon Limjap(PHINUG),Terrence Ponce (PhRUG), Cherrie Ann Domingo (PHPUGPH), Lionel Ador (Drupal Pilipinas)
(Bottom L-R) Tristan Angeles (IGDA), Bob Reyes (Mozilla Philippines), JomarTigcal (GDG), Mark Steve Samson (Python Philippines)
Over lunch, we got a chance to interact with the different partners who made the summit possible. It was great knowing their technologies but the gave freebies as well which was awesome. Also, the marked our cards so that we can have a chance to win at the raffle.
Awesome partners are awesome!
