Last year the inaugural Bristech Conference brought together 250 developers and tech aficionados for a one-day celebration of technology. The “by developers for developers” conference, organised by the people behind the Bristech Meetup group, was so successful that it will be returning in November 2016 bigger and better.
This time the venue will be Bristol’s Watershed and they want you to get involved – #bristech2016 is looking for people to speak about the tech that fascinates them.
“Many speakers like the opportunity to speak in their own locality and not have to travel too far afield.”
In 2015 the 18 expert speakers from Bristol and the South West covered programming languages, tools, techniques and platforms (you can see the Bristech 2015 talks here).
As organiser Nic Hemley (pictured left) tells us: “The feedback from attendees and sponsors alike for Bristech 2015 was simply stellar.” He adds that the speakers too were “very complimentary indeed; I think many speakers like the opportunity to speak in their own locality and not have to travel too far afield.”
Bristech 2015: A quick overview of last year’s conference
He adds: “The conference was spawned from the eponymous meetup group and so our roots have always been in the Bristol and Bath metropolitan region. The locality has been a major factor in the success of the event since the thriving tech meetup scene means that people are already very engaged with their local tech community.”
Everyone welcome
Nic is also very keen to get people from all walks of life to Bristech 2016. He stresses that the conference is all about sharing knowledge, no matter who you are: “At Bristech we take inclusively extremely seriously and it is important to use that everyone feels welcome at our events whatever ethnic background, gender, faith and age.
“We are committed to reducing barriers where ever we can and are fully engaged with the tech community. For example, we are working closely with WomensTechHub (@WTHBristol) to make sure that our Call for Speakers reaches as many female tech speakers as possible.”
You can read the Bristech 2016 inclusivity statement here.
Coding fun: Issues facing developers being taken very seriously at Bristech 2015
Speak your mind
The theme for this year’s conference is “Tech Innovation”, with a strong bias towards software. Nic tells us, “We would invite professional developers, entrepreneurs, innovators, academics and hobbyists to get involved.”
There will be three tracks aimed at specific sections of the attending audience. They are:
- For Polyglots – talks on emergent programming languages, tools, techniques and platforms by developers and practitioners about their art form
- For Innovators – talks on technical innovation by entrepreneurs, startups and participants in the incubator ecosystem
- For the simply Tech Curious – a miscellany of talks from across the tech landscape, including Data, DevOps and UX.
If you’re passionate about a tech subject – get in touch! Last year there were speakers from all over the South West and Nic is keen to repeat that.
“We have a bias towards locally grown talent and our aim is that Bristech will provide a platform for speakers to flourish”
As he explains: “We certainly have a bias towards locally grown talent and our aim is that Bristech will provide a platform for speakers to flourish. Whereas the meetup has a lower barrier to entry, perhaps for first-time speakers or those still honing the craft, the conference quality bar is slightly higher, as you would expect for a ticketed event.”
Thanks for talking to us Nic. You can register your interest here: Speak at Bristech Conference 2016. And you can keep up with all thing Bristech 2016 by following @bristech and checking out #bristech2016 on Twitter.
