Been there, done that [NeuralabTour 2017 Overview]
We’ve been busy and traveled a lot last year. Like real social butterflies. Conferences were ”our” thing in 2017., so we decided to share experiences and reviews of events linked with Neuralab Tour which was full of interesting places, lectures, and speakers.
DANI KOMUNIKACIJA
We started our #NeuralabTour with Dani Komunikacija 2017 event in beautiful Rovinj. Although the event is considered a full-scope marketing event with topics covering PR, Advertising, Branding, and Interactive and offline-online interaction, there were also lectures focused on the digital industry and trends. The speakers were some of the most recognized world experts from Alex Brown, Natasha Jen, Yasuharu Sasaki and co-founder of the notorious torrent portal The Pirate Bay Peter Sunde. They discussed some of the current issues and topics in the digital industry like:
- Fake news, micro-targeting and social media gained mainstream status during the 2017 USA elections.
- How to tackle the unknown in the design process
- Tech talks conspiring about new ad formats, video distributions and digital content strategies
- Modern new approaches to web design can boost the real center of every digital ecosystem
- New types of digital projects and how design (combined with web development) can change user behavior and even communication patterns.
- How sound can transform user interaction in a modern digital jungle.
- Power in a digital era and how every person on this planet can be a content creator, hence, influencing every other living person.
LADIES OF THE NEW BUSINESS – SPRING EDITION
With the usual mentorship program #DigitalniKaranfili, the spring edition of Ladies of the New Business 2017. brought us very cool panels with topics such as how to hire more women in ICT, what’s it like to be a female developer and how to be a parent in a digital age. The technology sector has traditionally been directed toward men. Why is that the case and what are the ways to lure more women into this industry? We found out the answers in the third edition of Netokracija’s Ladies Of New Business.
Also, our lead senior developer Ivan Brkić was a participant in the panel about women developers. Even though their numbers are on the rise, female developers are a rare breed. Why is that? What hurdles do they need to overcome to be on par with their testosterone colleagues?
https://www.neuralab.net/ladies-new-business-spring-edition-2017/
LEAP SUMMIT
As technology partners, we did a three-day live stream from the main (blue) stage as well as a video recording of the tech (yellow) stage. The blue stage was reserved for all inspirational keynotes and talks, with very good acceptance from the crowd. Everything was coordinated nicely and we have nothing but words of praise for the organizers. The location of SCZG was a huge hit, in my opinion, seeing it’s a great conference place often overlooked by other event organizations. Practically in downtown Zagreb, with great multiple venues and possibly the best espresso in the city for measly 5 kunas! Granted the infrastructure is a little bit outdated but the production partners from Promologistika did a great job in setting the whole thing up.
3 days of streaming equals approximately 15 hours of content so we decided to post our favorite lecture: that of Lars Silberbauer Andersen – The Creator of LEGO’s success on social media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwobt102XFw
The yellow stage was situated in a glorious French pavilion and dedicated to tech-related stuff. Our CEO Krešimir was part of a panel called ‘From Zero To Hero’ during which he talked about the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. Alongside him were Luka Abrus (Five) and Goran Deak (Forgebit).
https://www.neuralab.net/leap-summit-live-stream-recap/
SHIFT CONFERENCE
Shift conference took place in Split. 2 days of Mediterranean sun is not something to oversite likely. Being a big believers in decentralization (of everything), We hailed the fact that it’s not yet another conference in our nation’s capital. Organization of the event was spot on! Free coffee, drinks, snacks, and lunch throughout the day. Big after party in Club Central and phenomenal dinner venues and catering for the sponsors put smiles on our faces. At the conference, there were many interesting booths for gaming and swag. In addition, a very good info spot, as well as a mobile app, guaranteed you wouldn’t miss any interesting lectures or workshops.
This year almost everything was oriented to developers and development – so last year we were not sure how it would turn out, but it turned out to be a full hit. People were delighted with the topics, and it turned out that the market wanted more such events and conferences than innovative ones. So it made the conference go even further in this direction of development – the technical direction – and those developers who might have expected more technical lectures and were left a bit disappointed last year will certainly be happy this year with workshops, lectures and guests. Other than that, SHIFT had a small stage – the workshop stage – packed with lectures and new technologies. This year they’ve truly tried to correct all mistakes from the previous years and bring organization to a whole new level. The list of video lectures is available here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg1D4s1aLJVXMvYpBCh6_qA
https://www.neuralab.net/shift-conference-2017/
SMASHING CONFERENCE
The concept of collaborative #SmashingConf #NYC conference is the first thing that has delighted us – namely, the Smashing Magazine team has opened two Google Docs with a list of all workshops and lectures and has given access rights to all visitors so that they can comment and post direct questions to the lecturers.
Please click on http://smashed.by/nyc1 + http://smashed.by/nyc2 (if We’re already bored) and find out all the information from one of the most important UX conferences. Day zero started in the impressive Microsoft Research Center in the center of Manhattan, while the two “real” days of the conference were held at Broadway, in one of the most modern theaters -New World Stages.
There were a few trends we noticed to obviously prevail among UX colleagues:
- WPO (Web Performance Optimization)
- ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet applications)
- Design systems.
#SmashingConf lecturers have also put emphasis on interactive content design and a multidisciplinary approach to content. The design system itself allows designers to deal with major design topics such as illustrating content and defining user flows. Joe Leech had a good lecture on How to Design with Science Without Losing the Magic, and he suggests that all designers should have at least some knowledge of business and psychology. We also attended the workshop by Yuko Shimizu who showed the wonderful use of illustrations in refining interactive content and thus described the web as a highly multidisciplinary place: ”Nothing can replace cooperation – communication and cooperation overcome results.”
Finally, here is a photo gallery that shows a part of what we saw at the conference.
KULENDAYZ
Our designer duo Marina & Ana are full of positive impressions from 9th Kulendayz Conference in Osijek. Apart from the design topics, speakers were talking about subject matter related to data, cloud, ITPro, Project Management, FrontEnd, BackEnd development. In addition, the organizers have made extra efforts to include the youngest ones in their conference program with micro:bit workshops based on STEM field. After all, they shall inherit the earth.
It is particularly commendable that in 3 conference days, there were over 60 lecturers with interesting, relevant and useful topics. Over 600 people attended the 2017 Kulendayz, proving that the conference was a success. Ana and Marina are especially impressed with an excellent organization that was conducted at the highest level. Also, a splendid organization is confirmed by the fact that there was enough time and opportunities for quality networking and mingling between visitors, organizers, and speakers.
Given the number of quality topics, workshops and speakers inspired by their own experience, it’s right to say that Slavonija is becoming the new Croatian ‘’Silicon Valley’’ :). Kulendayz puts an emphasis on a leisurely atmosphere and therefore dumps the customary formalities characteristic for similar events. People from Slavonija really know how to have fun!
https://www.neuralab.net/neuralab-lecture-kulendayz-2017-good-bad-client-design/
3RD WORDCAMP ZAGREB CONFERENCE
WordCamp Zagreb, the largest WordPress community gathering in Croatia, is behind us and it was a complete grand slam! After two successful annual Croatian WordCamp events – WordCamp Rijeka 2015 and WordCamp Split 2016 – which in combination brought together more than 500 participants, Zagreb was the biggest single event related to WordPress in Croatia with over 400 participants. Most responsible for the large turnout are members of the WordPress community themselves – from bloggers across the media universe to professionals such as programmers and web designers. Let’s not forget all of the volunteers who selflessly devoted their time and efforts to help organize this event.
WCHR 2017 edition lasted for 3 days, from 1st to 3rd September and the organizers made sure that participants can absorb quality content, workshops, and lectures at any time of the conference. Friday was reserved for workshops designed for students with different levels of knowledge – from those who use WordPress to publish their own content and blogs, to other web development experts.
It is important to note that they were completely free and open to all interested participants. It’s very commendable that the organizers included kids in the conference program, so some of the workshops were intended especially for them. Also, parents could bring their children to all three days of the conference and freely enjoy the lectures, while their kids are safe in playroom area with proper care.
LADIES OF THE NEW BUSINESS – FALL GAMING EDITION
The 2017 autumn edition of Netokracija’s Ladies of new business was dedicated to the gaming industry. It has long evolved from kids Atari and Commodore 64 past time and it slowly but surely entered the mainstream markets. Today, there are more than 2 billion players worldwide and the industry’s global revenue is worth over 100 billion dollars. That’s billion with a B.
Neuralab was proud that one of the panelists will be our very own interactive designer Ana Filip. She’s into gaming from early days and knows all the nooks & crannies of the industry. Her gaming experiences will resonate for sure throughout the event. Currently, she’s mostly playing Overwatch and Counter-Strike Global Offensive. Her all-time favorite video game is Counter-Strike 1.6
We were a production partner for the conference. Our video production Transmeet.Tv did a live stream of the event for your viewing pleasure.
https://www.neuralab.net/ladies-new-business-zagreb-gaming-edition/
WEBCAMP
This was our 8th conference in 2017. We were live streaming most of them, we were guest lecturers and panelists on some of them, we were co-organizers on one of them… So we were not mere patrons and consumers, we got to feel the pulse behind each and every one of them. The old saying goes – too much of anything is good for nothing, so We didn’t expect to have a blast on WebCamp.
But life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. And what We got was the best conference in 2017! A pedantic organization with excellent people behind the ropes, huge attendee turnaround, schedule abided to the minute, decent free food & drinks throughout the event, great on-location espresso (finally!), and most important – compelling and lively lectures! We didn’t do a live stream this time but instead, we recorded all the lectures on both tracks.
Goran Peuc and his talk ‘Software industry is making us stupid’. Excellent topic, very well presented, funny and witty. And in the end, it accomplished what every lecturer desires – it made us contemplate about it. Our teamster Paula noted Sonja Heinen as her favorite presenter. Her lecture was called ‘A geography of design’ through which she addressed the flexibility of User Interfaces and their cultural elements. Sonja’s lecture was very down to earth but at the same time analytic.
One of two keynote speakers was Morten Rand-Hendriksen with his lecture ‘CSS Grid Changes Everything’. Through examples, code snippets, and practical demos he showed us how to use CSS Grid in a theme for modern responsive layouts, and how to handle older browsers without Grid support in a clean and straight-forward way. Ivan Brezak Brkan from Netokracija and our own Krešimir Končić grabbed mor10 after the lecture and chatted for half an hour in front of the camera to reveal some interesting facts about WordPress cosmos and new Gutenberg interface.
https://www.neuralab.net/webcamp-recap-tech-oriented-conference-web-developers-designers/
Skilfull content creator always on the hunt for tech trends
