2024 Schedule

Welcoming and Belonging in Open Source

9:15 - 10:25 AM

Allison Kittinger (she/her)

“The success of open source projects is heavily based on community and volunteer contributions. This talk takes a look at persistent barriers to participation in open source, best practices for inclusive open source community growth, and compensation models for labor in open source.”

Confidently Lead in a Culture of Safety

9:40 - 10:25 AM

Jen Remsik (she/her)

“Workplace safety and culture don‘t happen by chance. Both safety and culture are developed and maintained intentionally, and they go hand-in-hand. When you develop a culture of safety, you improve both safety and experience the benefits of a stronger company culture. When I talk about workplace safety, we’re talking about more than just keeping your team safe physically, although that is critical. Workplace safety extends beyond the emotional and psychological aspects of your employees’ daily experience. Not only is it the right thing to do, but embracing a safety culture is also suitable for your bottom line.

In this talk, we will cover how to keep your safety efforts an ongoing part of your culture with the 5 steps to creating a safety culture:

1. Defining your culture

2. Why it matters

3. Investment cost and return

4. Embracing a coaching style to bring staff on board and get their buy-in and commitment to the process

5. Consistent implementation

Objectives: Join us for this talk and learn the 3 C’s of safety culture:

• Circular commitment (from the top & bottom and from the bottom to top)

• Embrace a Coaching style

• Consistency”

Nothing New Under the Sun

10:40 - 11:25 AM

Jim Remsik (he/him)

“Let's explore repeating cycles of human behavior and technological advancements. By examining historical patterns and current trends, we will highlight how past innovations and societal behaviors often reappear in new forms. Many modern developments in technology and society are not entirely novel, but rather, reinterpretations or evolutions of age-old concepts. Together we'll take advantage of this knowledge to prepare us all for what's next.”

Top 3 Ways to Run Evidence-Based Software Experiments

11:25 - 11:50 AM

Luke Burkey (he/him)

“Running software product experiments is critical to building trust with users, making more effective products and creating a better future. In this talk, I'd like to show you how I've created these experiments effectively in startups and F100 companies alike and how running experiments puts evidence ahead of bias.“

Unlocking Innovation: Integrating Art and Technology for Inclusive Problem-Solving

1:30-2:15 PM

Shawn Spartz (she/her/they/them)

“Join us at DevFest for a transformative session that bridges the gap between art and technology. "Unlocking Innovation" invites technologists from all disciplines to explore the power of neurographic art as a tool for creative problem-solving and empathy-driven design. This session will demonstrate how embracing artistic methodologies can help break free from conventional thinking, fostering inclusive solutions that resonate on a deeper level with diverse user groups. Whether you're a developer, designer, or engineer, come discover how blending creativity with technology can lead to groundbreaking innovations and a more inclusive digital future.”

1 Step Behind You

2:15 - 2:40 PM

Steven Boutcher (he/him)

“Mentorship is often viewed as something you do later in your career (after 5-10 years of XP), but there's always someone you can help who's 1 step behind you on their career journey. I want more early-career devs to consider what they have to offer right now, not 10 years in the future. Mentorship is a good way to build an authoritative personal brand in the digital age. You can build your network and meet interesting people by mentoring. Mentoring helps you grow as a professional as much as it helps your mentees.”

Turning the Lightbulbs On!

2:40 - 3:25 PM

Heather vonOesen Dean (she/her)

“Imagine a business culture that thrives on sharing alternative, outlier, or innovative ideas.

Imagine a business culture where perspective widening is the expected gift. Imagine a business culture where feelings of professional motivation and satisfaction move beyond the clock and check.

Imagine more lightbulbs to turn on at each meeting for your team, client, and customers.

The Lightbulb Lady can show you how to get started!

When interactions are designed to acknowledge and support creative thinking, the lightbulbs for all involved start to turn on in ways that may or may not have been planned or imagined. In this session, you can start improving your creative thinking awareness with 3 Lightbulb Leadership Lenses to immediately use in your daily work life.”

Finding your Voice - Becoming a (tech) Speaker

3:45 - 4:30 PM

Ross Larson (he/him)

“Everyone has unique interests, perspectives, and experience. This session will give you strategies to find your voice and become a speaker, if that is something that would interest you.”