Laracon ’18: DA Takes on the Windy City
Last week, 5 members of our team went to Chicago to attend Laracon — a conference centered around the Laravel framework and exploring related development, uses, applications and more. Digital Additive’s Product Manager, Claire, gave us her reactions to her time in the Windy City with some of the industry’s thought leaders.
What were you most looking forward to at Laracon?
Honestly, I really didn’t know what to expect or look forward to. I’d looked at their site and saw the talk titles, but that was all I had to go on. So I didn’t know what to expect, all I knew was that my team was really excited about it.
How did this year’s conference differ from previous years?
It’s actually my first Laracon, though my team has been to the last 4 conferences. I’d heard a lot about the conference and what a great chance it was for them to learn but also work and bond more as a team. On all fronts, it certainly met my expectations. While not all the talks were relevant to me, there were a number that were helpful — I learned a lot about workflow, planning, and how developers think about those two things. Since we’re so busy at the office and some people work remotely, it was great to really get to spend time with the team; between shared meals, working on a project all together, and some sightseeing in our down time, we really got to bond and better understand each other’s approach to work.
What session did you find the most informative?
Matt Stauffer’s talk on work patterns that pay off was really interesting. I don’t code, but he talked about coding habits in a way that spoke to everyone — workflow, documentation, codebase consistency, etc.
Our team has shifted from full-time focus on our product, Vacoda, to start including some client projects as well. While we’ve developed a lot of good habits around our product, it’s not always easy to carry those over to client-based work. So we’ve had a lot of discussions internally about what habits to carry over and how to do it. I think Matt’s talk came at the right time for us and I thought it was really helpful.
What new idea did you find most compelling or interesting?
It’s not so much a new idea, but I loved the confirmation that “over-communication” really works, especially for remote teams. I say “over-communication” because it may feel like that, but having checklists, comments, and a daily task recap all fill different needs. You can see how a piece of work is progressing step-by-step, get pinged when there are questions or something you need to respond to, and maintain a big-picture view of what’s going on on a team-level basis. All of those are valuable, even if it feels like you’re over-communicating. It’s a concept we’ve talked about a bunch and it was reaffirming to hear it from others as well.
What’s something you’ll start doing or doing differently because of what you learned?
We’re already trying various things we picked up at the conference. Jason Fried of Basecamp talked a lot about how they don’t have any meetings and instead do daily writeups, project checklists, and a weekly “what I plan to do” list. While we haven’t cut out our standups, we have stepped up our asynchronous communication as a precursor to reducing the number of meetings and increasing the amount of deep work time our developers have.
What were some of your favorite moments from the conference?
It’s probably no surprise that I’m more outgoing than the rest of my team (all developers who self-identify with the introverted dev stereotype). While chatting with the engineering lead of one of the sponsors, I mentioned that we were going to Girl and the Goat that night for dinner. She was so excited we were getting out and doing some of her favorite things in her city and immediately gave me food recommendations off the menu. Olivia was spot on with her recs and it was one of our favorite dishes there. So fun to go back the next day and tell her what a great time we had.
What were your impressions of Chicago? Did you have any favorite spots?
I didn’t have many expectations going in to Chicago and it was way cooler than my (non)expectations! My favorite places are food related — we went to Girl and the Goat after the first day at Laracon and it was amazing. One of the best meals I’ve had, and the staff there is fantastic. I stayed in Hyde Park and walked to the conference each day; it’s a great neighborhood — charming, walkable, a real community. Reminded me a bit of Boston, but definitely still distinct and has its own thing going.
At Digital Additive, we’re always looking to learn more and stay at the forefront of the industry. All the more fun, then, when it also involves great cities with amazing sightseeing and dining opportunities. We’ll be sure to keep bringing you the highlights from other exciting conferences we attend.
