ElixirConf EU in Malaga was lovely. Potentially inspired by some other conference they've released a lovely photo gallery. I also found the Lightning Talks and Keynote videos out slightly before they announced them :D

I feel good about going. My talk went well and I think landed well. And it weirdly might lead into some interesting stuff in the near future.

It was a tactical apple crate Dave. Actually.

Today's essay thing will be a bit about the production type of skillset I use in making talks.

28th of Sep - 3rd of Oct. Varberg, Sweden. Sweden's largest, smallest, best and worst Elixir conference.

Ash event and more hacking?

3rd of October is confirmed to be an Ash event and probably more stuff.  More details to come. It is officially a festival from a Monday to a Saturday.

Speakers anounced

A large part of the speaker line-up is now on the website. We'll be announcing them with more detail in the days to come and more will be added as they confirm participation.

Workshops

All but one of the planned workshops are up. And you should book your spots. Some will open up more capacity. Some won't. There will be a swarm of local students claiming seats as well so get in there. The workshops are free and taught by some of my favourite people and some of the most knowledgeable people you can find. We have stuff that is deeply nerdy, specific and we have things that are introductory. Some stuff is not particularly Elixir-focused though much ties in to it.

Don't mistake this for Serious Trainings (TM). These are community people teaching the community about what they love. It is hack sessions and collective problem solving. It is all the best parts about touching keyboards along with other weirdos.

Tickets

Close to half the tickets are gone. I bet they'll start moving when we start blasting the line-up on socials etc next week. Get yours.

Sponsors

If you think your company can and should support the conference we are actively talking to sponsors now. You can just respond to this email.

Making things

One of my earliest computer memories is goofing around in Microsoft Publisher. The best software. It let me make magazines, brochures. For what? I had no need but it was awesome that I could.

I've always had more of a fascination with the tools and the creation process than the results. I love experiencing a good creation but it is temporary. The feeling of a good creative act is something else and the feeling of being capable with a tool is even better.

There are more skills I want than I've had time to acquire. I'm trash at color grading. I always forget to tweak my audio. It was fortunate that I had an editor while doing YouTube.

But I can draw (okay), I can film (decent), I can set a stage, I can write, I can light (acceptably). I can talk extemporaneously (not sure I can spell it though). I can deliver a script. I can inhabit a role (awkwardly).

I love that I can do this stuff and value it highly and if you've looked at my talks recorded through the years they always have some weirdness to them, some flair. Almost all of them entail som level of production or pushing at some creative boundary. Live demos, video-based slides (3 of those? or 4? I don't remember).

With code writing becoming less of a differentiator I expect that creativity, taste and execution becomes ever more important. Except among those who don't care of course.

Now I'm going off into the woods with my family and in-laws for a bit. Have a great weekend. You can, as always, reply to this or reach me on socials.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate you.