Nerds, Code Camps, and You

Summary: Reflections on Twin Cities Code Camp 12, and my talk on the death of Silverlight and the triumph of HTML5. Why code camps and developer user groups are great for the happiness and careers of all who love technology.

This past weekend marked the 3rd Twin Cities Code Camp conference I’ve attended. Each year gets better.

Why are code camps so great?

You get to hang with nerdy people. That’s me in the blue shirt:portrait of me and another nerd at Code Camp

…You get to talk nerd crap with other nerds:

Cats (both LOL and Nyan variety)? Llamas? Star Wars? Sailor Moon? The nerdliness abounds:

…You get to give fun/silly talks. I spent a good 30 minutes talking serious about the death of web plugins and the triumph of HTML5, but ended with a from-scratch demo building an HTML5 radio station that played…llama music. Oh yes!


I rocked that talk hard, and had a blast doing so:

Move Your Silverlight Skills to the Native Web with KnockoutJS [slideshare id=12574854&w=425&h=355&sc=no]

View more PowerPoint from JudahGabriel

Doesn’t hurt to hear great feedback:


Oh yeah!

Code Camps are total nerd fests, and it’s a blast. You learn tech, you grow your career, you have fun.

If you’re a dev who loves software and technology, step outside your job and have some fun with technology. Try a Code Camp, or even just a local user group. Self-improve and have fun while doing it. Good for career, good for life happiness.