Codestock Keynote - Nick Bradbury

A Message For Me

I recently attended the Codestock conference, a conference for software developers.  At the end of the first day of the conference, there was a keynote address by Nick Bradbury.  This keynote seemed to have been written special for me, and I thank Nick for delivering it.  I do a lot of software development outside of my employment.  While this is not for financial gain, it is still real software development, with real customers.  

Make something you need

Nick's message was about the life of the independent developer.  While I do have a more standard employment relationship, in some limited aspect I am an independent developer.  I struggle at times to stay focused, to know which project to work, which project to prioritize.  Nick's first point that really struck home with me was to make something you need.  Several of my projects are things that I think will benefit others, but are not things that I need.  I can see in his points things that I struggle with on these projects.  Lack of motivation.  Lack of insight.  And ultimately lack of releases.  There is one project that stands out as something I need, something I want.  This project needs the lion's share of my time, which Nick has helped me see.

No one reads help

I have pushed this repeatedly in my workplace, oft to no avail.  But it was elegantly stated during this keynote.  My recollection, probably less elegant, is that if a feature needs a help file, the feature needs to be redesigned.  Intuitive experience is one of the most important aspects of your software.  I believe that customers will not open your help, but will instead just go to your competitor.  And you always have a competitor.

Staying Relevant

A large part of my life is spent staying relevant.  I do not want to spend the sunset of my working career maintaining legacy software.  I want to be a driver of technology.  To that end, I give up a lot.  Probably too much, but only that which I see as needed.  It is a hard rope to walk, managing family and work life.  I fail daily, but my family is provided for, I remain relevant.  But in the quest for relevance and skill maintenance, I tend to get distracted by making, and often drop the learning ball.  If this time is so important, it needs to be primarily time that makes me more relevant, more marketable, even at the cost of lack of software deliveries.

Make a difference

This was really something that hit home with me, and what really made me want to write this blog post regarding this keynote.  Nick's parting words were great ones in my mind.  

If you feel like you're wasting your time creating software you don't believe in, find a way to stop doing that.  Find a way to create software that makes a difference. - Nick Bradbury

For me right now that way is to focus on a single project that I care about, that I need. Thank you Nick for delivering this keynote.

Codestock 2012 - Day 1

Yesterday was day 1 of Codestock, a software development conference held annually in Knoxville, TN.  This is the first conference I have attended, and it proved to be a very valuable experience.  I am looking forward to tomorrow even more.

Registration

As the morning began, I met with my expectation.  Get up early, go register, get some breakfast, find the first session.  I don't mind the get up early part, but seem to be in the minority.  Registration starts at 7 AM and I show up at 6:50.  Based on some comments on the lines during the Keynote, this seems to have been a wise decision, because there was no line to speak of.  

Attendees

The attendees that I met throughout the day were a welcome part of this experience.  There seems to be a thriving community here of developers.  Unfortunately for me, I am on the outside of that community, and can tell that being on the inside would greatly enhance this experience.  There are many familiar names, but none know me.  I did get pulled into several great conversations surrounding my Samsung Slate 7 Windows 8 box, so I'm glad I brought that.  After the days festivities there was a social event at one of the local restaurant-bars, where I really sealed the deal on my social awkwardness.  I did get to converse with several fellow Huntsville natives that I have met through our local user's group (HUNTUG).  

Sessions

I tried to fill every moment I could with session attendance.  They pretty much went as I expected.  Two were great, one mediocre, two were bad.  For the bad sessions, I really got a sense that the presenters knew they were bad and would use the experience to make future presentations better.  But I have to say that even from the "bad" sessions, I still walked out knowing more than I walked in knowing, which is of great value so I thank all presenters. 

The session that gave me the most was, not surprisingly, the Windows 8 deep dive, given by Jennifer Marsman.  This was a good refresher on the recent Windows 8 Code Camp that I attended with a little more real-world coding stuck in.  Jennifer is a great communicator, stays on topic, keeps the audience engaged, and packs her sessions with content.

Keynote

They keynote address was given by Nick Bradbury and it was by far the highlight of the day.  The talk was on the life of the independent developer.  He went through his career path and showed us his path from birth to success, what he has loved, what he has less-loved.  Almost everything Nick had to say seemed to be a message designed for me.  That we are at a pivotal time in human history.  That I am a big part of that.  That I want, and should want, to be a bigger part of that.  That I can affect real changes in this space.  That code craftsmanship matters.  That money only matters in that I have to provide for my family, but it should not be an end goal.  That user experience is not a buzzword, but rather a light that shines on the darkest corner of software development containing our greatest failures as an industry.  I thank you Nick for this presentation.