Úll 2013
On the eve of WWDC13 I thought it was time I shared my experiences of another exceptional developers conference I attended, Úll 2013.
Úll is a conference for designers and developers who want to learn about the cutting edge of mobile and desktop, native and web alike. But it’s more than that. Úll is an attempt to create a shared experience that will leave you with the will to build amazing products, knowing the tools to build them and the people to share them with.
2013.ull.ie
As an independent developer this was a great opportunity for me to remove myself from in front of my MAC and go out to listen and chat with some amazing people from the development and design community. I was finally able to meet up with some people I followed on Twitter, some of whom I thought didn’t actually exist ;).
I attended Úll 2012 last year and jumped at the chance to get a ticket for Úll 2013. This year’s Úll far surpassed my expectations. Great improvements were made to the format of the conference. More speakers, better venue, more people interaction and lots of surprises.
The conference kicked off on Friday afternoon in The Round Room at the Mansion House, Dublin. Every attendee was greeted at the entrance and given a beautifully crafted welcome pack.
The Round Room at the Mansion House was a great venue and it was easy to see there was no expense spared when it came to the audio and visual setup. Probably the best change to the format of the conference was the new seating arrangement. Round tables were the order of the day. Between six and eight people set up camp at each table. Round tables were perfect for “between talk” discussions.
The Friday Sessions.
Michael Lopp, back for his second year at Úll, kicked off the first of the talks, followed by Stephanie Rieger. Peep Code Live with Neven and Geoffrey was one of the highlights of the Friday sessions. It was great to watch the process of extracting an app from Geoffrey’s imagination and putting it together and realising it in front of one hundred plus people.
Horace and Matt finished off the first part of Friday. Matt gave an inspirational talk about the developers right to feel that…
“They’re worth it”.
…with Jim Dalrymple (lead Guitar), Dave Wiskus (Guitar and Vocals), Kyle Neath (drums) and Samuel Goodwin (Bass guitar).
The Saturday Sessions.
Eleven talks, drinks with Dropbox, Pac-Man themed talk from Gruber and a night of feasting was on the schedule for Saturday. Every one of the talks were compelling, inspirational and educational. Jamie Newberry’s talk about clients and how to work with them and how to get their trust…
“Accessibility is good design”, was the topic of Charles Perry’s talk. He talked about various techniques to help developers to create apps with accessibility in mind.
Dave Addey’s talk about “The Little Ideas”, ideas which come from your interaction with people, people who start a sentence by saying “wouldn’t it be cool if…” was brilliant!. Dave showed how they built upon little ideas to create award winning apps.
Grubers Pac Man talk was… well… you had to be there ;)
The Sunday Sessions.
Sunday…hangover recovery day. A BBQ in the Odessa Club, followed by yet another surprise! All the attendees were treated to not one but two live podcast recordings.
“The Unprofessional” and “The Talk Show”, with John Gruber and Michael Lopp – http://www.muleradio.net/thetalkshow/37/
The best thing about Úll is the people!
I got to meet really cool people at Úll this year. I learned a lot, so much so, that I’m still going through notes and following up on their recommendations.
All credit to Paul, Dermot and the Úll team for bringing amazing people from all over the world to hang out in Dublin for Úll 2013.
Úll 2014 is coming, I’ve already got my ticket and I’d advise you to get yours too!!
