It's happening, y'all. I'm going to the Disneyworld of Open Source and Cloud Native conferences. Yes, I will be GOING TO KUBECON! Time to dust of my crispiest Kubernetes T-shirt, fresh Hokas and decide between cargos or chinos. Mickey Mouse step aside, I'm going to ride the cloud native roller-coaster and have an AI robot draw my picture. Ok I get how that doesn't sound exciting, but I love conferences...and the Fall Trade Show season has officially started!
So on my checklist is:
- Attending the Keynotes
- Trying to make it to some workshops
- Hanging out with a giant inflatable giraffe dancing next to a DeeJay on a segway
- Picking up my wardrobe for the next 12 months at booths (I'm looking at you, Oracle, love your shirts!)
- Rolling my eyes at all the first-timers with the red hat fedoras (there's SO MANY of them)
- Attending ancillary parties/events and getting wine and dined and sixt....never mind. You get the point.
- Networking and learning.
I'm also going to be letting you know who's hiring on the job board to share with those who couldn't make it. Also, I'm gonna be doing a daily SWAG REVIEW. Let's see who's got the good stuff, who's got the cheap stuff, who's recycling and who's giving out those god-awful red fedoras.
I also will be giving out my first official Beatsinthe.cloud stickers at the conference, so be on the lookout for these:
Hit me on twitter so we can meet and collect your sticker, I'll be arriving Monday afternoon, so sadly I'll be missing Cloud_Native Rejects, a pre-conference to the main conference that is rapidly becoming an integral part of the KubeCon experience, which I absolutely LOVE and recommend....plus it's free.
But in all seriousness, if you're undecided or have 2nd thoughts, this isn't my first (or 2nd) rodeo, so let me dispel some myths and clarify some things about this conference, and ALL tech conferences for that matter. I've been going to plenty of them since 2019 (except for a brief period in 2020 obviously).
A lot of the sessions are presentations from companies with a pure agenda to sell their products.
- You are referring to the solutions showcase. If you spend most of your time there, of course you're going to get pitched. But you have to go after the workshops, sessions, keynotes and breakouts. You will actually discover best practices and new tools there.
It's just a massive sales conference and I don’t get any real technical value out of it.
- You must not be attending any sessions and spending your time in the solutions showcase, which isn't bad, but you're not making the best of your time at the conference. Talks and sessions are important. Look at what tools you are working with, and what talks pertain to that, as well as what workshops pertain to them, even if they seem below your level, because you will get perspective and uses that perhaps you never saw before.
Networking doesn’t happen much at these events. Everyone’s focused on attending the talks they’re interested in and grabbing vendor stickers.
- That's true if you don't try. This line is one I cannot relate to, and many of my peers can't either. No one will approach you if you are not approachable. No one will say hi if you don't say hi first. It's like I tell my kids at the playground when they complain the other kids won't play with them...the easiest way to engage with someone is say: "Hi, I'm ____, what's your name?". I have made many friends from conferences, and even have coordinated meetups when we know we are attending the same ones....all from sharing a table at KubeCon or Google Cloud Next for lunch. And I am someone who's social battery drains fairly quickly, yet effort goes very far. And it pays professionally in dividends. Also there are literal networking events in and out of the conference in itself outside of the solutions showcase. You can do it.
Companies are just trying to tell you how their product was the perfect solution for a problem
- Yes, in the solutions showcase they are. In the talks, no. It is why they had their talks accepted. They have to keep a code of vendor neutrality in their presentation even if they are vendors themselves, they are simply not allowed to advertise to you on stage. This is demonstrably false. Once again, it is important to make the most of your experience and maximize your schedule.
The talks are vague and don’t really provide much info past what you would get from basic docs
- This is the reason they have coffee outside of the halls. You have to pay attention, take notes if needed. They don't just ramble, come on now. Maybe look into the hands-on demonstrations, panels, and breakout sessions. The schedule can be overwhelming, but there is something there for you.
It is a better investment to buy a Kodecloud acloudguru subscription or buy some books to learn
- While those are excellent platforms to learn cloud, containers and Kubernetes, it is unrealistic to expect to walk into a conference for 4 days and walk out a platform engineer. It's not a bootcamp. It’s an experience. It‘s an industry event where you get to meet the top developers, hear about the newest developments and releases up close, network with other professionals, and expand your mind to see how far the cloud-native rabbit hole goes. You won't get this type of experience with a learning subscription alone. It's apples to oranges, and they are complementary.
You get what you put into it
- Exactly this.….
….which is to say this is a work related trade event no matter what vertical you’re in and how much you enjoy the technology. So if you go for the free drinks and food, that’s all you’ll get from it. If collecting shirts, stickers, pins, plushies, pens and hats (those awful red HATS) is all you’re interested in, that’s what you’ll get out of it.
Students should attend Kubecon to learn
- Well yes and maybe no. Hear me out. If your university teaches containerization and orchestration (and mathematically speaking in the USA, that’s a super low probability) then yes…but if you’re a CS major NOT specializing in cloud computing, maybe hold off. Because there’s cloud computing, and then there’s cloud native, which yes, is a sub-domain but also an entirely different beast in itself. The feedback I’ve gotten from Uni students is that the cloud native novice track is not exactly for novices. And taking a glance at past year’s schedule….they might be right to have felt lost….at least to those who have no knowledge of Kubernetes outside of knowing it’s the K in EKS. So if you’re a new Kubernetes student, yes, go….otherwise learn the basics so you get more out of the next conference.
So in summary, people who don't like conferences tend to stick around the sales floor. Don't do that. There's so much more to do. Plus it's a fun experience. So if you're on the fence, I hope this pushes you off of it one way or the other. Also, Salt Lake City baby! Who doesn’t love salt? Who doesn’t love lakes? Who doesn’t love cities? Gonna enjoy Salt Lake, the nature walks and try out some good food because the internet man told me they have good oysters. I really hope that's not some dark reference.
So if you're going, once again, follow and hit me on twitter for a free sticker to litter your Thinkpad or Macbook.
Are you nearby and need a ticket? These guys are doing a ticket giveaway. They don't pay me, I simply found them looking for posts critical of KubeCon on Reddit.
