A Very Polished Strange Loop September 21, 2013
Strange Loop 2013 Was a Blast
I loved Strange Loop 2012. Strange Loop 2013 was also tremendously engaging.
The best thing about Strange Loop is the conference participants. There's always someone cool to talk to. Any lunch table or beer outing resulted in an excellent conversation and a ton of learning.
The first keynote from Jenny Finkel was an amazing blend of someone who is not used to presenting to 1,000+ people with someone who had deep knowledge and extreme excitement about her topic. The combination brought the entire audience along for a deep dive into an increasingly important topic.
And that set the tone for the conference... deep dives into important topics from people who are passionate about the topic is a hallmark of Strange Loop... and this year, Alex Miller pulled yet another amazing conference.
More Polished
This year's Strange Loop was more polished than last year. Between the closing extravaganza and the Thursday party at the "what's it like to walk around the brains of Dan Aykroyd/Terry Gilliam" City Museum, Strange Loop excited the senses and pushed the boundaries of the mind.
More Women Presenters
Supporting women in tech is an important goal for me. It was most impressed by Alex Miller's success in recruiting women presenters (yes, each letter is a separate link to a separate presentation) as well as DevChix.
I graduated law school in 1991 and my class was > 40% women. I've seen how the women from law classes in the early 90s have improved the way lawyering is delivered because more smart, engaged people leads to better results. In tech, we are at the beginning of the process and the way that Alex Miller is enhancing the tech world by making women an integral part of Strange Loop deserves my highest praise and thanks!
Just as Excellent
One of the reasons I avoid the "slick" conferences is that they often lose something to the slickness. Not Strange Loop!
Alex pulled off an amazing balance between increased polish with all the things that make Strange Loop a conference that I seriously look forward to.
I can't wait for Strange Loop 2014. I'm not expecting Alex to top himself, but if he does, my brain might explode with sensory geeky joy!