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Nebraska.Code() is a conference our engineers look forward to every year. This year, we had a great mix of seasoned and young engineers attending the event which always leads to in-depth learning; not only from sessions but also from each other while at dinner and other sponsored events. We wanted to sit down with Austin, who just celebrated his first year at Omnitech and talk with him about attending his first professional conference.

What were you looking to get out of Nebraska.Code()?

My mission for attending Nebraska.Code() was to be exposed to the latest technologies that are being used in the industry that I had not yet seen. Additionally, I wanted to bring some of these ideas back to the rest of the engineers. I was much more excited to learn about the frameworks and methodologies of tomorrow rather than what I am already comfortable with. Being my first software engineering conference, I was expecting to absorb information on a wide variety of subjects. In these aspects, attending the conference was successful and well worth the time.

Did you find it difficult or easy to be interacting with such a large number of developers?

Although I was surrounded by people who have had decades of experience in the industry, I felt a sense of acceptance. It was inspiring to see everyone excited about learning and having heartful discussions on which topics to attend. This was not the place to be pretentious. I even had a lengthy conversation with a stranger on what moving to a newer technology would mean to their business. Overall, it was a comfortable yet engaging setting surrounded by many like-minded people.

What was your favorite discussion at the event and why was it so important to you?

I chose to do a workshop on ASP.NET Core, and it turned out to be my favorite topics of discussion at the conference. There were many engineers who have worked with the previous ASP.NET frameworks, yet haven’t had the opportunity to learn about ASP.NET Core. The question I wanted to answer was the following: why would I use ASP.NET Core vs. ASP.NET 4.5? ASP.NET Core can feel like a buzzword to many of us, so I wanted to bring back to our team the reasons why we would want to move along this path versus sticking to what we already know. As I found out during my workshop, performance can be a huge advantage over the previous frameworks amongst several other things. In addition, it’s crucial to consider where Microsoft is going with ASP.NET Core. As this is the future of the .NET Framework, it’s vital we have these skills for client requests moving forward.

This, along with other sessions on the topic, served as my maiden voyage to the new Microsoft framework. I understand the importance of the already existing frameworks, but I also believe it is vital to look where the industry will be moving in the coming years. These sessions stood out as some of the largest takeaways that I could, in turn, bring back to fellow engineers.

Many sessions had technology topics that were new to me but sounded interesting. I often faced contemplation with what sessions to choose, as I had an interest in many of them. They were all incredibly valuable, especially as I began to see what impact it could potentially make for businesses. Witnessing what can be accomplished with these new tools and frameworks, I felt compelled to learn more and to begin applying these in my daily work.

Looking at the future, and conventions down the road, what would you do differently in preparation/involvement?

Many of the sessions were geared towards the beginners in a topic, so I did not feel preparation was necessary for many of them. I think looking ahead to see what sessions you want to attend will be to your benefit, for example, if there’s a complex topic, some reading beforehand can go a long way. Taking notes during sessions gives you something tangible to reference later, and I will continue to do so in future conventions.

One of our Omnitech teammates, Kevin Logan presented “From JavaScript Mess to Cleaner Code” at Nebraska.Code(). Did that ignite a spark to present your own topic at an event someday?

Oddly enough, I did feel a sense of inspiration to present a topic at an event like this someday. Speaking to large groups of engineers sounds daunting, and is a struggle for many people in the industry as well as myself. This is a difficult skill to learn for many engineers who are introverted. However, I feel it is important to break out of the comfort zone and give back to the community. Given some practice presenting, I am confident I could find a subject that is of interest and deliver value for the attendees. Stay tuned!