Why do we need such a group?

The speed at which our industry moves is incredible and as developers it is almost impossible for us to keep on top of all aspects of our industry, we can only begin to keep up by working together. Sure we can read books, blog posts and watch screencasts, but there are only 24 hours in a day and we all have lives outside of work as well.

A group would be the perfect place for developers to get together and discuss all things development.  Whether this is Web, Desktop or Mobile based development we’ve got lots we can discuss with each other.

Who is the group for?

The group will be open to anyone wanting to learn and discuss development technologies and techniques. Whether you are a back-end or front-end developer, run a development shop, are a student, or simply a development enthusiast, this group will be for you.

Developers involved in the group should be open minded and not be closed to non-mainstream ideas. The group will not be dedicated to one language, but open to all, as every language can learn ideas and principles from others.

Possible Format of Development Group

Initial ideas have been for the group to meet every couple of months.  Clearly this can change dependent on demand.

We are currently thinking that the meetup should be kept in a similar format to the current Hull Digital Meetup, with a couple of speakers and then time to socialise and discuss the evenings talks.

Topics

Clearly the world of development is very wide ranging and as such it is hoped the range of topics will be quite large.

Some suggested early topics have been:

• Test Driven Development
• Object-relational Mapping
• Principles of SOLID
• MVC Frameworks
• JavaScript Frameworks
• Advanced CSS
• Windows Presentation Foundation
• Mobile Apps
• Cloud Computing
• Accessible AJAX (Hijax)
• Domain Driven Design

Your thoughts?

So we can get this group right for you, please let us know what you would like from such a group. Does the proposed format work for you? What kind of topics do you think should be covered?  Would you be prepared to do a talk?

And that’s not us talking, it’s you! We’re delighted to say that the 2nd Hull Digital MeetUp has got 5 stars from you!

“ Great work Jon – a really good event. Diverse range of speakers and some lively debate! See you next time. ”

“ Brilliant meeting, with some great speakers, who all did great especially as it was the first with speakers. Really looking forward to the next one. Excellent work to all involved. ”

“ Very interesting, fun and enjoyable meetup. Looking forward to the next one already! ”

“ We had a very good time, the speakers where very informative and I’d like to thank them and Jon for a very good evening. Wish we’d have had a bit of time at the end of the evening but we had to get off otherwise we’d have mingled a bit. Well done Jon it was great to meet you and some of the members tonight. ”

“ Loved the meet, there were even Doritos. Thanks for top welcome. ”

A HUGE thanks to the 30+ people who came along, and especially to the speakers, Intrasource for hosting the event and their staff who stayed behind to look after us all. Hat tip to Cairn Emmerson the group Chairman for his generosity!

How the evening progressed
The evening started off at 6.30pm but we had a steady stream of attendees turning up from 6.15pm. The drinks and doughnuts / pastries seem to be a big attraction to most people, and yes, we noted who “wasn’t shy around the buffet”
The Intrasource offices were soon full of the happy chatter of developers, designers, agency folk and geeks, discussing everything from php, to Linux, to Wimax, fibre and games. It was a job to keep up!

We kicked off the speakers with Paul Rhoades from Random Developments / ITSupported, who took us all through some excellent ideas concerning “Credit Crunch Computing”. He has made the slides available, and I will post the url as soon as I get it / remember it! We particularly liked the discussion around using alternative operating systems, open source software such as Open Office, and also making sure you service your computer regularly. Personally the Hull Digital team have one really easy suggestion to save time and money…. get a Mac

Following Paul, Steve Jagger from Quickline took the stage and gave us a fascinating talk about the opportunity to use Wimax to beam in broadband across the Humber. This innovative approach prompted a good few questions, some rather technical, but the concept proved popular, and the method of nodes seemed an ideal way of doing it.

Last, but my no means least, Lucy Wurstlin form Channel 4′s 4ip gave us a great insight into the £10 Million that has earmarked for the Yorkshire and Humber Region. 4ip is actively looking for ideas to support and fund, anything that will help / improve people’s life. Lucy has set up a top community over here >>> Whippet on The Wire - so do head on over there and join up! Remember to support your ideas to 4ip here too!

Whippet on the Wire is a new creative network for companies and individuals in the creative and digital sector in Yorkshire and Humber (and friends further afield). It’s a chance to share ideas, be inspired, find partners and collaborators, make new networks and find out what’s going in the region.

Overall, it was a great evening, and many thanks for the very positive feedback. What we did learn was that we need more time for chilling, chatting and netorking, so this is going to play a much greater part going forward. Also, a BIG thanks to Richard Griffiths, Head of Sales and Marketing Consumer from Kcom for coming along and entering the lion’s den. It’s great to see Karoo getting to know us.

Please keep your eyes and ears open in the next few days as the March MeetUp is going to be announced and it’s looking to be a corker! Cheers!

Cafe Nero, Savile Street, Hull centre at 1pm.

We are aiming to have around 20 people get together for the first MeetUp and we will be looking to expand this in the coming months. Our aim is to have around 30 regular attendees by the end of the year, and we really need your help to make this happen!

You may be thinking is this for me… so please read on….

Hull Digital / Hull Open Coffee is all about meeting others interested in any aspect of the digital world, the online world and web technology.

Whether you are a developer, designer, VC, entrepeneur, a digital-lifestyle enthusiast or just love the web, we would like to have you along!

The group is especially looking for people involved locally with a web-based business, or perhaps work for an online agency, or use the web on a daily basis as part of their working day.

A little more info for you….

Who would like this MeetUp?

- Web designers
- Web developers
- Web Marketing Consultants
- Anyone who uses the web for business
- Social Media lovers
- Bloggers
- Technologists
- People who love Web-Apps
What will you get out of attending?

- Meet new like-minded people
- Have an opportunity to talk to people with similar interests
- Learn something new
- Express your opinion on anything digital
- Network for business opportunities
- Hear talks from experts
- Discuss new technologies
- Promote digital culture in the region
- Fathom out how we can get fibre to the home in Hull!

This kind of event becomes a success if it gets the right people, who make an effort and get together every month to discuss topics they are passionate about. At the moment the Hull Digital team are starting to put the word out, but we could really do with your help too. If you know anyone who might enjoy coffee and a chat about any of the topics above, please do give them this link:

http://www.meetup.com/Hull-Digital-Hull-Open-Coffee/

and encourage them to come along. We look forward to meeting you soon!