I have been lucky enough to speak at a number of conferences and events this year and have loved meeting other designers & developers in the industry. I think conferences are essential for any creative industry as it encourages shared knowledge and brings people together – this is particularly important for lone freelancers & bedroom coders who normally work within a bubble.
There certainly isn’t a shortage of conferences in the UK, particularly for the web industry, but there is definitely a shortage of quality conferences in South Wales. Joel Hughes proved that there is a need for quality conferences with the excellent Port80 web conference last month.
The major creative hubs in the UK such as London, Manchester, and Bristol all seem to be well served by conferences & meetups. South Wales, and Cardiff in particular has a huge population of digital creatives but seems a bit neglected when it comes to conferences. As an iOS developer with a background in web development I have struggled to find an event which encompasses both my passions. Surely there are others like me, with an interest in mobile deployment in general, whether it be mobile web or native mobile apps? I would argue that any native developer without knowledge of mobile web, or vice versa, could be missing out.
Due to a mystery illness, I have had a lot of time on my hands recently as I have been told to put my feet up under doctors orders. So, do I sit around and blog about how I wish there was a conference which covered mobile as a whole locally? No, that just isn’t my style – I am going to do something about it. Ladies & Gentlemen, may I introduce you to Handheld, the conference for all things mobile, web & native.
I have managed to line up some fantastic speakers who are at the forefront of the industry and are creating some of the most innovative stuff around. I have booked a fantastic venue and am now in the process of finalising all of the little details that make a great conference exactly that : great.
My aim is to construct a conference which will draw in both app developers and web developers from all over the UK so that mobile can be discussed as a whole. We all have a lot to learn and having some of the greatest minds in both these disciplines together might just make things better for us all. Well, that’s the plan anyways.
www.handheldconf.com
@handheldconf