{"pageProps":{"posts":[{"date":"2022-06-08T14:30:00Z","layout":"post","title":"Escaping a paper bag","author":["Celina Bledowska"],"hero":"/static/images/pages/posts/2022-06-07-escaping-a-paper-bag/hero.jpg","tags":["NorDev","NorDevCon","2022","Interview"],"excerpt":"When machine learning and AI specialist, Fran Buontempo, approached nor(DEV):22 with her conference speech title: ‘Coding your way out of a paper bag,’ we were puzzled. Was this some esoteric philosophical thesis, or would the keynote speech really explain how to code out of a pa...","body":"\nWhen machine learning and AI specialist, Fran Buontempo, approached nor(DEV):22 with her conference speech title: ‘Coding your way out of a paper bag,’ we were puzzled. Was this some esoteric philosophical thesis, or would the keynote speech really explain how to code out of a paper bag? \n\n## Out of hand project\n\nFran Buontempo heads up her own [consultancy](https://about.me/frances_buontempo) where she works as a development dev ops contractor for investment banks in London, specialising in modelling and has a PhD in machine learning. When asked about her paper bag conundrum, Fran explained:\n\n> Tt comes from the phrase that came to me after interviewing an unsuccessful job candidate, ‘that guy couldn’t code their way out of a paper bag.’\n\nThis set her thinking and Fran realised she didn’t know how to use code to escape a bag. Therefore, the question of how to carry out this task saw the light of day. Is this possible or not? \n\n## The task\n\n“You can model a paper bag with a square or a rectangle and then you want something inside it that moves and will end up outside the bag. You could completely over-engineer this with machine learning tools and algorithms or you could run a simulation or diffusion. Flecks or dots can start in the middle and then gradually spread out.” \n\nFran suggests that the audience thinks of a gas moving within a gas model that will only require some adding up (computer led task), or orange squash diffusing once water is added to the squash is another way of understanding the problem.\n\nBy using this model, Fran suggests that this is a simplified way of explaining and learning more complicated ideas..\n\n## Machine learning\n\nFran is looking forward to giving the conference a “walkthrough of genetic algorithms and how these can be used to escape the ubiquitous bag.” She explains a genetic algorithm as, “using the idea of genetics as an algorithm rather than biology, a ‘nature inspired algorithm,’and Darwinian evolution in order to evolve a solution for something.” “All you actually do,” Fran continued, “is try with random attempts, as carrying out numerous permutations would be too time consuming, and then I’ll be able to deduce which ones are better, and this will give you more to experiment with.” She added, “through numerous experiments you will be able to prove your premise.”\n\n> In short you’ll be trying stuff, keeping track of what you’ve done and making things improve.\n\n## Experimenting and science\n\nIn an attempt to understand how things actually work, Fran codes from scratch. For example, the pandemic threw up numerous problems where machine learning was used to find an answer.and she believes that if you’re trying to model Covid and trying to work out what type of things might stop the spread, you could take a pre-built mathematical model and send in some parameters and numbers, and lots of libraries will do things for you. This is the methodology applied by most data scientists. But Fran is keen to add that you can build things yourself. \n\nMany people use Python in this field as there are many Python libraries that let you click together pre-existing pieces. Fran uses Python too but is happy to switch to C++ and other languages.\n\nBack to that paper bag. To find out how you can code your way out of this receptacle, you can catch [Fran’s keynote speech at 16.15 on 16 June](https://nor.dev/con). \n\n\n","path":"/posts/2022-06-07-escaping-a-paper-bag"},{"date":"2022-05-27T14:30:00Z","layout":"post","title":"Driving culture change","author":["Celina Bledowska"],"hero":"/static/images/pages/posts/2022-05-27-driving-culture-change/hero.jpg","tags":["NorDev","NorDevCon","2022","Interview"],"excerpt":"When Ben Frost first joined Bourne Leisure as Head of Product, he soon realised that getting users’ opinions was paramount. Bourne are the owners of Haven Holidays. Here he explains how he implemented a system that involved both users and devs. First discoveries Coming from the T...","body":"\nWhen [Ben Frost](https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfrostproduct/) first joined [Bourne Leisure](https://bournecareers.co.uk/) as Head of Product, he soon realised that getting users’ opinions was paramount. Bourne are the owners of Haven Holidays. Here he explains how he implemented a system that involved both users and devs.\n\n## First discoveries\n\nComing from the Times Educational Supplement, (TES) and with a successful business background behind him, Ben arrived at Bourne Leisure seeking a challenge. He started at Bourne right before lockdown - just as the hospitality industry was about to shut down. It became obvious that the “company culture needed to change as well as the tech. The tech was so archaic and so vast, and this revealed that the culture had to change, so that’s what I focussed on.”\n\n## Solving a problem\n\n‘Historically, Bourne had never had an ‘in house’ digital or website software team. They did have a couple of IT engineers and Project Managers, though these acted as conduits between agencies and the company.” This short-term approach resulted in countless website add-ons and no cohesive strategy.\n\nTo find a solution, Ben focussed more on identifying the problem, and one of the first issues he addressed was to actually ask holiday homeowners what their experience on a daily basis was. To accumulate this data in a business that wasn’t data driven, was difficult. For example, even Google analytics hadn’t been set up correctly. The figures were all wrong and this was something Ben realised he had to rectify.\n\n## Building a business without data\n\nBy getting out there and talking to holiday homeowners, Ben started from scratch. Calls were set up with holiday homeowners by Ben’s team - this was all taking place during the pandemic. As a result of these calls one of the first changes implemented was to allow holiday homeowners to submit their insurance certificates online - previously this function had been carried out manually. This was the start of the dev team building “feature after feature to replace these manual processes”\n\n## Facing challenges.\n\nBen is one of the people who can say that he had “a helping hand with the pandemic.” This gave him time to approach Haven, demonstrate the new features, and then continue to implement “more complex stuff.” The business realised that there was a complete lack of alternatives and by focussing on the basics, Ben was able to solve problems for the holiday homeowners, and therefore Haven. He was also able to demonstrate that the smartphone generation isn’t simply in their 20s and there was a need for company-wide tech modernisation.\n\n## Tech innovations\n\nBy starting from “ground zero,” Ben joined the new digital team when they were able to all fit in a small office of 8 called ‘the cupboard’, this has now expanded to over 100 team members all over the world working remotely. Outsourcing is a thing of the past, it’s more cost effective for the company and has proven that the team can create products to match both the company’s and holiday homeowners’ needs. Historically, everything had been built on Prem. This hadn’t changed since the 1990s, now nearly every bit of Prem has been moved into AWS.\n\nTrying to implement a single view of the customer base is on Ben’s future wish list. This will be the biggest change that the business will implement. Previously, Haven had not been able to experience the ‘art of the possible’ - the in-house tech team makes creative change a probability.\n\n\n","path":"/posts/2022-05-27-driving-culture-change"},{"date":"2022-05-23T08:00:00Z","layout":"post","title":"Product Hunt Kitty comes to Norwich!","author":["Juliana Meyer"],"tags":["NorDev","Product Hunt"],"excerpt":"Norwich startup SupaPass launches on Product Hunt today, so this Kitty doesn’t need to lift a paw! Hey, I’m the Product Hunt Kitty. You may recognise me from the Golden Kitty Awards, won by innovators like Elon Musk. I love prowling around hunting tech products and mice, and oth...","body":"\n_Norwich startup [SupaPass](https://www.supapass.com) launches on Product Hunt today, so this Kitty doesn’t need to lift a paw! _\n\nHey, I’m the [Product Hunt Kitty](https://producthuntkitty.supapass.io). You may recognise me from the Golden Kitty Awards, won by innovators like Elon Musk. \n\nI love prowling around hunting tech products and mice, and other fun stuff. I’m an influencer cat so I have lots of friends who like to hunt products too. Anyone can be a Hunter, but some Hunters have discovered thousands of disruptive products!\n\nFor example, [Chris Messina is the #1 Hunter](https://www.producthunt.com/@chrismessina). You may know Chris as the guy that [invented the Hashtag](https://tedxbend.com/presenters/chris-messina/)! He’s hunted over 3,000 amazing products, so 34,000 product hunters follow what he posts. \n\nToday [Chris has hunted SupaPass](https://www.producthunt.com/posts/supapass). \n\nWhen I heard what they make, I had to have it! …so the team at SupaPass made me The Pawsome App! \n\n\n![Product_Hunt_Kitty_App_by_SupaPass giff](https://res.cloudinary.com/supapass-live/image/upload/v1653153930/product_hunt_imagery/Product_Hunt_Kitty_App_by_SupaPass_ck0cdx.gif)\n\n\nNow I’m stepping it up with [my own website and app](https://producthuntkitty.supapass.io) where you can find my favourite [Product Hunt podcasts](https://producthuntkitty.supapass.io/audio), [Golden Kitty Awards](https://producthuntkitty.supapass.io/collection/7539), and other cat videos and pod-cats.\n\nIt’s purr-fect for writing comments - humans and cat paws welcome - in my Kitty community.\n\nI now don't have to lift a paw because being a content creator is so much easier. I get to focus on what really matters to me: sleeping in the sun and eating fish.\n\nDownload my Pawsome App and [come say hello](https://producthuntkitty.supapass.io) to other kitties and product hunters that love this Kitty!\n\nIt was so easy to make that _even my paws_ could get the App created and published to the App Stores within 24 hours, with the SupaPass Product!\n\nIt is purr-fect for me, and I wanted to know more about the SupaPass team, so I went hunting. \n\n\n![Product Kitty Hunting image](https://res.cloudinary.com/supapass-live/image/upload/v1653153844/product_hunt_imagery/Product_Hunt_Kitty_launches_their_own_app_by_SupaPass_jg81uk.jpg)\n\n\nWhen I heard that SupaPass is from Norwich, I came down here to see what other cool tech the NorDev Community is making… I love prowling around new neighborhoods, meeting other cats, and hunting. So if there’s any products lurking here I’ve not seen yet, come join me on Product Hunt so I can share it with all my friends. Meows on the street tell me you can ask your friends at [SupaPass](https://www.supapass.com) who’ll be happy to share all the things they learnt preparing for their [SupaPass Product Hunt Launch](https://www.producthunt.com/posts/supapass)\n\nProduct Hunt is a curation of the best new products, every day. It’s the best place to discover new products, connect with makers, and keep up with the latest in tech that everyone's talking about.\n\nAs you may already know, every day new products compete for the coveted **#1 Product of the Day **badge. I’m heading over there now to [check out today’s SupaPass Launch](https://www.producthunt.com/posts/supapass) and give them my support. Come check out the Pawsome App they made for me!\n\nSupaPass Product Hunt Launch: [https://www.producthunt.com/posts/supapass](https://www.producthunt.com/posts/supapass) \n\nSupaPass: [https://www.supapass.com](https://www.supapass.com) \n","path":"/posts/2022-05-23-supapass-launches-on-product-hunt"}],"initialEventData":[{"created":1654683282000,"duration":7200000,"id":"286436850","name":"nor(DEV):con 2022 - Conference Opening Fare","rsvp_limit":100,"date_in_series_pattern":false,"status":"upcoming","time":1655308800000,"local_date":"2022-06-15","local_time":"17:00","rsvp_close_offset":"PT5H","updated":1654684734000,"utc_offset":3600000,"waitlist_count":0,"yes_rsvp_count":8,"is_online_event":false,"group":{"created":1367934016000,"name":"Norfolk Developers - nor(DEV):","id":8384542,"join_mode":"open","lat":52.619998931884766,"lon":1.2699999809265137,"urlname":"Norfolk-Developers-NorDev","who":"Techies","localized_location":"Norwich, United Kingdom","state":"I9","country":"gb","region":"en_US","timezone":"Europe/London"},"link":"https://www.meetup.com/norfolk-developers-nordev/events/286436850/","description":"

**You will need a valid Conference Ticket or an RSVP here to enter!**

Join 1Password on the night before the conference for drinks and light fare to get nor(DEV): con kicked off in the right spirit! We'll be at Fupburger upstairs from 5-7 pm, let's meet for casual drinks and a fascinating conversation!

*We're thankful to 1Password for supporting nor(DEV): con as an Elite sponsor! In addition to protecting passwords and data, they now wish to delight your stomach with some fine food and libations.*

","visibility":"public","member_pay_fee":false},{"created":1642683138000,"duration":113400000,"id":"283378602","name":"nor(DEV):con 2022 - The eastern region's biggest tech conference","date_in_series_pattern":false,"status":"upcoming","time":1655375400000,"local_date":"2022-06-16","local_time":"11:30","updated":1642885220000,"utc_offset":3600000,"waitlist_count":0,"yes_rsvp_count":36,"is_online_event":false,"group":{"created":1367934016000,"name":"Norfolk Developers - nor(DEV):","id":8384542,"join_mode":"open","lat":52.619998931884766,"lon":1.2699999809265137,"urlname":"Norfolk-Developers-NorDev","who":"Techies","localized_location":"Norwich, United Kingdom","state":"I9","country":"gb","region":"en_US","timezone":"Europe/London"},"link":"https://www.meetup.com/norfolk-developers-nordev/events/283378602/","description":"

The eastern region's biggest tech conference returns in June 2022!

We'll gather in Norwich to learn, discuss, and network with an eclectic bunch of the best of the East's tech scene, joined by a group of international conference veterans. Talks on language, business, methodology, & blockchain. We're bringing 30 sessions across two days at The Kings' Centre, kicking off on the 16th June 2022, and closing 17th June 2022.

Find out more at https://nordevcon.com or grab your ticket now at https://ti.to/norfolkdevelopers/nordevcon-22

","visibility":"public","member_pay_fee":false},{"created":1652344894000,"duration":5400000,"id":"dnmbvsydcjbdc","name":"nor(DEV): Wander","date_in_series_pattern":false,"status":"upcoming","time":1655920800000,"local_date":"2022-06-22","local_time":"19:00","rsvp_close_offset":"PT7H","updated":1652344895000,"utc_offset":3600000,"waitlist_count":0,"yes_rsvp_count":2,"is_online_event":false,"group":{"created":1367934016000,"name":"Norfolk Developers - nor(DEV):","id":8384542,"join_mode":"open","lat":52.619998931884766,"lon":1.2699999809265137,"urlname":"Norfolk-Developers-NorDev","who":"Techies","localized_location":"Norwich, United Kingdom","state":"I9","country":"gb","region":"en_US","timezone":"Europe/London"},"link":"https://www.meetup.com/norfolk-developers-nordev/events/dnmbvsydcjbdc/","description":"

Let's wander around the lake and chat about tech & life! Come rain or shine, and we'll be walking at 7pm!