{"pageProps":{"page":1,"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":"2022-05-20T14:30:00Z","layout":"post","title":"Talking Tech Educators","author":["Celina Bledowska"],"hero":"/static/images/pages/posts/2022-05-20-talking-tech-educators/hero.jpg","tags":["NorDev","NorDevCon","2022","Interview"],"excerpt":"Tech investor, Akcela founder and Conference sponsor, James Adams, is rapidly gaining an awesome reputation on the Norwich tech scene. We talked to James about Akcela’s latest startup, Tech Educators. Norwich has a lot of people with great ideas in terms of building a business bu...","body":"\nTech investor, [Akcela](https://akcela.co.uk/) founder and Conference sponsor, James Adams, is rapidly gaining an awesome reputation on the Norwich tech scene. We talked to James about Akcela’s latest startup, [Tech Educators](https://techeducators.co.uk/).\n\n> Norwich has a lot of people with great ideas in terms of building a business but you need to back that up with the technical capability to achieve success.\n\nAkcela is in this for the long term, and Tech Educators is a shining example of a successful startup.\n\n## Investing in tech\n\nAward winning Akcela is a renowned local [incubator](https://akcela.co.uk/meet-the-akcela-incubator-team-startup-and-scaleup-incubation-norwich/) that “supercharges businesses in the east of England.” Headed up by James Adams the business is making its mark across the county. The latest project, Tech Educators, offers an intense web 3 coding bootcamp that aims to get people started on a new career in the industry, as well as a whole host of other coding [bootcamps](https://techeducators.co.uk/).. As James himself says: “a career in tech can take you to all kinds of places.”\n\nGrant money from big Web 3 companies, who are very interested in training, is a potential source of funding for Akcela. Also, US giant, Code Fellows, has partnered with Tech Educators to offer Full Stack training. Tech Educators is offered space by Akcela, and the courses on offer are exciting .\n\n## Learn to code - first steps\n\nFor example, Tech Educators is offering anyone in the UK “access to \\[our\\] one day or two evening 101 courses for free, instead of £99,” With this opportunity many who wouldn’t normally consider changing to a career in tech can at least dip their toe in the water and see if this is for them.\n\nWhat makes Tech Educators different from many other start-ups is the support offered by Akcela. Mentors are on hand to guide and actively help with business plans and other types of essential advice. Being part of a wider community is just one of Akcela’s assets. Support from Polygon, Ethereum Foundation, and Nor (DEV): among others means that there is a very wide and knowledgeable cohort for Tech Educators to draw upon.\n\n## Success\n\nTech Educators has already proven its worth with one of the March 2022, Web3 course graduates, Patrick, who has already landed a job with [Boson Protocol](https://www.bosonprotocol.io/). And another success story is Vatsavaye Pryatham Varma, who’s a web 3 coding bootcamp graduate who’s the new Tech Educators course director..\n\n## Looking to the future\n\nJames believes that by speaking about Web3 to corporations there’s potential for Akcela to be successful in raising funds, which in turn, means the incubator will be able to offer support to even more start-ups.\n\nTalking to schools and offering a free one day course for students is another of James’ ideas. As he says, “the long term goal has to be a place where we can offer training to people from diverse backgrounds at true scale. To deliver that, we need an infrastructure of businesses ready to support new talent. That’s alongside our mentors, but it has to be a real commitment to supporting and nurturing talent. We need a pathway for people from job seekers to affordability, which is where the government steps in.”\n\n“We’ve got the product, we’ve got the demand, we’re doing some awesome stuff, we’re spreading the word.”\n\nTo find out more about Tech Educators and the opportunities on offer, you could always start by learning how to code with its full stack [MERN Bootcamp](https://techeducators.co.uk/full-stack). Alternatively, should you wish to develop Web 3 skills, [Tech Educators](https://techeducators.co.uk/web3) is the place for you.\n\nLearn more when James Adams and Henry Hoffman give their talk on Web3 at the [conference on 17 June](https://nordevcon.com).\n\n\n","path":"/posts/2022-05-20-talking-tech-educators"},{"date":"2022-05-17T14:30:00Z","layout":"post","title":"YakBit - making inclusion in the workplace matter","author":["Celina Bledowska"],"hero":"/static/images/pages/posts/2022-05-17-yakbit-making-inclusion-in-the-workplace-matter/hero.jpg","tags":["NorDev","NorDevCon","2022","Interview"],"excerpt":"Educator Mary-Jo Hill explains how YakBit can revolutionise workplace inclusion ahead of her conference speech. Having taught in education for 25 years and worked as an advisor, and then later as a leadership coach. Mary-Jo realised that many in the classroom have difficulty in h...","body":"\nEducator Mary-Jo Hill explains how YakBit can revolutionise workplace inclusion ahead of her conference speech.\n\nHaving taught in education for 25 years and worked as an advisor, and then later as a leadership coach. Mary-Jo realised that many in the classroom have difficulty in having their voices heard. She also acknowledged that adults in the workplace, during meetings and other events do not have the courage or encouragement to express their feelings and for sure, many voices shout louder and more frequently than others. Just take a look at Amanda Blanc’s recent meeting experience at Aviva!.\n\n## From school to work\n\n“YakBit evolved through my observation that, in a classroom, I needed to learn what is the best way to engage all in a teaching and listening forum, and how this can be managed to better effect.”\n\nHaving completed a MBA at the UEA, and taken part in the UEA Business Enterprise Start Up week, Mary-Jo decided that she wanted to use tech to analyse speech patterns and promote inclusivity in the workplace.\n\n## Tech to the rescue\n\nThose who feel marginalised and are less confident will benefit from YakBit. Research shows that there is a need to measure real time inclusion. This carries through from the educational environment right through to the workplace.\n\nBy using speech analytics, AI, and machine learning to increase awareness of how people talk and listen in a meeting space. Mary-Jo stresses that YakBit is still in its infancy but is examining ways to use insight to make meetings more effective. The AI will also be able to register silences as well as speech - who is speaking, who isn’t and then analysis can assess why this is so. The aim is to “ensure that there is core participation and there are structures and systems in place so those who are less confident become more engaged.”\n\n## Testing the methodology\n\nYakBit is now trialling the MVP with a creative agency in Norwich, with AI expertise on the Board. Smart Grant Funding for further R&D is vital to move this forward. By talking at the conference Mary-Jo hopes that members of the tech community will contribute, with their thoughts, ideas, expertise and knowledge.\n\n## The future\n\nCorporations who might wish to adopt YakBit, include those early adopters, “who value equality and inclusion.”’ She is also very aware that companies that, potentially, could benefit from this programme, will be nervous. On the positive side “many industries have a mandate to report on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.” Mary-Jo values all Norfolk Networks and colleagues here to find companies interested in adopting YakBit.\n\n\n\n\n","path":"/posts/2022-05-17-yakbit-making-inclusion-in-the-workplace-matter"},{"date":"2022-05-05T14:30:00Z","layout":"post","title":"Devs, design & users","author":["Celina Bledowska"],"hero":"/static/images/pages/posts/2022-05-05-devs-design-and-users/hero.jpg","tags":["NorDev","NorDevCon","2022","Interview"],"excerpt":"Ahead of her conference speech, Katie Fisher, senior experience strategist at Norwich based, The User Story, talked to us about the importance of UX. Evidence and psychology UX is psychology driven. Katie clarifies how user experience or rather, user experience research, is about...","body":"\nAhead of her conference speech, [Katie Fisher](https://twitter.com/pandatwinkles), senior experience strategist at Norwich based, [The User Story](https://www.theuserstory.com/), talked to us about the importance of UX.\n\n## Evidence and psychology\n\nUX is psychology driven. Katie clarifies how user experience or rather, user experience research, is about using human behaviour and attitudes to inform design and the building of products.\n\n> There is a reason behind anything that we design because we understand that there is a motivation behind what people want to achieve by using this website etc.\n\nBy speaking to users, Katie and her team try to understand the reasons behind why and how the public use websites. UX designers are approached by businesses that want to understand how people use their products. Without the data, the interviews and the science, it’s impossible to answer these pertinent questions.\n\n## What the user wants\n\nStarting from scratch Katie explained that she wants to comprehend people's problems when landing on a specific website. ”You’re not going to get very far if you’re always asking people something new” is just one of her discoveries.\n\nTechnology doesn’t always have to be new as far as the end user is concerned. It just has to work. “People thrive on familiarity, they have mental models for this, the design heuristic is recognition over recall.” You should always recognise something rather than remember. Our memory works like this. If consumers have to work too hard on your website - they’ll leave.\n\nFor example, “there are only five icons that are universally recognised by the user.” Introduce a new aspect and the public is puzzled. People don’t always recognise novelty and they’ll have to re-learn things and use a greater cognitive load. The user will have to use more thought to figure something out - they’ll leave the platform.\n\n> To understand if people will understand something, use it and complete a task on the website, we’re looking at behaviour compared to the interview based analysis.\n\n## Developers and UX\n\nKatie feels that there is some misunderstanding about what people who work in UX are trying to do.\n\n> The way that the User Story works is that whatever we’re designing from a really early stage we want to speak to the developers, who are going to have to build it, at this time.\n\nThis is the time for compromises. Discussions of time & cost are held during this period. ”This is the time to bring developers on board so they understand ‘we’re not throwing things over a fence at them.’”\n“We always want to work with developers, even when they’re constructing the website, as we know that things will come up in the actual build ,that may be either design or the data driven that doesn’t quite work.” Traditionally, this type of collaboration hasn’t always been the focus of either dev’s or UX designer’s minds. Times have changed and all of The User Story projects are collaborative.\n\n“Though some developers aren’t used to having to collaborate, front end developers are better at this way of working than some back end engineers.” Explanations from UX designers can clarify the process. Sharing snippets and video clips is an important step in the collaborative procedure.\n\n## Learn more about UX\n\n\n","path":"/posts/2022-05-05-devs-design-and-users"},{"date":"2022-05-03T14:30:00Z","layout":"post","title":"Where it all started","author":["Celina Bledowska"],"hero":"/static/images/pages/posts/2022-05-03-where-it-all-started/hero.jpg","tags":["NorDev","NorDevCon","2022","Interview"],"excerpt":"nor(DEV): was founded 9 years ago by local software engineer, Paul Grenyer, and we thought it was important to kick off our interviews with speakers and sponsors by talking to him and discovering more about the roots of the conference. Background notes Back in the dark ages, when...","body":"\nnor(DEV): was founded 9 years ago by local software engineer, Paul Grenyer, and we thought it was important to kick off our interviews with speakers and sponsors by talking to him and discovering more about the roots of the conference.\n\n## Background notes\n\nBack in the dark ages, when working in London as a programmer, Paul joined the [ACCU](https://accu.org/) and appreciated that he benefited from their conference and networking opportunities, he helped them set up local groups with speakers. He also used to attend [Extreme Tuesday](https://www.extremetuesday.com/), an Agile based group which acts as a forum for developers to chat and learn.\n\n## A lively Norwich tech scene\n\nOn returning to Norwich Paul felt that this fine city could benefit from similar community based.enterprises and established some [Agile related activities](https://paulgrenyer.blogspot.com/2012/12/agile-east-anglia-short-history.html).\n\nIn 2012, Paul got together with John Fagan, Stephen Pengelly, Juliana Mayer & Seb Butcher, who, at that time, were involved in separate groups, and they formed [SyncNorwich](https://www.facebook.com/SyncNorwich/) which, from its inception, was an immediate success. After six months, though, Paul had itchy feet but worked with the team at establishing a conference in February 2013. Estimating that 40 would attend, to Paul’s delight 180 rolled up to the sadly defunct [Open](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEN_Norwich), the event was called Sync Conf.\n\n## Norfolk Developers is born\n\nRecognising the need for a forum for developers -\n\n> “at that time we didn’t know how many tech people and companies there were in Norwich, [but knew that] there was a real appetite for tech in the city,”\n\nPaul aligned with Dom Davis and Ben Taylor and set up nor(DEV): in 2013 of which the annual conference was an integral part, kicking off in 2014, with a healthy 250 attendance. Paul remained as the primary conference organiser until 2019 when he handed over the reins to Alex Scotton & Shaun Church.\n\n## Reflecting on the conference\n\n“Amusingly Paul made the comment, “your ego’s writing cheques your body can’t cash” (Top Gun) which is maybe, one of the reasons that the group has expanded so widely. As well as just addressing solely developer issues, the conference now has workshops, business talks and a whole host of related subjects. At its zenith the conference could boast an attendance of 640 people over 2.5 days. Activities for school children were also included where building and programming a robot was one of the stellar attractions.\n\n## Where it’s going\n\nTalking about the conference, Paul said,”The whole point of Norfolk Developers was to bring good quality technical content to Norfolk.” With world class speakers, engrossing talks and the networking opportunities for the tech community, it looks as if Paul’s ambition continues to be realised.\n\n**We hope you’ll enjoy this year’s conference and look out for Paul’s speech which is the opening keynote on Thursday 16 June at 12.30pm.**\n\n\n","path":"/posts/2022-05-03-where-it-all-started"},{"date":"2022-05-01T10:30:00Z","layout":"post","title":"Norfolk Developers’ Conference 2022 June 16-17","author":["Celina Bledowska"],"hero":"/static/images/pages/posts/2022-05-01-nordevcon-returns-in-june/hero.jpg","tags":["NorDevCon","2022","Announcements"],"excerpt":"It’s just two months until the largest tech conference in the east - the Norfolk Developers’ conference - opens its doors. And what a collection of delights are in store for you. As a result of the pandemic, we couldn’t hold this event in 2021. This year we are back with some ver...","body":"\nIt’s just two months until the largest tech conference in the east - the Norfolk Developers’ conference - opens its doors. And what a collection of delights are in store for you.\n\nAs a result of the pandemic, we couldn’t hold this event in 2021. This year we are back with some very special speakers and workshops.\n\n## Evergreen favourites\n\nWe have returning popular speakers, including Jim Marshall, who in 2020 wowed us with his drumming proficiency as well as his invigorating speech. This year Jim will be talking about leadership self awareness. The incomparable Dom Davis will entertain and enlighten us with a talk on the Andromeda strain. And another popular returnee, Paul Grenyer, will divulge the conference origins and why it’s so important for the east of England and the UK’s tech sector.\n\n## New stars\n\nWe’re also delighted to introduce a few newbies to our platform. Former software engineer, and current Mindset coach, Richard Donovan, will explain the importance of de-stressing and confidence building and how developers can and should look after their mental health. The User Story’s Katie Fisher will be highlighting the importance of listening to clients through UX.\n\nWatch out for some fascinating talks on crypto, ethereum and Web 3, including a tasty explanation on Blockchain from Cambridge University Bitcoin society.\n\n## Tech in the east\n\nTo put the importance of the Norfolk Developers’ conference into context, the 2021 [Tech Nation Report](https://technation.io/report2021/) stated that 2020 figures revealed that Norwich ranks 13th in the UK and can boast £27m investment in its tech sector. Taking the east of England as a whole, the east recorded a £220b investment.in 2020.\n\n## Even more\n\nUp until the conference itself we’ll be running a series of interviews with speakers and, of course, our wonderful sponsors.\n\nTickets are going fast but you have until 16 May to grab our Early Bird ticket.\n\nCheck out our Twitter feed, [@NorfolkDev](https://twitter.com/NorfolkDev), for further information. To chat with some of our members, take a look at our Discord channel, or catch up with some of the talks we hosted right through the pandemic on You Tube.\n\n\n","path":"/posts/2022-05-01-nordevcon-returns-in-june"},{"date":"2019-02-03T11:43:32Z","layout":"post","title":"Join us for the nor(DEV):con 2019 Business Sessions: Running a business is hard!","author":["paulgrenyer"],"hero":"/static/images/pages/posts/2019-02-03-join-us-for-the-nordevcon-2019-business-sessions-running-a-business-is-hard/hero.jpg","tags":["NorDevCon","Announcement"],"excerpt":"Join us for the nor(DEV):con 2019 Business Sessions on Friday 22nd February! Get your Early Bird tickets here before the price goes up after Friday! Running a business is hard John Gostling Running a business is hard….harder when you don’t have much experience of running a busine...","body":"\nJoin us for the [nor(DEV):con 2019](http://nordevcon.com) Business Sessions on Friday 22nd February! Get your Early Bird tickets [here](http://nordevcon-2019.eventbrite.com) before the price goes up after Friday!\n\n## Running a business is hard\n\nJohn Gostling\n\nRunning a business is hard….harder when you don’t have much experience of running a business! 6 years ago I joined Breakwater IT as a Systems Engineer, I quickly realised there was so much potential that had yet to be tapped into, and every day since then my focus has been on releasing this, creating a better company to work with, and to work for. It’s been a constantly evolving journey, 2 steps forward, one step back (sometimes two!), but things are finally starting to fall into place.\n\nThis is a very open self-appraisal of the how we have transformed a loss making company into one that turns a profit and is currently growing at 20% year on year.\n\n### Crack the motivation code!\n\nCassandra Andrews\n\nImagine if you knew precisely what motivated each member of your team, how motivated they were and what you could do to improve their motivation!\n\nCassandra Andrews interactive workshop focuses on motivation in the workplace and introduces ‘motivational maps’, an incredibly accurate and user-friendly tool which enables us to unlock and measure employee motivation.\n\nUnderstanding exactly what motivates individuals in an organisation can be used with significant impact to support business growth and profitability by maximising employee and team motivation, retain employees and recruit the right people to complement existing teams.\n\nAt the workshop you will discover how to create high performing teams by learning:\n\n- What motivation is, how it can be measured and how it impacts the workforce.\n- About the nine motivators identified in motivational maps.\n- How to increase team performance by identifying conflicts in motivation.\n\nTo enable all delegates to get their own ‘wow’ moment from the workshop, there will be an opportunity for four attendees to win a complimentary individual motivational map with feedback/insight session and discounted motivational maps available for other attendees.\n\n### Developing an app to promote emotional resilience\n\nUEA\n\nSince summer 2017, Dr Laura Biggart and Dr Kamena Henshaw, from the School of Psychology, have been working with UEA computer science students and Steve Jones and Adam Ziolkowski from JoziTech to develop a student support app. Currently the app is focused on supporting students’ transition into Higher Education. In this session we will talk about the development of the app, the research background to the features, and the feedback since our launch in September 2018. We will conclude with a discussion of our future plans, including evaluation of the app and our plans to work with other organisations to develop bespoke OpenUp apps\n\n### Don’t fall over like Elon Musk did – How to stay energised and disrupt an industry\n\nIan Hacon\n\nElon Musk is one of the most famous workaholic cases in recent years. So much so, many others quoted him as a badge of honour when they too worked too hard. In 2018, his wheel fell off, forced to take a total break due to exhaustion. This session will help you understand how looking after your own energy is good for business and you will leave with some easily implementable steps to do so.\n\n### Orchestrated Mobility – Changing The Way We Move\n\nJohn Fagan\n\nBy late 2030, its predicted that 95% U.S. passenger miles travelled will be served by on-demand vehicles owned by fleets, not individuals, in a new business model Transport-as-a-Service (TaaS).\n\nCitizens will pay a monthly fee to go anywhere they wish, much like we do today using on demand services for music and video, like Spotify and Netflix.\n\nTaaS will unify public, private & autonomous transportation into an efficient service and is predicted to deliver a largely carbon-free road transportation system.\n\nIn this talk i will…\n\n- Vision of Transport as a Service\n- Key Drivers (Technologies, Autonomous electric vehicles, ride sharing, costs and barriers)\n- Impacts on society, economics and the environment\n- Who should be the Netflix for Transport?\n- Examples of use cases and disruption happening today\n\n### Harnessing the power of subscription technology\n\nJuliana Meyer\n\nThousands of professionals are discovering ways to transform the way they work and the way they earn a living. Leveraging the skills we each have, the talk uncovers how anyone can can build their own subscription business using the knowledge and talents they already have.\n\nI’ll go deep into the steps needed, opportunities available, the how and why, and what has worked and not worked for others. This has already been a game changer for others who learnt this from my previous talks which then transformed their lives, their living, and their opportunities.\n\nGiven the key trends of subscription, technology and self-education, I’ll explore and explain how anyone can successfully launch their own apps from home to generate a passive income and lift the lid on exchanging time for money.\n\n***\n\nGet your tickets here: ","path":"/posts/2019-02-03-join-us-for-the-nordevcon-2019-business-sessions-running-a-business-is-hard"},{"date":"2018-07-15T20:54:15+01:00","layout":"post","title":"nor(DEV):con 2019 Call For Speakers","author":["paulgrenyer"],"hero":"/static/images/pages/posts/2018-07-15-nordevcon-2019-call-for-speakers/hero.jpg","tags":["NorDevCon"],"excerpt":"nor(DEV):con 2019 Call For Speakers Thursday 21st to Saturday 23rd February 2019 Kings Centre 63-75 King Street Norwich NR1 1PH nor(DEV):con, the Norfolk Developers Conference is back for 2019 and stronger than ever with new tracks and an updated format. nor(DEV):con is Norfolk a...","body":"\nnor(DEV):con 2019 Call For Speakers **Thursday 21st to Saturday 23rd February 2019** Kings Centre 63-75 King Street Norwich NR1 1PH\n\nnor(DEV):con, the Norfolk Developers Conference is back for 2019 and stronger than ever with new tracks and an updated format. nor(DEV):con is Norfolk and Norwich’s premier and most well attended conference for everyone involved in software development and business.\n\n## Call for Speakers\n\nThe call for speakers is open from now until Friday 28th of September 2018. To submit a proposal, please send an email to [paul@norfolkdevelopers.com](mailto:paul@norfolkdevelopers.com) with the following:\n\n- Session Title\n- Session abstract\n- Session topic: Pre-conference workshop, Tech, Process, Workshop, Stephen Fry, Business, Lightning talk\n- Session length: 45 min presentation, 90 minute presentation, 90 minute hands on workshop, Full day hands on workshop, 5 minute Lightning talk\n- Technical level: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Business\n- Speaker(s) Bio\n- Availability for Thursday 21st (full day workshops only), Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd February.\n\nFurther information will be required if you proposal is accepted.\n\n## Conference Topics\n\n**Pre-Conference Full Day Workshops**\n\nWe’re looking for three full day pre-conference hands on workshops. These should be on a software development or process theme and we’re looking for one beginner, one intermediate and one advanced workshop. Pre-conference workshops attract between 5 and 30 people.\n\n**Tech Track**\n\nWe’re looking for 45 minute and 90 minute beginners, intermediate and advanced presentations primarily on coding, techniques and libraries. This year we’re particularly keen to include a few Blockchain sessions.\n\n**Process Track** Rather than just concentrating on Agile, this year we have a process track for any type of software development process. Yes, you can even propose a session on Waterfall if you’re feeling brave!\n\n**Stephen Fry Track**\n\nSoftware Development is more than just code and practices. It’s about people. And people are not logical entities that follow easily understood rules. We’re illogical, irrational, and tend to shy away from difficult subjects like mental illness, inequality, and bias. This track looks at the softer side of Software Development, at the people, how they interact, and how we can work with the whole gamut of humanity, because it’s not just Stephen Fry who has manic depression.\n\n**Workshop Track**\n\nWe’re looking for 90 minute hands on workshops for up to 20 people. These can be on any of the topics above and delegates bring their own laptops.\n\n**Business Track**\n\nThe business track is the track for everyone! We’re looking for business based sessions with a technical slant.\n\n**Lightning Talks** On the Friday evening during the wine reception, which will be in the main hall, we’ll also be opening the floor to lightning talks. A lightning talk is a 5 minute presentation and we encourage new speakers as well as experienced speakers to present.\n\n**Speakers Package**\n\n- Free entry to the Friday and Saturday sessions at the conference\n- Free entry to the Friday night speakers dinner\n- Travel and accommodation at the discretion of the conference organiser","path":"/posts/2018-07-15-nordevcon-2019-call-for-speakers"},{"date":"2016-08-06T00:54:44+01:00","layout":"post","title":"Bigger, Better & Bursting with even more content: nor(DEV):con 2017!","author":["norfolkdevelopers_fhk6mt"],"tags":["NorDevCon"],"excerpt":"Bigger, Better & Bursting with even more content, nor(DEV):con 2017 is set to be our biggest yet so bare with me as we go through what’s on offer in 2017! Naked Element Ltd. is proud to present nor(DEV):con, the Norfolk Developers Tech, Agile & Business conference in the heart of...","body":"\nBigger, Better & Bursting with even more content, [nor(DEV):con 2017](https://nordevcon.com/) is set to be our biggest yet so bare with me as we go through what’s on offer in 2017!\n\n[Naked Element Ltd.](https://www.nakedelement.co.uk/) is proud to present nor(DEV):con, the Norfolk Developers Tech, Agile & Business conference in the heart of Norwich. 2017’s nor(DEV):con will take place on between Thursday 23rd February and Saturday 25th of February at the [King's Centre](https://www.kings-centre.com/) in Norwich with keynote speakers Dom Davis on Thursday, Seb Rose and Russel Winder on Friday and Juliana Meyer on Saturday 25th February 2017.\n\nLast year we successfully extended the conference to include extra workshops on the Thursday and extra sessions & workshops on Saturday to compliment our core Friday programme. We welcomed a record breaking 650+ delegates over the three days. This year we have a whole day dedicated to young people & schools aspiring to be involved in the technology industry. Dom Davis will be speaking for the keynote and this will take place on Thursday 23rd February 2017 alongside our extra workshops which this year include “Seb Rose - BDD Fundamentals” & “Kevlin Henney - Paradigms Lost, Paradigms Regained: Programming with Objects and Functions and More”. Tickets for these workshops are on sale now via this website or [eventbrite.](https://nordevcon2017.eventbrite.co.uk) These are priced at **£21.79 incl. fees.**\n\nLimited numbers of Super Early Bird Tickets are now on sale for **£57.84 incl. fees** and they’ll sell out fast, to find out more about conference, Thursday workshop sessions and tickets take a look around our website and follow our [twitter](https://twitter.com/NorfolkDev) or join our mailing list to keep up-to-date as we announce our agenda and our speakers in the coming weeks!\n\nLike what you see already? Get your ticket at \n\n### Sponsorship\n\nWith sponsorship packages starting from just**£275**, as a sponsor you’ll have unique access to a broad range of business leaders and influencers whilst casting your company onto the biggest technical stage in the county. The conference provides the perfect platform for business and technology experts to come together and explore the fundamental role technology plays in the East of England’s economy whilst making valuable connections in the wider tech community, increasing the support directly to your business.\n\nTo find out more visit [http://www.nordevcon.com/sponsorship-2017/](http://www.nordevcon.com/sponsorship-2017/)\n\n### Pre-Conference Events\n\nEvery year we kick off nor(DEV):con with our pre-conference session at the King's Centre which is **free** to attend, we start early at 5pm with two 30 minute sessions, with all the usual refreshments, this will be followed by our pre-conference dinner which is attended by some of the speakers and the organisers of the conference.\n\nLast years pre-conference dinner at [the Library](http://www.thelibraryrestaurant.co.uk/#welcome) was such a success we’re going back for seconds.\n\n#### Wine Reception, Conference Dinner & T-Shirts\n\nWe are pleased to announce we’ve extended the capacity of our wine reception which is sponsored for a second year by “Wines & Business Club”. This, for the first time, will take place in the main Auditorium at the King's Centre. This event is still free to attend so don’t forget to add the ticket to your order so we can keep the wine flowing until our wonderful conference dinner which is still limited to 80 places.\n\nEvery year our conference dinner offers an intimate opportunity to network with our speakers and other delegates. This is an event for those interested in engaging with other business decision makers and those wishing to gain valuable insight into where the digital economy trends are heading in a relaxed setting with a stunning three course meal. Guests are shuffled around the various speaker tables ensuring each course is accompanied by different opportunities to network and socialise. Dinner includes 2 glasses of wine and a choice of courses from the menu, all for **£42.39 inc. fees.**\n\nConference Dinner tickets can be purchased from our website [www.nordevcon.com](http://www.nordevcon.com/).\n\nConference T-shirts are **free**, so to get yours just add the ticket to your order and collect them with your delegate pack at registration on the day.\n\n#### Good Cause\n\nThis year, the local good cause we shall be supporting is based in the partly cobbled streets of Colgate, The Women’s Centre offers women a wide range of opportunities and support services to offer women support for homelessness, domestic violence, mental health issues and range of other important social issues facing the women in the city of Norwich and wider Norfolk, the centre has become a haven for those who have felt or faced social exclusion, whatever the circumstances. Women can receive free advice on accommodation, access to education and counselling as well as access free skills development and employment supportive services and we hope to increase support for this valuable yet little known deserving cause.\n\nWe’ve crammed nor(DEV):con full of great content. Your only challenges now are to choose which sessions to attend and convincing your boss to pay!\n\nWe look forward to seeing you in February!\n\nEmily & Paul [nordevcon@nakedelement.co.uk](mailto:nordevcon@nakedelement.co.uk)\n\nWords By [Emily](https://twitter.com/EJSiameseDream)","path":"/posts/2016-08-06-bigger-better-and-bursting-with-even-more-content-nordevcon-2017"}],"total":26,"tagSlug":"NorDevCon"},"__N_SSG":true}