The first-ever Nigerian developer conference was held on the 10th and 11th, August 2018 at Zone Tech Park, Gbagada in Lagos. Organised by a top developer, Christian Nwamba; Microsoft Senior Developer, Sarah Drasner; and Cloud Developer Advocate, Brian Holt, the Concatenate conference was a free conference for Nigerian developers engaging them with topics ranging from frameworks to design systems, performance to animation.
Nigeria 🇳🇬 to the world 🗺#ConcatenateConf
International Developer Conference.
First of its Name. pic.twitter.com/r4Psn4y30u— Tech Meetups Nigeria (@techmeetupsng) August 11, 2018
Related Post: Introducing Concatenate.io, a Global Developer Conference Hosted in Nigeria
The 2-day International Developer Conference featured 23 different speakers (most of which spoke remotely) from around the world, including Ire Aderinokun, Sean Larkin, Wes Bos, Aaron Gustafson as well as several others and was anchored by the popular developer, Prosper Otemuyiwa (Unicodeveloper). The event had a huge turnout as the 1,000-seat space was filled by tech enthusiasts and developers.
Meet the #ConcatenateConf #MC @unicodeveloper , making the Event awesome ……. pic.twitter.com/EjHKhHAfN0
— Technext (@technextdotng) August 11, 2018
Related Post: The Second Ever Nigerian Coworking Conference Held Today, We Have All the Gists
What Prompted the Conference?
The idea of the conference was birthed after popular Nigerian developer and tech evangelist, Chris Nwamba (Codebeast) took to Twitter to talk about his repeated visa denials which had denied him access to attend/speak at some very important international developer conferences. Another popular developer, Prosper Otemuyiwa, also complained of the same ordeal having had his visa application rejected several times too.
Most of us can’t
1. Afford to go to international conferences…
2. and even when we can (or get sponsored), we are denied visas.Since this is the case, @sarah_edo alongside a team of badass awesome developers decided to bring the conference to us.
— Christian Nwamba (@codebeast) July 16, 2018
Considering how important these developer conferences, meetups, and other events are, these group of developers decided to organize Nigeria’s very own international developer conference, hence Concatenate.
Related Post: #TechPointInspired 2018: Here’s What Went Down at the Event
Major Highlights of the Conference
The 2-day conference proved to be worth it as there was a lot more to learn from the great line up of amazing speakers who shared ideas concerning the world of developers.
Here are some major highlights of the conference.
First, Registration…
@ConcatenateConf registration ongoing. pic.twitter.com/LHSjntmYqO
— Nonso Ozoemena (@ozoemena_nonso) August 10, 2018
Our friends and ambassadors from @scotch_io are here from Nairobi. Welcome @joykare_ & @jackykimani_ #ConcatenateConf pic.twitter.com/xQKnnepSoV
— Rotimi Okungbaye (@rotimiokungbaye) August 10, 2018
We did all these just to stream, record and support remote talks at @ConcatenateConf #concatenateConf
I remember my first meeting with @sarah_edo and it felt like we couldn’t pull all these off.
Thanks to everyone making this happen 🙌🏽🔥 pic.twitter.com/rUWiTK7qJI
— Christian Nwamba (@codebeast) August 10, 2018
There was a Livestream Option
We have a livestream! 🎥https://t.co/FyZzHku3GL
— Concatenate 🇳🇬🇰🇪 (@ConcatenateConf) August 10, 2018
The Different Speakers Share Ideas and Insights
"It should be about what the client needs, NOT what the architect thinks that the client would need"
Our own @codebeast killing it onstage talking about GraphQL vs REST "because you can tell a lot about a technology by looking at it's successor" pic.twitter.com/kum5nMrLoJ
— Concatenate 🇳🇬🇰🇪 (@ConcatenateConf) August 10, 2018
So I heard a new one today @ConcatenateConf @iChuloo
The JAM stack.
J – JavaScript
A – API
M – Markup#concatenateconf— Olamide Kehinde (@olakehinde_) August 10, 2018
P – Push
R – Render
P – Pre-cache
L – Lazy Load– a pattern @gatsbyjs supports that significantly improves performance of your sites – @iChuloo #ConcatenateConf pic.twitter.com/0EKW2bHKOr
— Odogwu Machalla (@unicodeveloper) August 10, 2018
.@lauragift21 why should you love @vuepress
1. Simplicity Fast
2. Fast Perfomance
3. Automatic Service worker
4. Multiple Language Support
5. Google Analytics out of the box#ConcatenateConf @ConcatenateConf @unicodeveloper @codebeast— Emmanuel (@tuyishiimire) August 11, 2018
The incredible @wesbos is currently speaking at @ConcatenateConf 🔥
Maker of amazing web courses like https://t.co/qELLVPAvv1, https://t.co/yloE79ISqB, https://t.co/LqYHUD8XQ2, https://t.co/OG9wNIwGuN, https://t.co/aeZiVyZu09 😅🙌🚀
Topic: CSS GRID #ConcatenateConf pic.twitter.com/6EWqy0kRoT
— Odogwu Machalla (@unicodeveloper) August 11, 2018
Phew! I don’t think anyone at @ConcatenateConf noticed that I was still in my pyjamas when I gave my talk.https://t.co/fbvfs6kdEU pic.twitter.com/3g0AcNfc2g
— Jeremy Keith (@adactio) August 11, 2018
Thanks so much to the #ConcatenateConf organizers @codebeast @sarah_edo and @bholt for giving us the chance to come together, and to all of you in attendance or tuning in. Link to my slides is down thisaway 👇https://t.co/lQGBmDnyUo
— Eliacocca (@EliFitch) August 11, 2018
Day 2 of the @ConcatenateConf , @saniyusuf gave the attendees talk about the Software Developers Journey. #ConcatenateConf pic.twitter.com/pZI571a5J7
— Technext (@technextdotng) August 11, 2018
Related Post: #TechFest2018: Here’s What Went Down on Day 1!
The event was also one of the top trends on Twitter.
Nigeria 🇳🇬 to the world 🗺#ConcatenateConf
International Developer Conference.
First of its Name. pic.twitter.com/r4Psn4y30u— Tech Meetups Nigeria (@techmeetupsng) August 11, 2018
Refreshment Time
@ConcatenateConf attendees are being refreshed! Peep the greenery? pic.twitter.com/dxyRwgpPi2
— Nonso Ozoemena (@ozoemena_nonso) August 10, 2018
Other Perks
Attendees got free stickers, books, free online subscriptions from Egghead.io and gifts from raffle draws.
Stickers 😍😍 #concatenateconf @ConcatenateConf pic.twitter.com/YI2CazIXBd
— Christian Nwamba (@codebeast) August 11, 2018
https://twitter.com/marvin_ogah/status/1028320195792830464
People are winning prizes by answering questions from @GetKahoot games
— Benjamindada.com, tech blog (@dadabenblog) August 11, 2018
Was fortunate to win the grand #ps4 price for the just concluded @ConcatenateConf .
Giving a shoutout to all the organizers and speakers who made this event possible. @codebeast @unicodeveloper
Would have no excuse not to play a little now 😂. It pays to know @reactjs 😉
— BeeHodl HFSP⚡🌋 (@Beee_sama) August 11, 2018
Just received an https://t.co/TUwx4R01bM gift receipt for attending @ConcatenateConf . Thanks a lot @eggheadio
— Nero (@finallynero) August 10, 2018
Selfie Time
@ConcatenateConf @unicodeveloper
Thanks @shortdiv
For putting more light on Vue js, and also with the integration of vuejs and map box… 😆😆, was really cool, @shortdiv please link to your slide… Gracias…#concatenateconf pic.twitter.com/5UBuzNAWRE— Horpey, Mr. Miyagi of Designs (@thauiguy) August 11, 2018
@ConcatenateConf with @NeoIghodaro and @simo_benhida all the way from Morocco 🔥🔥 #concatenateconf pic.twitter.com/PTOu3ikDNd
— Adewale (@Ace_KYD) August 10, 2018
Yes, we love tech.
Today its all about@ConcatenateConf pic.twitter.com/68mQleMUvP— Presh (@talk2presh) August 10, 2018
I and @Marvinified at @ConcatenateConf today. So awesome. pic.twitter.com/oO9ZQYOhAe
— Yusuff Bisiriyu (@yezuz_sama) August 11, 2018
Final Moments
10-11 august of @ConcatenateConf were the best days i ever had in my life. It was so fun i learned so many things and i met a lot of wonderful people. Thank you @codebeast @sarah_edo @unicodeveloper .See you next year 😊 pic.twitter.com/VIfnV9O5zo
— Mohamed Benhida 💭 (@simo_benhida) August 12, 2018
The whole squad that made @ConcatenateConf possible although @holtbt and @sarah_edo isn't in the photo they are in our hearts and we hope to see them in 2019. Once again thanks guys. cc @codebeast || @unicodeveloper you are very tall don't mind them pic.twitter.com/PL96wwCzaI
— Big Sheddy 🦅 (@coder_blvck) August 12, 2018
Enroute Ilorin 🚌 after an awesome @ConcatenateConf pic.twitter.com/z16jMI50jq
— Ibrahim Adams (@iam_yscholar) August 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/marvin_ogah/status/1028667571611099136
The event indeed proved to be a success as many developers cant seem to wait for next year’s edition of the conference.
I'm happy for those that won during the Kahoot session @ConcatenateConf. Great job @sarah_edo @codebeast @holtbt, all the facilitators, and volunteers. Looking forward to the second edition. #ConcatenateConf 2018 pic.twitter.com/d9dNGWtKER
— Chiamaka Ikeanyi ✨ (@chiamakaikeanyi) August 11, 2018
Kudos to the team for putting together such a wonderful event.
The local team ✊ @ConcatenateConf
Build. Ship. Scale 🔥
📷: @rotimiokungbaye #ConcatenateConf pic.twitter.com/CFKxH0Cdkz
— Odogwu Machalla (@unicodeveloper) August 11, 2018
Na them dey rush us. So much fun organizing #concatenateconf @ConcatenateConf
We here getting the tags cooked! pic.twitter.com/tqIIgrouXd
— Christian Nwamba (@codebeast) August 9, 2018
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