This year I was lucky enough to attend my very first GitHub Universe! 🎉 Most conferences I attend are usually hosted by community members, so I was a little concerned I'd get lost in the crowd with a big enterprise conference. That said, this isn't just any enterprise conference. This is hosted by GitHub, so I was optimistic for what was to come.
About
Since conference websites are notorious for not archiving each year, I wanted to record some basic information here for posterity sake:
- What: GitHub Universe
- When: October 29th - 30th, 2024
- Where: Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in San Francisco, CA
- Cost:
- Virtual Pass (FREE): includes access to all livestreamed and on-demand sessions
- In-Person Passes: All tickets are inclusive of food and beverage.
- General Admission ($1299): includes access to all areas EXCEPT keynote theater. Keynotes will be viewable at broadcast areas throughout the venue. DOES NOT include workshops or certifications, those may be purchased separately.
- General Admission + Keynote ($1499): includes everything Universe has to offer including keynote theater access during the Day 1 and Day 2 keynotes. DOES NOT include workshops or certification testing, those may be purchased separately. Limited capacity.
- Ticket add-on opportunities:
- Workshop Tickets ($149): Each workshop must be purchased individually as an add-on to your Universe pass.
- Certification Testing ($49): Must be purchased in addition to your Universe Pass. Certification testing requires a 2-hour time commitment and will be hosted on October 28th ONLY at the InterContinental in San Francisco.
Pre-Conference Meetup
Day 1
Arrived at the venue!
Registration was super smooth. Arguably the best I've seen at an event since you confirm your own registration (rather than waiting for someone to look up your name) and then they put together your awesome customized Raspberry Pi badge!
It's a cool venue!
After the keynote, I got to
Also, the snack stations were absolutely clutch when you needed a little boost after all the walking, standing, and conversations.
Evening: After-parties galore
Figma meetup had cool swag!
Afterwards, a few of us were really craving a hot meal, so we went to a nearby Japanese spot for curry and ramen.
Day 2
Took my first Waymo on my second day.
Kicked off the day with the keynote which had some awesome animations and cool topics on things GitHub is eyeing on in the future.
One of my favorite conference perks is when they hire photographers for professional headshots. For those who don't know, they can get pretty pricey and so I'm always grateful to organizers who are able to budget this in.
Here are some of mine. I don't think they came out too shabby! 😆
Shoutout to Two Dudes Photo for their great work!
One of the benefits of big enterprise events like this is that they have specialized beverage stands. Here's the juice and matcha latte I got from the drink trucks!
Lunch was actually surprisingly good! The chicken was marinated well and the sauce that went with it made for a super tasty bowl. Definitely would get it again!
My final talk of the day was to see Ian Coldwater in this creative skit on the woes of deployment.
The formal end of the event had a fun portable selfie apparatus for people as they were leaving the venue which was nice.
It even had a boomerang feature!
Afterwards, we went out to dinner and got drinks.
Finally, of course, what is a conference wrap-up without pictures of all the fun swag and gear I got!
Closing thoughts
Would I attend GitHub Universe again?
Absolutely. 10/10. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. No questions asked.
At the end of the day, while new features and integrations are exciting to learn about, what made this trip a complete blast were the people there. I can't even begin to count the number of serendipitous meetings and conversations I had that left me feeling energized and curious. It's the reason why I go the extra mile to attend these events in-person. There's really something magical you get with in-person interactions that's so memorable.
Huge shoutout to Ashley, Cassidy and team for putting on an incredible event. It will certainly go down in my books as one of the best conferences I've had the chance to attend!