JSConf Asia 2018 - my first conference!
27 January 2018
So I just spent the past three days skipping school attending my first ever conference! I was given the chance to go for JSConf Asia, which had two days of talks plus a workshop day, all about JavaScript.
Some of the main things I took away were:
Accessibility
- 50% of content on the internet is in english, but only 10% of the world speaks english (and only 5% as their first language)
- In many developing countries, mobile data is really expensive and smartphones have very little storage so people don’t download apps
- Millions of people with disabilities use the web
We usually think of the internet as something that everyone can use and benefit from, but the reality is that there are many barriers for people who don’t speak english/ don’t have fast and affordable internet access/ have disabilities. So, working towards better accessiblity (aka a11y because apparently the whole word is too long to type) is important!
VR/AR
WebVR plus A-Frame can do pretty cool stuff!
Actually building useful things is not that easy though. I went for the A-Frame workshop, but it was the “advanced” session and the hosts didn’t really teach much but just left us to explore by ourselves. Was pretty lost at first but this is what I made in the 3 hour session! The sphere, cylinder and box are from the starter project but what I did is to add the particles and make them change colour LOL.
Some “networking” experience?
As an untalkative introvert, I find the idea of having to strike up conversations with random people intimidating. But standing around by myself during the breaks was super awkward too, so I tried! I think introducing myself and starting a conversation with someone is the hardest part, but once that’s over it’s not too bad since being at a conference means there’s a common topic to talk about.
By the end of the conference, I got to know people from a bunch of different countries/ companies! I also coincidentally met 1. someone from a company I’m applying to, 2. someone whom I talked to before at a SUTD career fair, and 3. one of my profs.
Other random things
Super cool data visualizations
I attended a workshop on creating games for microcontrollers, using the Arduboy - basically it’s an arduino with game console buttons, made into a cute little package.
The workshop day was at Shangri-La at Sentosa and the lunch buffet was amazing!!
Thoughts
A few of the talks were much better than others, but anyway it was cool to learn about all sorts of different things that can be done with JS! Also, I found out that all the talks are recorded and posted on youtube, so I suppose the main draw of physically attending the conference is actually to meet and talk to other people. And I’m glad I did!
