The Stout recruiting team and technical leadership recently returned from their annual pilgrimage to CodeMash, one of the world’s premier educational conferences for software developers. Held every January at the Kalahari Resort and Indoor Water Park in Sandusky, Ohio, CodeMash is a world-class event that’s designed to educate software professionals on emerging technologies, best practices and methodologies, in a unique environment.
If you’re a software professional and you’ve never attended CodeMash, we suggest that you put it on your professional “bucket list.” The speakers are exceptional, and the breadth and depth of the educational sessions is unsurpassed. But the thing that makes CodeMash one-of-a-kind is the culture and the overall “vibe” of the event. While the conference has grown to accommodate over 2,500 of the world’s finest software professionals, self-importance and overblown ego is nowhere to be found. Instead, there is an unwavering feeling of community, collaboration, mentorship, sharing, fun, and family that permeates every aspect of the conference.
Wait, family, you say? Yes, family. CodeMash is one of the most family friendly conferences that we have ever witnessed. The event organizers go to great lengths to ensure that this is an enjoyable and educational event for spouses and children of attendees as well. This includes a series of technical sessions (appropriately named “KidzMash”) aimed at introducing children of all ages to the wonders of technology and their ability to create and have fun with it. Family participation has grown every year, and this year’s event saw over 1,000 spouses and children participating in KidzMash.
Attendance at this year’s event topped 2,500, which was another new record for CodeMash. This year also marked CodeMash’s tenth annual conference, and Stout has been a proud sponsor of the event every year since. For Stout, CodeMash represents an opportunity to learn, get re-energized, meet with old friends, and make new ones. Over 1,000 of our clients, friends, and colleagues visited our booth and we forged many new relationships during the event.
Stout was also pleased to contribute to the educational track as Chief Technologist Dave Sweeton and Vice President of Operations Peg Bogema led a very successful session which covered the topic of “Estimation – The Third Rail of Software Development.” This session was in high demand and resulted in a packed house. So many attendees approached us afterwards and said, “my management/development team really needs to hear this info,” that we are considering packaging this content for delivery at client sites. (If you are interested in having Stout perform this presentation for your organization, contact us at 877.663.0877 today.)
If you want to immerse yourself in an environment that recharges, educates, reenergizes, entertains, and reminds you of all of the reasons why you chose software as a profession, we urge you to experience CodeMash. Tickets sell out quickly, as do hotel rooms at the Kalahari, so plan well in advance. To get plugged in, follow @codemash on Twitter and periodically visit www.codemash.org.