Mage Unconference 2019 in Cologne

Mage Unconference 2019 in Cologne
Magento #community #koeln #magento #mageuc #trilium

It is hard to believe. This year was already the fifth Unconference, and it was my first time attending. Something had always come up in previous years. But this year, I finally managed to be there.

Since I had spent quite a lot of time traveling over the last few weeks, my motivation to present something at the Unconference was relatively low. I had basically prepared nothing. But resting was not an option. More on that later.

The journey began on Friday afternoon in Mainz. I set off together with my colleague Julien. We had one person drop out due to illness. That meant netz98 was represented by three people in Cologne this time. Jens traveled from Bremen. Our journey went without any further incidents. That is not always the case, as we heard at the pre-party.

Pre Party

In good spirits, but a little tired, we headed to the pre-party. The party took place at the Alte Feuerwache. Drinks and food were very well catered for. A thank you here to Karen Baker, because ShipperHQ paid for the whole thing.

I know a few people who avoid pre-conference events. For me, these events are (almost) the most important part of a conference. They nearly always serve to break the ice for newcomers. Then you already know one another the next day. It simply makes a difference whether you have had a beer (or coffee) together.

Once again, I was able to meet wonderful people from all over Europe and the USA and have interesting discussions about Adobe, Magento, and the agency landscape.

Day 1

After breakfast at the hotel, we set off enthusiastically in a taxi to the venue, Tor 28. Contrary to expectations, we arrived relatively early. As a result, we caught the organizing team still setting up (sorry).

We tried to get in the way as little as possible. As described at the start, I had actually wanted to do rather less. The day before, I had signed up for a panel discussion on Magento 1 End of Life and had not prepared any slides or material of my own. My plan came to a swift end. Fabian immediately took me aside and, in his inimitable way, asked me simply to write a few topics on the list, which I did.

The room was full. Time to get started.

Then it was time to choose the topics. The room was absolutely packed. It turned out that more tickets had been sold than originally intended. Despite the more difficult conditions, there were never any problems. The Wi-Fi held up without any issues. There was always enough food and drink. Really great organization.

There was room for 16 topics in four slots altogether. There was something for everyone, whether frontend or backend developers, or people simply interested in Magento.

Topics on the first day.

I was personally involved in three topics on the first day.

How to start a migration project

I had simply added this topic to the list because I felt there were quite a few developers who had not really had the chance to try Magento 2 yet. It was intended to lead to a good exchange on the topic.

I recorded the results on a flip chart.

Results of the discussion. Sorry for my bad handwriting.

Personal Knowledge Management

This topic was spontaneously added to the list after Vinai and I talked about it. Vinai thought it would be a great topic for an Unconference. And it made it into the program.

Vinai showed an interesting approach to recording frequently used operations in Make files. Rather than simply storing them, this lets you quickly run certain workflows again.

I then showed Trilium. I have been using the program for some time to store notes, code snippets, meeting minutes, and general information in a structured way. The tool offers a few things other tools do not. It is worth taking a look. In the end, though, everyone has to find their own way of organizing themselves. In my view, there is no perfect solution (yet) anyway.

Can small agencies and freelancers survive?

This was one of the controversial topics. Personally, I have a relatively “enterprise-heavy” view of the subject. That was precisely why I was very interested in other opinions. Since the topic had already been discussed extensively at the pre-party, I thought it would be a good idea to put it on the list. Andreas von Studnitz had a similar topic, so the two were combined into one session.

Andreas began with a few slides showing that Magento 2's technological foundation cannot be equated with Magento 1's. The variety of technologies used simply requires more knowledge.

After the slides, we formed a fairly large circle of chairs and discussed whether it is even still possible for solo developers or small agencies to develop Magento 2 shops. Or is switching to other software, such as Shopware, the better choice because the customers might not be there?

Of course, the question “What is a small agency?” can also be answered in different ways. Should a smaller agency focus on a specific topic, such as security or performance optimization?

Since some people are affected by the changes already visible in the market, the discussion was correspondingly emotional. At least, that was my impression.

Unfortunately, the discussion drifted too far into the subject of headless/PWA at the end. All in all, though, a great exchange.

Five Years of Unconference

After all the discussions, I skipped the last topic of the day in favor of a good coffee with nice colleagues.

Also worth mentioning was the cake made specially for the fifth anniversary. The cake was printed with the first names of all the participants. A very nice and personal idea.

Cake celebrating 5 years of Mage Unconf

Saturday Aftershowparty

The aftershow party was held at Meyers, a Kölsch pub rented especially for the occasion. Food and drink were well catered for again. Beer was replenished generously.

In a pleasant atmosphere, enjoyable conversations about the day's topics continued and new contacts were made.

Day 2

The second day was a little shorter for me, since I wanted to leave the event around 2 p.m. for the sake of my family. Something worth mentioning for me is that childcare was offered at the event too. Especially on weekends, many more events should think about something like this. It also increases acceptance among family members.

On the second day, more off-topic subjects are allowed into the program. Nevertheless, there were still plenty of Magento topics on the list.

Topics on the second day

Magento 2 Certification Experiences

This session featured a lively exchange about the various Magento 2 certifications. With so many developers present, however, the focus was strongly on Certified Developer and Solution Specialist.

Anyone who did not yet have a certification could pick up a few tips here. Here too, everyone has to decide for themselves how to approach preparation and the exam.

My tips in brief (incomplete)

  • Set a date for an exam and do not wait too long.
  • Better to fail once and know where your weaknesses are.
  • Take the exam in a quiet environment. For me, that means the testing center rather than the office.
  • Use the Swift Otter Guide.
  • First close the gaps in your knowledge -> go through the guide
  • Approach the subject positively
  • Look at the Magento code while preparing

Conclusion

A great event that I will happily attend again. A thank you here to all the sponsors and the organizing team. Everything really came together. Great people, great venue.

Let us hope the Magento community continues to put on events like this. I do not take that for granted, since the entire market is currently undergoing major change. Perhaps that will also become noticeable at community events in the coming years.

But IT has always been about change. So I look forward to this change positively too.

See you at the Firegento Hackathon in Mainz at the latest. It will be held for the first time at the netz98 office, at my employer's premises. Tickets are available in the Firegento Shop. I am already looking forward to seeing many familiar faces again and developing something together.