Cluj IT Days 2015 has become a reference event for the IT community in Cluj. We had more than 320 participants who, during the two days, were able to attend high quality technical presentations and prove our innovation capacity, but also that of integrating the latest technologies in our current projects. For this review article, we have decided to publish the article posted by Robin Morar on his blog, article which we have discovered by chance, after the event.
Just like in any other multi-disciplinary and multi-technologic event, some presentations were very interesting for me, others not, some were more interactive, others more static…
The most important thing, however, is the fact that:
1. I had access to technologies which otherwise I wouldn't have had access to.
2. I had access to a few ideas which, in other circumstances, I would have found out only if I had paid for them, after months or years of work. Ideas and information on the processing of a great number of messages per second using Microsoft Azure, or on how to automatize a smart house. I found out that my generation, the Y generation, only has 39% chances of changing the world, while the new generation, generation Z, has 60% chances of changing the world or, more important to me, what problems you can encounter in automated testing and performance testing and especially why.
3. I found particularly useful Peter Lawrey's presentation on Low Latency in Java 8. It has been many years since I met anyone to deal with bytecode on such a level. Basically, the man teaches you to do what the first programmers used to do very often: having little memory and few CPU cycles, they used to optimize their code to the maximum. If it seems to you that nowadays we do not need this anymore, then you really have to attend a presentation by Peter Lawrey, in order for you to understand what you do not understand now. Great presentation, delivered by a hacker in the old fashioned meaning of the word.
4. I played with Oculus Rift2, with another virtual reality headset from HTC, I can't remember the model right now, and the extremely detailed game was built by Exosyphen Studios. I play Fallout 4, a very detailed game, but what these people have done is even more detailed! I drank coffee made by a robot named Baxter, I played with Vector Watch and different devices with Windows 10, from Lenovo and not only, I stared at 3D printers and learned how to program some of them…
5. Though it was tiring and noisy, it was worth participating in Cluj IT Days. I lived new experiences, tried new stuff, got into contact with new technologies. It was a novelty!
We are thankful, first of all, for the feedback given, which is very useful for planning Cluj IT Days in 2016. In the next edition, we would like to have a Hands on Lab track, where the presentations be at least one hour long. We would like one of the tracks to be carried out in English. From the perspective of the organizers, the main novelties and challenges of this edition were:
carrying out the two parallel tracks;
creating a gadget show area within which the partners could display their latest novelties and achievements;
restructuring the entire agenda, so that we no longer have to deal with the problem of exceeding the allotted time;
A project we will try to carry out in 2016 is the publishing of specialized books. It will be based on articles published by different technical groups: Java, .NET, SAP, Management/Agile, HR, Mobile (iOS, Android, Windows Phone) & IoT, Students/University, Big Data/Machine learning, Architecture, Securitate, web & design and Testing. So, the participants to the event will be able to choose the book they want to receive in their welcome package.
The local media broadcast the event: a coverage and an interview were broadcast on the 6 o'clock news on Digi24 Cluj, and Ziarul de Cluj published an article on this.
Below, we will present the feedback received from the participants. On a first analysis, it shows that the 2015 edition of Cluj IT Days can be considered a success, but also that there are some aspects which can be improved.
Overall, how would you rate the quality of the event?
How helpful was the content presented at the event?
How engaging were the speakers at the event?
In the end, we would like to thank the partners who stood by us in this edition: Microsoft, Yardi, 3Pillar Global, Gemini Solutions, Accenture, Accesa, Blade Solutions, Banca Transilvania, Subsign, Colors in Projects, Telenav, Yonder, Betfair, Bosch, Frequentis, Ve Interactive, Ullink, Lohika, Cos, Endava, as well as to those who helped us in promoting the event: Cluj IT Cluster, Cluj Hub, Agora, AdHugger, Loopa, Softlead, RABS, Free Wifi, IT Channel and Tech Hub.
We thank the participants and we are waiting for you again in Cluj IT Days 2016!!
by Ioana Costea
by Ovidiu Mățan
by George Rus , Daniela Fati
