Team Views from Dot One London

Meeting up in London for the Craft CMS Dot One event was our first team outing for a while. For some, it was their first time at a meet up, and everyone was excited to get together, spend a day away from our screens and enjoy a bit of social time. And as a bonus, a sign in spotted Weatherspoons that proclaimed they were now selling Quavers meant we were in for a particular treat.

Damon

Attending the Craft CMS conference in London was a significant milestone for me, as it marked my first opportunity to meet other craft developers (outside of work) face-to-face. It was refreshing to step away from my home office and immerse myself in an environment where collaboration and creativity thrived.

I found it particularly beneficial to hear firsthand experiences from others who have navigated similar paths in their development journeys. This helped me feel more connected to the community, which is often challenging when working remotely.

One of the highlights of the conference was learning about Craft 5. The features and improvements showcased during the sessions piqued my curiosity (specifically the merge field feature) and made me eager to explore this latest version further. Additionally, several plugins were discussed that could enhance functionality and streamline workflows within Craft CMS.

Perhaps one of the most exciting takeaways from the conference was the encouragement I felt to try building my own plugin. Hearing success stories from developers who had created their own solutions motivated me to consider what unique contributions I could make to the Craft ecosystem.

Mark

I’m new working at A Digital and relatively new to Craft. Visiting London for Dot One didn’t just allow me to meet developers from the wider Craft community but also gave me the opportunity of meeting members of my own team in person for the first time!

My impression of what Dot One would be like was something akin to an Apple product launch. I was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case. The team behind Craft CMS were all available to answer questions from individuals and just to chat on a more personal level as well. I particularly enjoyed having the opportunity to talk to Brad over a glass of wine and learn about his personal journey towards forming Pixel & Tonic.

The talks were all a learning opportunity. It was great to hear from developers from other teams about how they have bent Craft to their will in a variety of applications.

Matt

Dot One was my 3rd web conference after GeeUp Leiden 2016 and Dot All Berlin in 2018. Over this timeframe I have grown both as a developer and as a person, but something has remained constant during this time, and that is my love for this community.

If you’ve never been to a conference I strongly recommend it. Where else would be able to meet like minded individuals where you can bounce ideas around and discuss the platform you use on a day to day basis. Most of our time is spent talking to clients or people in other roles across our respective companies, so to go and see what others are doing and discuss it with them personally can act as a valuable sanity check. It gives you the opportunity to gain new perspectives on problems you’ve already faced and see if you think you did it the right way or end up preferring alternative methods.

We are a community of problem solvers and we all enjoy helping each other. This includes the Pixel & Tonic team (makers of Craft CMS) who are approachable as always and genuinely great down to earth human beings to chat with. I’ve taken away a lot from this conference both in the sense of new ideas, and reassurance that the whole community is in a similar place to myself. I look forward to the next one!

Caitlin

Dot One in London was my first conference and Craft event and it was a great learning opportunity!

My stand out talk from the day was the in-depth look at Craft 5. We've not yet got a live project on Craft 5 so it was exciting to see the new features that will form part of the solutions we build for clients. The improvements in the revamped user interface is a significant upgrade yet it retains the familiar and intuitive feel.

I also enjoyed hearing about the Vodafone Player Connect app although I would have loved to hear more about the Craft side of the project (time ran short, sadly). Understanding how Craft handled so many data points and seeing how it had been packaged into a mobile app would have been interesting to see from a more techie point of view.

One of the more intense talks was hearing from our managing director Andrew talk openly about some of the struggles that impacted on the agency last year. Having being on the development team, I could relate and it's great to see us emerging stronger with exciting new projects in front of us.

Overall, it was fantastic to spend time together as a team at the event. Since we typically work in different locations, with some of us working from home, getting together in person made it easier to share ideas, discuss our projects, and have a good laugh along the way.

Nina

Stepping into a space typically occupied by developers as a non-technical project manager, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from the Craft One conference hosted by Pixel & Tonic..

One of the most enlightening aspects of the conference was the opportunity to see how other agencies were leveraging Craft CMS in their projects. It was fascinating to witness the diverse range of applications and innovative solutions being developed by different teams. One thing that struck me the most was how relatable these projects were, despite the varying levels of complexity and scope. There was common ground with fellow agencies as they shared stories of how seemingly simple customer requests often snowballed into larger challenges.

Moreover, the conference served as a reminder that all agencies, regardless of their size or expertise, have encountered their fair share of tough projects. It was reassuring to know that the struggles we faced in our own projects were echoed in the experiences of others in the Craft community.

It was great to get more of an insight into Craft 5 and a glimpse into the future of Craft CMS. Attendees were privy to the recent and upcoming enhancements that promise to not only streamline the development process for our teams but also empower content creators with new capabilities. As a team we are looking forward to starting our next project on Craft 5.

In conclusion, the Craft One conference allowed both technical and non-technical professionals to collaborate, inspire, and share their visions for the future of Craft.