Combining work and vacation at Cillco

At Cillco we love to work and value our time off. So why not combine the two? This is exactly what one of our senior Developers, Amund Øyen, did this summer.

Amund is responsible for our client/ui frameworks and had for a while been looking for a good venue to learn the latest and greatest on Angular. He found what he was looking for in the prestigious Ng-conf in Salt Lake City, USA. Not exactly on the other side of the street from our offices in Trondheim, Norway :-) So, to make the most of his trip over there he scheduled a week extra to explore the country of opportunity as a tourist. In this blog post he shares his experience from the conference and even adds a few lines about the fun he had afterwards.

Get ready to dive into the awesome world of Ng-conf, the ultimate Angular extravaganza that takes place each year in the vibrant Salt Lake City! This year marked the incredible 10th edition of the conference, and let me tell you, it was an absolute blast. We're talking about a gathering that pulls in the best of the best, from the mighty minds of the Angular team at Google to the brilliant speakers like Debora Kurata, Manfred Steyer, Dan Wahlin, and John Papa.

But hold on, the excitement didn't just start with the conference itself. Before the main event, we indulged in some seriously mind-blowing workshops. On day one I found myself in Owen Mecham's Microfrontends workshop. Now, why is this a game-changer? Imagine being able to seamlessly bring together all our app's superpowers into one epic entity. With microfrontends, each team can work their magic on their designated part of the app without causing any turbulence for the rest. Talk about efficient collaboration, right? The idea of Microforntends is very relevant at Cillco and I took some really good ideas back with me from this workshop.

Then, on day two, I plunged into the world of performance with none other than Michael Hladky. Because let's face it, the user experience is our North Star. Ensuring our apps perform like rockstars for our users is non-negotiable. An excellent workshop.

And then, the main event burst onto the scene like fireworks on New Year's Eve! Ok, maybe that was a bit much :). Anyway, the conference opened with a powerhouse keynote by Minko Gechev and Jeremy Elbourn, the Angular champions from Google. Brace yourselves for the thrilling updates that Angular 16 brought in when it was unleashed in May. And guess what's setting the Angular world on fire? Standalone Components, Signals, and the magic of Server Side Rendering. A good one this was.

After a delicious lunch, John Papa took us on a mesmerizing journey into the realms of AI and GitHub Copilot in VS Code. It's a potential gamechanger for efficient coding.

Fast forward to the grand finale, the conference's ultimate day! There was this exclusive zone where we got hands-on with Signals in action. Dan Wahlin was our guide on this adventure, showing us how to seamlessly integrate internal resources into Angular apps. Say goodbye to phone and mail distractions and hello to focused productivity! Loved it.

And then, the curtain came down with a bang as the Angular dream team took the stage for an interactive panel. Audience questions flew like confetti, and the experts gave us insights that left our minds buzzing. Too much? :) How about, the conference ended with an interesting Q&A!

But the adventure didn't stop there! I did promise a few words on my vacation as well. After the conference, I treated myself to an epic road trip. Picture this: cruising across Utah's salty plains and Nevada's sprawling deserts, all the way to the iconic San Francisco. Off course, in a big engine Dodge Charger :)

I even managed some exercise, strolling across the majestic Golden Gate Bridge and back. Also got to see the inside of Alcatraz.

So, there you have it my friends – Ng-conf 2023 was a rollercoaster of insights, innovation, and unforgettable memories! A big thanks to Cillco for letting me combine work and pleasure. It's the place to work you know! :)