April 23rd, the deadline for DConf 2017 registrations, is just a few days away. Personally, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to attend this year or not, but fortunately things worked out. While I’m looking forward to more great presentations this year, that’s not what keeps drawing me back (or makes me regret being unable to attend in 2014 and 2015).

The main draw for me is putting faces to all the GitHub and forum handles, then getting the opportunity to reconnect in person with those I’ve met at past conferences to talk about more than just the D programming language or the projects to which we all contribute.

I’m not the only one who feels that way. Walter Bright had this to say of DConf 2016:

Besides the technical content, I enjoyed the camaraderie of the conference. The pleasant walking and talking going between the Ibis hotel and the conference. The great food and conversations at the event. Chatting at the Ibis after hours.

If you’re staying at the Hotel Ibis Neukölln (which, unfortunately, is booked solid the week of the conference last I heard) and you’re an early riser, you’ll likely find Walter down in the lobby having First Breakfast and up for a good conversation.

Of course, the mingling isn’t necessarily confined to the conference hall or the hotel lobby. Conference goers sometimes share a room in order to save costs. That’s a great opportunity to learn something new about someone you might not otherwise have discovered, as GDC meister Iain Buclaw found out at DConf 2013 when he and Manu Evans were roomies for a few days:

I recall that I had gotten some microwavable food from the nearby groceries ahead of his arrival — “I didn’t know what you would like, or if you had allergies, so I went with the safe option and only got Vegan foods”. It was a pleasant surprise to discover we have a diet in common also.

At that edition, Iain, Manu and Brad Roberts were shuttled to and from the conference by Walter in his rental car. Carpooling has been a common part of the Stateside DConfs. At the venue in Berlin, there’s no need for it. The semi-official hotel is in walking distance and there’s a subway stop nearby for those who are further off. And, as Steven Schveighoffer can attest, rental bicycles are always an option.

I remember last year, Joseph Wakeling, Andrew Edwards and his son, and myself went for a great bike tour of Berlin given by native David Eckardt of Sociomantic. This included the experience of dragging our rented bikes on the subway, and getting turned away by police in riot gear when we had inadvertently tried to go somewhere that political demonstrations were happening. Highly recommended for anyone, especially if David is gracious enough to do the tour again! We randomly met Ethan Watson riding a rented bike along the way too 🙂

Speaking of Ethan, it appears there’s a good reason that he was riding his bike alone and in the wrong direction.

My first BeerConf was in 2016, located in the rather interesting city of Berlin. Every evening, we would gather and drink large amounts of very cheap beer. This would also coincide with some rather enjoyable shenanigans, be they in-depth conversations; pub crawls; more in-depth conversations; convenience store crawls (where the beer is even cheaper); even more in-depth conversations; and a remarkable lack of late night food. Hours during the day were passed away at a parallel conference that I kinda stumbled in to, DConf. Interestingly, this was stocked with the same characters that I socialised with during BeerConf. Maybe I was drunk then. Maybe I’m drunk now. Did I present a talk there? I think I did, although I can only assume the talk did not have anything to do with beer. I’ve found out recently that I’m dual-booked for BeerConf 2017 as well as presenting again at DConf. Since attending these events can only be achieved through a submission process my deduction is that I had a thoroughly good time meeting all these people and socialising them, as well as sharing knowledge and technical expertise, and decided I must do it again. Either that, or someone else signed me up. Don’t tell me which option is the truth, I’ll work it out.

Yes, the beer is a big part of it, too. This blog was born at the small bar in the lobby of the Ibis, over a couple of cold ones and the background cacophony of D programmer talk. Who could say what new D initiatives will spawn from the fermented grains this year?

But let’s not forget the presentations. While they’ll be livestreamed and those who don’t attend can watch them on YouTube in perpetuity, the social aspect lends a flavor to them that the videos just can’t. Andrew Edwards is a fan of one speaker in particular.

I’m always fascinated by Don Clugston’s talks. The most memorable is DConf 2013, during which he stated that, “The language made minor steps… We got here like miners following a vein of gold, not by an original master plan,” in his explanation of how D arrived at its powerful metaprogramming capabilities. Where else can you hear “wonks” recounting their first hand experiences of what makes D “berry, berry good” for them? It is just a great experience talking and exchanging ideas with some of the greatest minds in the D community.

And there’s no substitute for being in the room when something unexpected happens, as it did during Stefan Koch’s lightning talk at DConf 2016, when he wanted to do a bit of live coding on stage.

There was no DMD on the computer 🙂 That surprised me.

Whether your interest is social, technical, alcohological, or otherwise, DConf is just a fun place to be. If you have the time and the means to attend, you’re warmly invited to make your own DConf memories. Do yourself a favor and register before the window closes. If you can’t make it, be sure to follow the livestream (pay attention to the Announce forum for details) or pull up #D on freenode.net to ask questions of the presenters. But we really hope to see you there!

I’ll leave you to consider Andrei Alexandrescu’s take on DConf, which concisely sums up the impact the conference has on many who attend:

To me, DConf has already become the anchoring event that has me inspired and motivated for the whole year. We are a unique programming language community in that we’re entirely decentralized geographically. Even the leadership is spread all over across the two US coasts, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia. Therefore, the event that brings us all together is powerful – an annual systole of the live, beating heart of a great community. We don’t lack a good program with strong talks, but to me the best moments are found in the interstices – the communal meals, the long discussions with Walter and others in the hallway, the late nights in the hotel lobby. All of these are much needed accelerated versions of online exchanges. I’m very much looking forward to this year’s edition. In addition to the usual suspects, we’ll have a strong showing of work done by our graduate scholarship recipients.

Thanks to Walter, Iain, Steven, Ethan, Andrew, Stefan and Andrei for sharing their anecdotes and thoughts.