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by _dancannon 4489 days ago
So I am about to finish university in a couple of months and I have been using Go for the past year. Would it be a good idea to go to this conference or maybe wait a bit longer before I have more experience/money?

(I live in the UK)

2 comments

A good idea to go.

It's a hacker conference, meaning it's cheap/affordable and there will be more focus on code and interesting things you can do with the code.

It's also cheap to get to from the UK as Eurostar in advance is relatively affordable, especially when compared to the cost of US conferences.

You will get to meet a lot of people, and right now people who can demonstrate a good standard of Go programming are definitely in demand. So you can make contacts to help get you a job (though you may already have a job by the time the conference comes around).

I hate the word "networking"... but "nerding out with people who share an interest in a set of technologies and a language" works pretty well. Especially given that this world is quite small, make friends now and when you are looking for a job some of them may remember that they met and liked you... and wouldn't it be good to give you a break whilst they gain another solid set of hands.

I say all of this with the caveat that I've been to a fair few conferences, and I'd recommend strongly steering clear of the heavily business and corporate focused events (obvious by the £500+ fees). But a hacker conference? Hell yeah.

Ok thanks ill look into it.
If you plan your trip a couple months before (or even now) you should get pretty good rates on Eurostar+hotel.

For the experience, definitely not an issue... Most attendees will be just like you and 1 year experience is already quite good for such a young language!