Introduction
For the past four years now, I've been trying to get my students from HOGENT (my employer) involved with the Swift community. My focus has been on offering thesis topics and internship opportunities, but for 2024, I wanted to go further and have students participate in Swift conferences.
While preparing my own talk, an opportunity presented itself when Swift Craft offered a generous volunteer programme. Two of my students — Mona and Chardeh — took up this opportunity and got accepted as volunteers. This is their report.
The Conference
Mona
When my teacher asked me if I wanted to volunteer at a Swift conference in the UK, I was unsure what to do. I wanted to go, but surely I couldn't afford to take a few days off, just one week before my exams? I had never even tried Swift yet!
“You can retake an exam, but not this opportunity”, those wise words finally convinced me. I in turn then convinced my friend Chardeh to sign up as well. Fortunately, we both got accepted! Armed with a brand new passport and knowledge of how to declare a variable in Swift, we boarded the train, ready to start our adventure in Folkestone.
We arrived on Wednesday, during the tutorials day. We weren't on duty yet and were free to participate in the sessions. Afterwards, we were issued our green T-shirts and a tote bag. We then received a tour of the venue and a briefing explaining what was expected of us. We concluded the evening with a walk on the beach and through the town center, ending with a nice lunch with the other volunteers and some of the speakers. They came from all over the world and we really enjoyed listening to their stories about Japanese trains and US pizzas.
On Thursday, the conference started for real. So much happened that day; it went by so fast. We tried to get speakers to start on time, we hung signs (upside down), gave directions, walked a lot of stairs (oh so many stairs), enjoyed the food, and talked to absolutely everybody. You'd think that people who attend international conferences wouldn't be bothered chatting with some students from HOGENT, but nothing could be further from the truth!
Chardeh
On Thursday evening, we were invited to join the speakers dinner. We were assigned random seats, which was less than ideal because our group was split up. Fortunately, other people had the same issue and we managed to switch seats and regroup. We enjoyed a multi-course dinner and had a chance to get to know some of the speakers. I still remember a conversation I had with Daniel about the food in Suriname!
On Friday, our teacher kicked off the sessions with a talk on Swift for WebAssembly. He showed multiple live demos, including a game of Connect Four with the audience. After Jessica Kerr's closing keynote, we wrapped up the conference with a group picture.
After the conference, we rejoined our teacher for a group dinner and a walk through Folkestone. Mona and myself then met up with some of the other volunteers at a cozy bar. I'll spare you the details of what happened there, but it ended with some of us taking a dip in the cold North Sea.
Reflections
Mona
As a woman in IT, it's easy to get demotivated and feel out-of-place when you're surrounded by boys who spend their days playing Minecraft and fixing computers. At Swift Craft, I didn't get this feeling at all. This conference renewed my motivation and love for IT.
I'm now learning Swift to prepare for my internship at AWS. I've already marked Swift Craft 2025 on my calendar, and I can't wait to join more conferences and get to know more people in the Swift community!
Chardeh
This was my first experience at a conference, and it was a really valuable one. I've done a lot of networking, met so many new people, and learned a lot about Swift.
At first I didn't know what to expect from a developer conference. I worried it would be rather dry and academic, with highly specialized talks. I'm happy to report that I found the opposite to be true. I really enjoyed Swift Craft, and I'd love to attend this — or any other — conference again!
Group Picture
