Anthony Chu

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.NET Fringe 2016 Recap

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Three weeks ago I attended and spoke at .NET Fringe in Portland, OR. I fell in love with the conference and the city. It was an amazing experience.

Saturday, July 9

Geek Train

The .NET Fringe Geek Train from Seattle to Portland was a great way to kick off the conference. Adron Hall organized it and met us at Seattle's King Street Station with our tickets.

We had enough conference attendees to take over an entire train car. There were a handful of people from Vancouver that I already knew, and a whole bunch more who I met onboard. The four-hour journey was filled with interesting conversations and some mini hacking sessions.

Geek Train

Speakers Dinner

Once we arrived in Portland, the conference organizers held a nice dinner for the speakers at Andina. I was introduced to many of the other speakers and had a great time.

Sunday, July 10

Pre-Conference Workshops

There was a great selection of all-day pre-conference workshops. I attended one about React and Microservices by Beau Palmquist and Jared Schaab.

Portland Bike Ride

One of the highlights of .NET Fringe for me was the bike tour around Portland led by locals Adron and Lena. Over 20 people from the conference participated in the ride. Some of us borrowed bikes from our hotels; others rented them from bike shops by the riverfront.

.NET Fringe bike ride

Portland is a very bike-friendly city. I don't bike often and I felt completely safe. We stopped at the Cup and Bar for some beverages on the other side of the river before heading back.

Opening Reception

After the bike ride, there was an opening reception at the Ringler's Pub. We picked up our lanyards and shirts, and mingled with more speakers and attendees.

Shirt and lanyard

Monday, July 11

Conference - Day 1

This is the first day of the conference. It was extra special for me as I was going to speak at a conference for the very first time!

The conference was held at a really unique venue... the Crystal Ballroom.

My First Conference Talk!

My talk followed Julie Lerman's and I was introduced by the one-and-only Scott Hanselman. Having spent years admiring those two, it was an honour to share the stage with them.

Scott Hanselman introducing my talk

My talk went pretty well for my first time. There's definitely a lot I need to work on. Perhaps I should do a separate post on that later.

Unconference Room

There was an unconference space set up on the second floor of the venue. There were spontaneous breakout sessions happening there all day.

Massage and Acupuncture

Another thing that sets .NET Fringe apart from other conferences is they offered free massage and acupuncture!

Attendee Party at Ground Kontrol

On Monday night, there was an attendee party at Ground Kontrol. It's an arcade full of classic video games and pinball machines.

Attendee Party

Tuesday, July 12

Conference - Day 2

Day 2 kicked off with a keynote by James Newton King.

One of the highlights was a Star Wars themed talk by Evelina Gabasova.

Pokemon Go and Neko Atsume took over .NET Fringe.

And soon, the conference was over. :(

.NET Fringe 2016 was an experience I'll never forget. I can't wait for 2017! Thanks to all the organizers, attendees, speakers, and volunteers who made it happen!

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