Why should you attend Xojo Events?

There are questions that I consider as recurring among the ones I receive, a common one is about finding Xojo projects to work on and how to connect with other Xojo developers. If you are interested … I’d like to share my experience with you.

Of course, the Xojo Forumis a great place to do both those things! And if you have Xojo Pro or Xojo Pro Plus, then it is possible to regularly find some interesting projects under the Xojo Pro – Consultancy Requests section on the Xojo Forum.

Nevertheless, none of that is comparable with face to face interactions; that is, the personal interaction with other Xojo developers through any of the Xojo Events you can attend mainly both in the US and Europe.

The last one I had the luck to attend was the one convened by Xojo in London the last 23rd of November, where I met again with Dana Brown and Alyssa Foley (always a joy!) and other friends from the forum I wanted to meet in person … and I was finally able to “de-virtualize”, Gavin Smith and Richard and Trisha Duke. In addition, Jeremie Leroy was there  … who I had previously met at the last MBS Xojo Conference in Cologne and at  other Xojo events(he is one of the regular guys you can find in the Xojo Events). Of course, I was also delighted to make new friends in this event, like Visakan and Mario, among others at the Xojo London Event!

It doesn’t matter the city of the Xojo event, the feeling I get on my trip back home is always the same: attending this kind of event is really worth it and it is for a few reasons. Here are some of them:

• Getting out of the routine.Making a break from time to time is something needed; getting out of the day to day duties to oxygenate the brain is worthwhile. In addition, if this means visiting a different country, even better! You can combine spending a pleasant day, two days or even a week interacting with other developers, along with some tourism, a look into another culture and lifestyles apart from your own.
• Socializing.As many of you probably are, I’m the only employee in my company, and that means that I spend most of my days working alone (except when I have to visit my clients to talk about current or new projects). Thus, being able to join other people sharing the same interests is really positive and enriching!
• It’s not just about coding!Of course, at these kind of events you’ll spend time talking about the Xojo programming language,  code, projects, different approaches to solve a problem … and also get advice about how to deal with anything particularly difficult – it may be something technical or from the point of view of the software business, as an owner! Simply put: it’s something really brilliant being surrounded by developers contributing other points of view and developers who are so kind to share their experiences with you. However… is not just code! It’s also about socializing and establishing relationships. In fact, we usually end up talking about all kinds of matters apart from software development: family, cultures, travels, music … absolutely anything! You know what? At the end, you’ll probably interchange your phone number, email, WhatsApp to continue in touch!
• Making new friends!By itself, this should be the main reward. Having the possibility to make a phone call or send an email to any of the colleagues you met is something absolutely priceless.
• Creating new opportunities.And the opportunities start by exchanging your experience and also knowledge to solve the problems other colleagues are having; they also start by showing some of the projects/apps you already published or you are working on; and also by sharing your skills with other developers around the world. Believe me, it’s priceless being able to find other people that share a common interest, are applying their knowledge in other disciplines and projects so diverse. There is nothing more enriching that this kind of knowledge exchange. When you have the opportunity to join with an interdisciplinary group of people, you can be sure you’ll close some technical gaps where you may be less experienced, and vice versa.

At the end of these Events, you’ll be inspired by others … or even find work on new or current projects, besides that, you will do that with those who have already been able to put a face to the name and talk with you face to face.

I’m looking forward to meeting with you at the next Xojo Event! And if you are one of the regular attendants, I’d be glad to hear your point of view about the Xojo Events! See you in Nashville for XOJO.CONNECT!