2³ Tips for Javaland Newbies
This year four Setloggers travelled to the Javaland conference for the first time. In case you’re planning the same for next year, we’ve put together some tips for you based on our Javaland Newbie experience:
- sign up in time. There are several reasons for this tip:
– This will ensure that you get a ticket before the event is fully booked. This is especially important for the workshops, as each workshop is limited in the number of participants.
– There is an early bird discount.
– There is more choice on hotels.
– You don’t postpone until the event is over.
- find out in advance which events are of particular interest to you. You don’t have to decide yet but reading through the entire program between events is a bit stressful as there are long walking distances.
- Be aware of the weather and dress accordingly. We were very lucky: It was quite cool in the mornings and evenings, but absolutely dry. But next year it might look different. The lectures all take place indoors, but in between you always have to cover longer distances outside. We recommend a rain jacket. And a sweater that you can take off if it gets too warm during the lecture. (In case you are Mark this point is obsolete.)
- take some food with you. Lunch and dinner on the first day are available free of charge at the event, there is also a snack during coffee time but not before and in between. And with an empty stomach you don’t take anything from the lectures anymore. In addition, it could happen that you forget lunch because of all the exciting lectures.
- arrive a bit earlier on the first day and look out for the toilets and the venues when you enter the park. There are 20 minutes between the lectures. This may sound like a lot, but it isn’t. The walkways are partly quite long, queues form in front of the toilets and maybe one would like to chat with someone. It quickly gets cramped when you first have to look for one of the well hidden toilets.
- get vouchers for drinking before lunch: water, coffee and tea are always free; for soft drinks, coffee specialties (and ice cream) you need vouchers. You get six vouchers once, but not where you get the drinks or the ice cream, but at the information desks of Javaland.
- take a break! In Javaland there are many interesting lectures. We often would like to hear several at the same time. But you should also consciously not listen to a timeslot lecture but take a break to regain energy for the rest of the day. Or simply to have lunch. So, you are more receptive for the following lectures.
- the most important tip: go to Javaland! This is an absolutely recommendable event for Java developers. You learn a lot and the atmosphere is unique. And let’s be honest: When do you have the opportunity to make an amusement park unsafe with a bunch of other nerds?
