LIFT99 is taking the Lead in Developer Circles from Facebook
By Krislin Raik and Kadri Barclay
Developers don’t only develop software. They develop the future. And the future cannot be designed when you're tucked away behind your office desk. We need input and output. We need a conversation. In fact, we need a multitude of conversations - this is how the most progressive ideas are sparked and carefully perfected on the way to execution.
“Developers don’t only develop software. They develop the future.”
Developer Circles from Facebook has taken it on themselves to initiate this conversation. The idea of creating a social network named Facebook was born in a community of developers. For 14 years, Facebook has been developing something revolutionary and gathering over 2 billion users around its core idea.
But what got us where we are, will not take us where we want to go. Developer Circles from Facebook is now bringing together developers across the globe to build strong meaningful connections among the specialists who have a big role to play in shaping the future we wish to see. Or can't even dream of yet.
“We are not blowing bubbles that disappear in a second. Developer Circles from Facebook are made for meaningful connections.”
Here, at LIFT99, we're convinced that having a strong community around has a huge impact on how easily people can generate and implement their best ideas. As the community expands and finds new branches, it starts to connect and overlap with other communities, supporting a diverse ecosystem of solutions and a dynamic flow of talent. This is exactly why we've decided to bring the Developer Circles from Facebook programme to our LIFT99 community in Tallinn, Estonia.
The concept has already proved itself in many cities around the world. For example, Raphaël Goncalves, the Developer Circles Lead in Berlin, said that the attendees have been head-over-heels involved with the AI and Machine Learning topics, taking the most out of the group they've gathered in. Zane Holt, the Programme Lead for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said that the hot things to discuss around the globe have been React, exploring innovative use cases of Messenger, and of course, AI, AR, and VR.
“The hot things to discuss have been React, exploring innovative use cases of Messenger, and of course, AI, AR, and VR.”
For junior developers or students, it's a priceless part of the learning process to hear from more experienced people and be a part of the face-to-face conversations. Since you are meeting people who've been in your shoes, they already have answers to questions you can't even pinpoint. Events like these are an excellent gateway to finding a mentor or entering the professional world.
For more experienced developers, the sky is the limit. Synergy creates potential which could be the beginning of a new startup or unlock a skill-set you never knew to tap into. With so many development languages and trends floating around, discussions are absolutely necessary to keep the ecosystem moving forward.
“Discussions are absolutely necessary to keep the ecosystem moving forward. ”
The first event in LIFT99, Tallinn brought to the stage guest stars as well as our community members. We had Murtadha Al-Tameemi, an Engineer on the internet.org and Laura Lebovic, Partner Engineer for Messenger. Murtadha discussed how to crush your coding interview, showing real-life recruiting tasks on the screen and solving them together with the audience. Laura introduced some ways of building great experiences in Messenger.
We're very glad that our own people were also on stage - Markus Lippus, Mindtitan's Data Scientist and a member of LIFT99, shared insights and tips on how to get any data science done, with stories and lessons from his own experience. Dmitry Zhukov, Developer from Transferwise, looked at the big picture of developing, rethinking the Fragmentation of Machine Learning Ecosystems.
The first event set the bar high with a full house! The discussions will continue in the Developer Circle: Tallinn group, feel free to join. If you have any topics in mind you'd love to hear more about next time, or why not, share on the stage yourself, get in touch!
In the meanwhile, feel free to tag yourself and the people you know in the gallery of the meetup in June at LIFT99.
Until next time!