This is our final newsletter of 2025 and with that we present the final sessions from our 2025 edition of FFConf.

There was many proud parents in the room as Surya Rose confidently took to the stage to fulfil his dream and led us on his coding journey from 6 to 16 years old. As our industry continues to exist, it's the young people who will breathe life into it, so Surya's experience is essential.

We were delighted that Sacha Judd was able to join us all the way from New Zealand! She filled our hearts with the joy of what the Good Internet is. Not just a nostalgic memory but alive today and just as weird as always.

Watch Surya and Sacha's talks today.

Huge Thanks

Thank you so much for all your support this year, it really means the world to both of us. We are grateful for every ticket sale, share on social media, recommendation to a friend or colleague, donation to the scholarship fund - it means so much to a family run conference like ourselves.

You won't hear from us again until May 2026 when we start a new season, so with that, we want to with you all the very best for 2026 and hope to see you on Friday 13th November (if not before!).

– Remy & Julie 👋🎄

In our third post event newsletter, we have enjoyed lunch (the Lunch with Future Friends was extremely popular this year) and we're back in our seats for the next two sessions.

Asim Hussain told us "Don't be an Idiot" on how AI can, and is, being used to democratise big decisions, putting much more nuance in the decisions offered to people.

Followed by Jessica Rose and Eda Eren. Told from the perspective of a senior and junior and what are the lasting impacts on relying (or being pushed into) AI tools. Very much the argument of shallow learning versus deep (human) learning through experience.

Watch Asim and Jessica & Eda's talks today.

Write ups from the day

We are grateful to everyone who posted across social media about their time with us. We wanted to highlight the following write ups which show different aspects to the day.

Gwen shares a first timer aspect. Sergès shares her speaker experience. Kate at Krystal.io shares a sponsor view and a detailed review of each talk. Wonderful sketch notes from Simon and finally Remy recaps as an organiser.

We hope you have Friday 13th November 2026 in your diaries already!

We'll see you next week for the final videos and last newsletter of the year!

In our second post event newsletter, we move onto the next two sessions, pre lunch slot where we look at web components, React teams and… cults!

Hannah Clarke talked about her experience bringing web components to a React based team and the process integration both from the software side but also from the team adoption perspective.

Followed by Sergès Goma fun and funny talk about cults which dovetailed perfectly into Hannah's talk. She argued that we're all in a cult (to some degree) and touched on the gatekeeping that was also touched on in Hellen's talk about team diversity.

Watch Hannah and Sergès' talks today.

Reminisce about the day

Please enjoy all the photos from 2025 taken by talented Trys Mudford. Can you spot yourself in the background?

We hope you have Friday 13th November 2026 in your diaries already!

We'll see you next week!

• Remy & Julie 👋

What an amazing day FFConf 2025 was - our 9 speakers absolutely smashed it and your feedback on the day was absolutely glowing.

We are delighted to share the first two videos from our 15th FFConf.

Hellen Ward opened the day talking about diversity in tech and invited the audience to consider how better representation leads to more effective technology.

Followed by Chetan Padia who deep dived into privacy on a daily basis and gave some actions on detaching yourself from big tech.

Watch Hellen and Chetan's talks today.

2026 News!

We're back next year, so you can put Friday 13th November 2026 into your diary as we will be back (or use this handy event link)!

We'll be back with more inspiration, connection and unique FFConf vibes.

Finally, please can you send us your write-ups about the event - we would love to highlight these in a future newsletter.

If you enjoyed this years event (or previous ones) please do help us spread the word.

In just 24 hours, we will be opening the doors to the historic Duke of York's for our 15th FFConf.

Meet our last speakers, Jessica Rose and Eda Eren in their wonderfully detailed interviews. We are very much looking forward to their talk "Forgetting Machines: AI Coding Tools and Skill".

Join us tomorrow for kinship, originality and coffee.

Very last chance!

From Our Archive

Fifteen events has also seen 15 event designs and logos. A conscious design choice by Remy from the very start has enabled us to grow and change over the years.

FFConf in 2025 is an event which chooses people over technology, that aims to inspire and motivate, and that champions a better web.

15 different logos for each year of FFConf

Community News

For the FFConf community and the event itself to exist, we do rely on our sponsors for support. We'd like to thank each of them, we'd be grateful if you took a moment in your day to check them each out to find out more:

• web.dev - a vast and valuable resource for building a better web from the Chrome for Developers team
• TetraLogical - accessibility specialists that both host resources, but also will work with you to build web sites available to all users
• Mirus - a family run recruitment company with a very human touch
• Pleo - automated finance control for your employees and integrations that connect to your finance stack
• Krystal - hosting with data centres in the UK and powered by renewable energy

We'll see you tomorrow!

- Remy & Julie 👋

PS. We have two free tickets available (donated by Jenny Wong and Leaf Rogers who sadly are unable to make it) - first two people to hit reply, gets them!

We wanted to also thank both Jess and Eda for taking the time to answer our questions so we can all get to know him a little bit more before 14th November.

About Jess & Eda and their talk

• Title: Forgetting Machines: AI Coding Tools and Skill
• About the talk: AI coding tools are getting sold as an inevitable future, but using them diminishes the processes that drive learning for developers. What's this doing to individual skills and our industry as a whole? Is it hopeless? What can we do to fix this?
• Jess' origin story: I woke up one day and realized that programming languages are like human languages, but with jobs that paid better and wouldn't make me get a PhD so here I am.
• Eda's origin story: I had an epiphany once that technology is not supposed to be a curse, and programming can be seen as an art form, not just pure science. (Also, that there's always lots to learn, so that's what I decided to do!)

The warm up questions

What's the most gloriously unproductive rabbit hole you've ever gone down in the name of "learning more"?

Jess:

I once spent every free hour for more than a month learning about traditional sago production methods in Eastern Indonesia, because the idea that people we creative enough to make tree pulp into food was inescapably fascinating to me.

Eda:

Oh, that happens a lot! I don't remember a particular case because there are so many.

Usually what happens is that when I list every single resource about something I want to learn more about, I continue with each one's own list of resources, and the next one after that, and so on, ending up with thousands of bookmarks…that are not necessarily about the very first thing that I was trying to learn more about.

When tech starts to feel like a curse again, what do you do to lift the spell?

Jess:

Teach! It's so hard to stay pessimistic when I'm confronted with the abundance of hope and enthusiasm learners bring to working with the web.

Eda:

It seems that nowadays tech feels like a curse even more, but in moments like these, I try to remember that there are still a lot of people building amazing things, things that help human flourishing, and at the end, tech is pretty great if you let it and make use of it wisely.

I also try to remember that there is still so much to discover and potential to make good things.

About the work and the talk

You've framed your talk around "forgetting machines." What do you think developers are most at risk of forgetting first - and what might we never get back if we lean too hard on AI?

Jess:

What I'm most worried about is that I see many of my learners and peers jump right to asking an AI for help or support, before stopping to consider the question themselves. Losing this processing step risks turning a creative problem solving process into a series of trying to glue a series of unconsidered components together.

Eda:

I think what happens with relying too much on AI tools is that we might lose a certain kind of agency (maybe an ironic word to use?) over what we control and understand. Or, in other words, we might lose the intentionality that goes into building something and the joy of figuring things out for ourselves at the end of a long frustration. I think there is value in that.

There's also the idea of developing the right kinds of instincts to solve problems that turn out to be more complex than we might have foreseen, so there's a risk of losing that skill too.

Do you see parallels with other moments in computing history where tools seemed to erode skills, but actually changed the industry for the better?

Jess:

The parallel I see most often isn't actually from programming, but in weaving (which I might argue is a physical form of programming). The Luddites protested more efficient textile automation, citing that they would undercut the labour power of skilled workers.

The textile automation stuck around and did result in increased efficiency, while also lowering the pay and working conditions of textile workers as the Luddites feared.

This may sound like I'm championing a rejection of automation, but this and our AI-hype-filled present situation both make me wary that productivity improvements that concentrate power in the hands of capital aren't improving an industry, if the improvements come at direct cost to the workers who drive value.

Eda:

I think when higher-level languages first started to be used, people who were working closer to the machine might have thought that there was a loss of skills with these new abstractions, but it turned out not to be the case, and I think the new abstractions made programming slightly more accessible to newcomers.

There is some debate about whether it's the case with AI coding tools right now, but I don't think there's a new abstraction layer with them, so it doesn't really mirror that situation.

Also, maybe not directly related to computing, but I guess Socrates was said to dislike writing because he thought it would make memorizing obsolete, and people would stop thinking if they wrote things down! Well, I would say that the opposite happened.

What's something you've unlearned - willingly or not - because a tool started doing it for you?

Jess:

Oh gosh, that's such a good question. The dangerous thing is, I wouldn't really know! The slow erosion of skills and abstraction of automation means that the impacts on us are often invisible until the skills are called upon again.

Eda:

Navigation is the number one thing that comes to mind. "Finding your way" is always tough (not just metaphorically!), but I think before relying a lot on navigation apps, I used to pay more attention and take more notice of landmarks, now I think the same level of attention isn't there.

Find out more about Jess online on their website, BlueSky and Mastodon.

You can see more of Eda and their work on their website and BlueSky

Join us in November to see their talk: 2025.ffconf.org

We cannot believe there's just 8 days left until the conference next week! Since we started in May, we have sent out 20 newsletters and we hope you have found them informative and interesting - your feedback is welcomed!

I (Julie) met someone from the tech industry the other week, who had never been to FFConf but had heard of it as a "code event". This conversation inspired Remy to write up his thoughts on how FFConf has changed since we started back in 2009.

We've also published two more of our speaker interviews where they answer questions about their talk and their experience: Chetan Padia and Surya Rose.

Standard tickets have now closed, and there are only 20 late-bird tickets available at £299+VAT.

Secure your seat now

From Our Archive

Our friends at Brighton Codebar have not only allocated some of our scholarship tickets but they are also hosting the pre conference coffee morning so wanted to highlight Kimberley Cook's talk 0 - 27,000 people! Growing a global community over 11 years.

Kimberley shares how Codebar was started by a small group of women who were annoyed being the only women in their companies and being surrounded by white people and wanted to make a change. I love how they changed the format after the very first meet up when people were too afraid to ask questions and straight away they moved to the unique student/coach set up.

Community News

For the FFConf community and the event itself to exist, we do rely on our sponsors for support. We'd like to thank each of them, we'd be grateful if you took a moment in your day to check them each out to find out more:

• web.dev - a vast and valuable resource for building a better web from the Chrome for Developers team
• TetraLogical - accessibility specialists that both host resources, but also will work with you to build web sites available to all users
• Mirus - a family run recruitment company with a very human touch
• Pleo - automated finance control for your employees and integrations that connect to your finance stack
• Krystal - hosting with data centres in the UK and powered by renewable energy

There's just one last newsletter before the conference, it'll be short as we'll be super busy, but our final speaker interview will also drop (and it's a good one!).

– We'll see you next week, Remy & Julie 👋

We wanted to also thank Surya for taking the time to answer our questions so we can all get to know him a little bit more before 14th November.

About Surya and their talk

• Title: Six to Sixteen: A Child's Programming Journey
• About the talk: Learning to code is not easy. It takes a lot of time and practise to become a good developer, especially with the hundreds of different technologies that exist, it's often hard to know where to start. In this talk, I share my experience as a programmer, starting from when I first learned to code at the age of six.
• Surya's origin story: When I was six years old, I asked my dad to teach me to code. For some reason it stuck, and ten years later here I am giving a talk about it.

The warm up questions

If six-year-old you could see you now, what would they be most impressed by - and what would they be confused about?

They would probably be most impressed by the fact that I'm giving this talk. Talking at FFConf has always been something I've dreamed about - not at 6, but a couple years later - but I never thought it would actually happen.

One thing I think they would be confused about is that I don't really make games. I think every kid dreams to create video games one day - I certainly did - and that's also how I started programming, but game development is never an area I got that into.

What's the most "six-year-old logic" programming decision you ever made - and did it accidentally work?

For my first project I had my dad's supervision so he was always there to help me find an adequate solution to any problem I had.

I do remember later, when tasked to write a FizzBuzz program, instead of writing a "for" or "while" loop, I just wrote 100 console.log statements and hardcoded each of them with the correct value.

About the work and the talk

You started coding at six - what kind of things were you making back then? Any early creations you’re secretly proud of (or embarrassed by)?

I started off making games. My first ever project was a copy of a game I liked playing at the time, but modified to my imagination. I'm still quite proud of it, although I can't say how much of the code I fully understood.

There's also something charming about looking back on what I made 10 odd years ago, and I don't think it's anything to be embarrassed about.

Many adults feel overwhelmed when starting to code - what advice would you give to someone learning to code now for the first time?

Make what you want to make. Coding can be an attractive job because it's extremely prevalent in modern society, and because of this it's often tempting to optimise and learn the most popular or high-paying framework or language at the time.

In my experience, the best way to learn something is to enjoy and to explore it at will, not taking any pre-defined path. That way you enjoy the process and will probably learn better and faster than by taking a course which is not for you.

Once you know the basics of any language or framework, learning a new one is pretty easy in most cases - you usually just need to learn the new syntax and names of everything.

A solid foundation built upon what you love doing goes a long way.

Looking forward, are there any areas of tech you’re excited to dive into next, or ones you think kids learning today should explore?

I'm not personally excited about any specific piece of tech. I usually don't plan ahead what I'm going to try next, I just play with things as inspiration hits me. There are many interesting and exciting fields in tech - I will probably be excited about whichever one I decide to explore next, which will just be whatever interests me.

I don't think kids learning to code should try anything in particular. Everyone has their own interests and it's my experience that you learn best when you're doing something that interests you. For me that was video games, but for others it could be networks, robotics, design, or any other aspect of programming.

You strike a balance between optimism and realism. How do you stay hopeful about tech when so much of it seems bent toward consolidation and control?

I am very lucky to have found an incredible online community centred around an open-source project called Gleam. I will say more about this in my talk, but there are loads of wonderful people there, creating and sharing all sorts of amazing projects, and that gives me a lot of hope.

Find out more about Surya online on their website.

Join us in November to see Surya's talk: 2025.ffconf.org

We wanted to also thank Chetan for taking the time to answer our questions so we can all get to know him a little bit more before 14th November.

About Chetan and their talk

• Title: Powerless by Design
• About the talk: Your users often have to opt in to cookies, privacy policies, terms and conditions, accounts, or apps, just to use your product. What are you and your users giving away? How do we build for the benefit of users first?
• Chetan's origin story: I wanted to play computer games like my friends were playing but my parents put a computer with BASIC in front of me and told me to make my own.

The warm up questions

What’s the first thing you ever made in BASIC - and would you still play it today?

A maze game. No, it only had one level!

Do you think giving a kid a programming language instead of a game is a power move… or a villain arc?

Both. Being forced to make your own fun is inspiring, but you've got to leave room to get lost in other worlds.

What’s one piece of small print you’ve actually read all the way through - and did it change your life or just ruin your day?

The cookie opt ins for a spirit level app. It took so long just to scroll through the list of cookie providers. It didn't even work very well.

About the work and the talk

You talk about what we give away just to get in the door of digital products - what was the moment you first realised how much power we’d ceded?

The Brexit referendum. It made no sense, but analysis afterwards showed it was targeted ads that swayed the vote.

How can indie developers or small teams push back against these patterns without tanking their own user acquisition?

Use smaller service providers. Pay for what you use.

Is there a particular consent mechanism or dark pattern that especially frustrates you when you see it implemented?

People expect online services to be free. Free services have to make money in other ways, at scale, and they don't care about you as an individual.

Do you think we need regulation, cultural shift, or better design education to turn this around - or all three?

A cultural shift and education about circular economics.

Find out more about Chetan online on their website.

Join us in November to see Chetan's talk: 2025.ffconf.org

FFConf has a reputation for being friendly and welcoming but we still appreciate that coming to a conference where you might not know anyone, or you haven't been for a while, can be a daunting prospect.

We want to share that beyond the inspiring and informative talks, how you can experience FFConf's welcoming atmosphere:

🎤 Show and Tell with Async. Our friends at Async run a very special International Show & Tell the night before FFConf. They welcome you to give a 5 minute talk or just attend and meet fellow delegates on a smaller scale.

🏃 Fancy an early morning run? A casual 5K run led by friendly FFConf locals for all levels of fitness before the conference opens. See Brighton before the city really wakes up and hope for some sunshine!

☕️ For those who prefer a slower start to the day, our friends at Brighton Codebar host a coffee morning to welcome delegates for early refreshments.

🍲 Lunch with Future Friends! Remy has experienced that moment at a conference when everyone piles out of the venue in groups and he has been left eating a sandwich alone. We never want this to happen to you so we reserve a large area in two nearby pubs so just turn up and break bread.

🕺🍸 Social with your attendees. You can’t visit Brighton without seeing the beach (even if it is November!). We will continue the conversations, food, drinks and games with your new friends at the social.

Join us on 14th November for learning, connection and ice cream. Plus remember, remember the 5th of November for your last day to nab a standard price ticket at £249+VAT.

Limited tickets available

From Our Archive

Lets escape the gloom and doom with the hilarious Joe Hart with the talk Alpha, Beta, Gamer: Dev Mode. Joe braves the challenges of coding in front of a live audience whilst allowing hundreds of people to play Flappy Bird together - which ends with the timeless line: To our villain, the giant dickbutt!

Joe has also attended FFConf a number of times in the past and wrote up his own experience (a useful read if you're still considering your ticket).

Community News

We couldn't run this event without our sponsors so a massive thank you to Krystal.io - especially important when we're looking for UK based hosting and powered by renewables.

Krystal is an independent, UK-based hosting provider, offering high-performance cloud infrastructure powered by renewables and backed by award-winning support. Whether you're building a side project or scaling a platform, you'll get reliable tech, and values that match your own.

We're proudly B Corp certified, ISO 27001:2022 accredited and part of 1% for the Planet. Because progress shouldn’t cost the earth.

Please do check them out and consider for your next hosted project.

– We'll see you next week, Remy & Julie 👋

Remember, remember the 5th of November! Because that is your last day to nab a standard price ticket at £249+VAT 🎆

From 6th November, the ticket price will increase to our late-bird price of £299+VAT.

Join us on 14th November for inspiration, connection and hope rekindling!

Limited tickets available

From Our Archive

Don't just take our word for how awesome FFConf is, here are some attendee thoughts from previous years:

Every time I've been to ffconf I've left with my faith fully restored in humanity and the web development community, and itching to try out new things. It's always an inspiring event in my calendar!

Handcrafted, intimate, and full of thoughtful people.

I don't often recommend conferences, and I'm not one for networking, but I get so much out of ffconf that I tell every engineer I meet "if you go to one conference this year, go to ffconf". I tell every junior engineer at work to go along, and everyone one of them comments on how much they loved it.

Really great conference - I love how there is a mix of different types of talks. However, the best thing of all is just seeing fellow front end folks in general and feeling that collective positive buzz.

It’s a wonderful conference with a clear emphasis on community, diversity and inclusivity. The result is an eclectic line up and an array of talks that validate, inspire and energise. If you’ve never been, I can’t recommend it enough.

Community News

This week Big AI released another AI browser, one that can browse for you and perform tasks. I'm not linking to them because I believe they're a real security risk that decades of work has gone into securing the web.

I (Remy) feel like it's our job to share with our less technically inclined friends and family that these browsers come with (pretty big) risks.

The first is from hijacking - which is horribly simple to pull off. The second risk is the undoing of secure layers, and the LLM will now have clear text access to your personal data (this is 2m30s video that's absolutely worth your time).

Then there are the AI companies saying how we can improve the compatibility with these browsers by using ARIA roles to "improve" the AI's understanding, and the almost inevitable side effect is that ARIA roles get abused by SEO hacking. Adrian Roselli has an excellent write up:

SEO hacks have been keyword-stuffing alt text in images for literal decades. There is no way ARIA will get away unscathed. Every button, link, and div will be roled up to redundancy at best, and the wrong thing at worst.

There's also a few tools available to block the content stealing bots from training on your hard work.

It is our job to make the web better, and that can also mean through sharing offline knowledge (which, FFConf is all about!).

We wanted to also thank Asim for taking the time to answer our questions so we can all get to know him a little bit more before 14th November.

About Asim and their talk

• Title: Don't be an Idiot
• About the talk: Open source isn't a Silicon Valley creation but an ancient tool for sharing power. The same forces behind Athenian democracy shape today’s open standards. As AI takes over tasks, our real challenge is rediscovering collective governance. This talk is about human agency - not doom, not salvation - and yes, psychedelics play a part.
• Asim's origin story: Dad bought a Sharp MZ-700 in the 1980s, got it cheap because Sharp had stopped manufacturing them. No games in stores, just a BASIC interpreter on tape, a programming manual, and one tape with 10 games. If I wanted more games, I had to learn to code them myself.

The warm up questions

If you could time-travel back to ancient Athens with a USB stick, what’s on it - and who are you trying to impress?

I'd bring back an Excel file and show Pythagoras - he was a wild dude - today he's be considered a psychedelic counter culture rebel, spent his youth travelling across the middle east with mystics called the magi, drinking potions, then came back and did some maths.

What did it feel like to use the Sharp MZ-700 compared to how you interact with your devices now?

The wait - having to watch the tape spin to load the app, ohh the anticipation.

About the work and the talk

Tech tends to glorify the role of 'builder', but you suggest we should be 'guardians' instead. What are the responsibilities we’ve neglected?

Living in harmony

You're blending AI, ancient democracy, and open source - was there a thread that helped you tie these seemingly distant ideas together?

There are two forces, a force that concentrates power (which is nor always bad) and a force which dilutes power (which is not always good). It's the dance between those forces that creates life. Democracy, Open Source and even AI are tools of the dancers.

You've said this isn’t another 'AI will save or doom us all' kind of talk. What sort of conversations do you wish we were having instead?

How do we change the world so it's better for everyone and everything.

You strike a balance between optimism and realism. How do you stay hopeful about tech when so much of it seems bent toward consolidation and control?

I'd rather live today with the technology we have today than the 80s, I like my phone, being connected and being able to write apps that don't take a year.

Find out more about Asim online on their website or LinkedIn.

Join us in November to see Asim's talk: 2025.ffconf.org

Meet our speakers! We are welcoming Asim Hussain to FFConf letting us know how we "Don't Be An Idiot"

Asim's talk is optimistic but realistic - about human agency rather than human obsolescence. It's not another "AI will save/destroy us all" talk.

You're blending AI, ancient democracy, and open source - was there a thread that helped you tie these seemingly distant ideas together?

There are two forces, a force that concentrates power (which is not always bad) and a force which dilutes power (which is not always good). It's the dance between those forces that creates life. Democracy, Open Source and even AI are tools of the dancers.

You've said this isn’t another 'AI will save or doom us all' kind of talk. What sort of conversations do you wish we were having instead?

How do we change the world so it's better for everyone and everything?

Read Asim's full interview and meet Asim and all our speakers on 14th November!

Get your ticket now

Standard ticket rate ends on 5th November

From Our Archive

FFConf is not just another tech conference where you learn the shiniest new tools. What really matters to us how we can become better humans; on the web and in our communities.

Which is why we welcomed Jo Franchetti and her talk called Mentoring: Being the help you wish you'd had back in 2018 which talks precisely to this ethos.

Jo explains that mentoring can cement your own knowledge, improve your communication skills, develop your cognitive diversity and increase your confidence. Jo highlights some organisations where you can find mentors/mentees so check them out.

Community News

Last week, Remy gave a lightning talk (on fixing Gameboys!) and attended WDC in Bristol (a conference we highlighted here a few weeks ago). Our 2024 Alumni speaker, Michael Kibedi has shared his experience of the day.

Community run conferences are the lifeblood of the web:

They are like a cheat code, like a magic door – you enter, and suddenly, you find yourself on the inside of the conversation. The faces, the names, the people behind the blog posts – they become real. And you stop feeling like just being an observer of the Web community. You are now a part of it.

Keep supporting your favourite conference/meet up/event wherever you find them.

– We'll see you next week, Remy & Julie 👋

We are delighted to announce our final two speakers, Surya Rose and Chetan Padia

Previous attendees might recognise these two faces. Surya has been coming to FFConf since he was 9 years old and has given talks at Async. Chetan has been kindly leading the early morning run since 2019!

This means we now have a full line up of sessions and we couldn't be more excited about the topics that are being discussed. From human agency to web components, from bias to cults, from AI to learning to code, from the good internet to cookies.

Meet all our speakers on 14th November!

Tickets available now

From Our Archive

As we approach our 15th(!) FFConf, our thoughts turn to time and how our family has changed over the years, how the web has changed since the 00's and so we dug deep into the archive, back to 2013, to Jeremy Keith and his talk called TIME.

In his talk, Jeremy reveals he has placed a bet that a URL will not be still live in 2022. I will leave you to learn whether he won or lost and had to pay out $1000 to charity!

Community News

Amy Hupe, our 2024 speaker, has launched the second series of her excellent podcast 'Systems of Harm' - go subscribe!

The first episode with Geri Reid discussed what does effective activism look like when it comes to design systems and inclusion? Why are so many of us missing the mark when making the case for prioritising accessibility, and what can we do about it?

We wanted to also thank Sacha for taking the time to answer our questions so we can all get to know her a little bit more before 14th November.

About Sacha and their talk

• Title: The Good Internet: How Fandom Can Reclaim the Web
• About the talk: How to escape the algorithmic doom loops and reclaim our digital lives (Sacha has a longer description on their speaker page)
• Sacha's origin story: My first computer was a Commodore Vic 20, aged ten. I was one of the first home users of the internet in Aotearoa/New Zealand in 1993, much to the chagrin of my parents who didn't enjoy paying astronomical rates for dial-up for me to hang out in LambaMOO. My first fandom was The X-Files, and I've lived and breathed transformative fan communities ever since. They're the best (and sometimes the worst!) of the internet. Now I'm weirdly micro-famous for giving tech talks all over the world about Harry Styles.

The warm up questions

If your Vic-20 could talk, what do you think it would say about the modern internet?

"You have all of those extra bytes and that's what you did with it??"

I often think about the fact that I had a 16k expansion pack for my Vic 20 and that's smaller than most of my text messages now.

I actually like to think about what ten-year-old me, who used to painstakingly type in BASIC programmes out of magazines or books from the library would think of the modern internet.

I think in some ways that's why I'm so focussed on us celebrating that early spirit of creativity. It takes me back to when we made things for ourselves.

If you were to build a fan site today from scratch - GIFs, guestbook and all - who or what would it be about (or is it foregone that it's Harry Styles!)?

LEGO. I have a truly unhinged LEGO collection, that started as a covid lockdown hobby and got completely out of hand. I now have a city that takes up one whole wall of my living area. If you're lucky I'll show you some videos!.

About the work and the talk

You make a powerful case for fandom as the birthplace of the "good internet". What do you think fandom communities got right that we’ve lost along the way?

I don't want it to seem like it's black and white. Fandom got a lot of things wrong back then and continues to do so today. But I think what it got right was a continued focus on operating outside of corporate-controlled spaces.

In the beginning we had to, because rights holders, and studios, and authors didn't approve of what we were doing. And it led to building creative, resilient spaces outside the walls that continue to flourish today.

Meanwhile the rest of us got funnelled into this handful of algorithmically controlled platforms, and that's why most people think the internet is a dumpster fire.

Rebuilding the web feels like a huge task. Where do you recommend people start if they want to escape algorithmic feeds and reclaim a bit of online space for themselves?

I am going to talk about this! I think it starts as small as making something for yourself -- something weird or useful or funny or without purpose. And I think it starts with teaching other people how to do the same.

The web can be a double-edged sword for marginalised communities—both a sanctuary and a target. How could we build personal online spaces that are safer and more expressive?

This is a great question, and it doesn't have easy answers. One of the real contradictions I explored in an earlier talk I Still Believe in Heroes is that messy, unmoderated, public spaces like Twitter are terrible for underrepresented voices because they get harassed, drowned out, and driven away.

But structured, moderated, controlled spaces often don’t allow underrepresented voices to call out racism, transphobia and misogyny without asking for permission. So much of this is how we build these spaces from the outset, setting expectations and creating inclusivity in the foundations (unlike, say, Substack).

How do you see fan communities evolving now that platforms like Tumblr are fading and newer ones like TikTok are algorithm-heavy and corporate-controlled?

Wash your mouth out, Tumblr will never die!

What we are seeing is an increase in activity on Reddit (of all places, becoming one of the last refuges of actual humans on the internet).

And we're seeing fandom Discords spring up (both fan run, and officially sanctioned). I have some thoughts about that -- I think Discords are hard to find and lack the stumble-upon discovery of say Yahoo Groups. But until someone creates a free community space like that (that isn't Facebook), needs must.

It's also an era where people are much more comfortable to do their fandom on main. In my day, I'd rather have died than put my face to a tiktok talking about my fanfic, but times have changed!

Find out more about Sacha online on their website, Bluesky or LinkedIn.

Join us in November to see Sacha's talk: 2025.ffconf.org

Meet our speakers! We are welcoming Sacha Judd to FFConf to talk about "The Good Internet: How Fandom Can Reclaim the Web" If you're fed up with corporate walled gardens and hungry for a more authentic online experience, join Sacha's journey to bring back the good internet - a place fuelled by genuine community, creativity, and connection.

Where do you recommend people start if they want to escape algorithmic feeds and reclaim a bit of online space for themselves?

I am going to talk about this! I think it starts as small as making something for yourself -- something weird or useful or funny or without purpose. And I think it starts with teaching other people how to do the same.

The web can be a double-edged sword for marginalised communities—both a sanctuary and a target. How could we build personal online spaces that are safer and more expressive?

This is a great question, and it doesn't have easy answers. One of the real contradictions I explored in an earlier talk I Still Believe in Heroes is that messy, unmoderated, public spaces like Twitter are terrible for underrepresented voices because they get harassed, drowned out, and driven away.

But structured, moderated, controlled spaces often don’t allow underrepresented voices to call out racism, transphobia and misogyny without asking for permission. So much of this is how we build these spaces from the outset, setting expectations and creating inclusivity in the foundations (unlike, say, Substack).

Meet Sacha on 14th November, and you can read Sacha's full interview on our website.

Tickets available now

From Our Archive

With the truly awful coverage of autism in the news recently, it only seems fit to highlight Jonathan Fielding's excellent talk from 2023 called 'Embracing Neurodiversity in Tech: Building Empathy, Unveiling Strengths'.

From Jonathan, we learn that the autism spectrum isn't a line, but a circle where each individual has different strengths and challenges:

We also want everyone to use the "Pacman" formation when in conversation at FFConf and leave a room for someone to join the group to foster our welcoming environment.

Community News

We couldn't run this event without our sponsors so a massive thank you to Mirus - a family run business who approach recruitment with care and consideration.

Mark, the co-founder, will be distributing the ice creams in the afternoon break and shared these words with us:

At Mirus, we’ve been helping teams in design, product, data and technology find the right people for years. For us, it’s never just about filling a role, it’s about understanding fit, creating impact, and making the process feel simple and human.

We are exploring how a human curated, AI-enabled, feedback-driven matching can shape the future of hiring, with transparency and speed at the centre. I’d love to get your thoughts at the conference, or feel free to connect with me directly on LinkedIn.

Our beautiful venue, Duke of York's, is an integral part of the day, adding so much character and charm. It recently marked its 115th birthday with a red carpet event (which of course Remy and Julie attended).

Did you know the Duke of York's is the UK's oldest purpose-built cinema and used to seat 800 people!

If you have never been to FFConf before or want a reminder of the venue and its unique character, check out their video tour.

Join us at Duke of York's on 14th November.

Tickets available now

From Our Archive

Another anniversary - we have been running our scholarship scheme for 10 years. The spark came from SassConf and hopefully has inspired other conferences to offer similar schemes.

We do not have a company sponsor again this year but we will continue to support this ourselves, along with ticket donations from individuals (shout out to Dave L, Amy H, Dave P and Daniel K).

A previous recipient generously wrote up their experience with some kind words:

Special shout-out here to those companies that provide sponsorship, and the individuals who purchase extra tickets so that those of us of more modest means can share the experience.

Without your incredible generosity, people like me are going to continue to view tech conferences as intimidating and unattainable, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Community News

We couldn’t run this event without our sponsors. A huge thank you to Tetralogical for their work in making the web more accessible and for sharing the aims of our community — an open, welcoming and accessible web.

Tetralogical just relaunched their self-led training courses. These courses have been redesigned with instructional design in mind, are fully accessible and more. You can read more on their LinkedIn update.

They have also been doing some thinking around Agentic AI and how it might change the web as we know it and with that how we make things accessible.

– We'll see you next week, Remy & Julie 👋

There's been two new talks published on FFConf, go take a look! We'll be asking them interview questions in the coming weeks too.

Remember to secure your ticket before the late-bird tickets kick into effect too.

Get your tickets

From Our Archive

As our news is all about community and events, it felt fitting to point you this week to Jenny Wong's wonderful talk from 2018, where they ask: Is it possible to build a truly diverse community?

If you listen closely to Jenny's talk, you might spot small changes that FFConf made to make for a more inclusive and friendly event. We also credit Jenny coining "Lunch with Future Friends" (we used Lunch with Strangers previously).

Community News

A core part of the web community are the events that bring people together in real life. We wanted to celebrate some of these events:

• WDC - Long standing Bristol web event, Remy will be doing a lightning talk, though on Gameboys and not JavaScript 🤷
• State of the Browser - a Saturday event in London, exceptional value and strong on the accessible and open web.
• Web Day Out - in March next year (expect what it says on the tin) from fellow Brightonian Jeremy Keith at Clearleft.

Of course more other events we love, though their dates are now behind us, so you'll need to look out next year for All Day Hey, Pixel Pioneers, Front End North … and others?

– Remy & Julie 👋

We want to thank Hannah for taking the time to answer our questions so we can all get to know her a little bit more before 14th November.

About Hannah and their talk

• Title: An Uncomfortable Place
• About the talk: How do you build Design System component packages to keep everyone happy regardless of framework? It's not easy (and let's be honest, React die-hards will only be happy with pure React), but we're getting there using web components and Stencil.
• Hannah's origin story: Spent my teenage years learning HTML and CSS for my MySpace profile (my falling stars were next level). Never considered web development when I went to study politics, then glaciology (obviously…), followed by a career running social inclusion projects. But these days I'm a UI Engineer. Full circle.

The warm up questions

If your MySpace profile was still live today, what song would auto-play when someone visited?

If I was still keeping it updated then the new Deftones track for sure. If it was the same page left unaltered from when I was 16 then probably something like Bright Eyes - Lover I Don't Have to Love </3 (or something shamefully emo...)

What's your favourite tiny or delightful UI detail you've tucked inside of a project? (and if not, a project you were particularly proud of and why did it make you feel that way)

One of the last projects I worked on in my first developer role added a "quick repurchase" feature. It was canned after two weeks in production (a couple days of A-B testing didn't produce the right results...) but I'll always be so proud of how our team produced some of the most accessible, well-tested, user-focused work I've ever been lucky enough to contribute to.

Give us a fun fact about glaciology

In general glaciers move slowly, but they can surge forward at incredible speeds. The fastest ever recorded averaged ~112m per day over a 3 month period. So if you say something is moving at a "glacial pace" then that could actually mean super fast.

About the work and the talk

What’s the biggest misconception developers have about web components today?

That they're somehow inferior to framework built components. Or won't work in their specific framework eco-system.

How has your glaciology or social inclusion background shaped the way you approach design systems?

I feel like there should be a metaphor about slowly carving a path in here, but I'll leave alone... Working in social inclusion definitely gave me a head-start in thinking about accessibility in applications and is something I'm always conscious of when building our components. I think working in a design system team fills the need I have to provide something that helps others in some way, or at least makes things easier - which was definitely something I loved about working in social inclusion.

For someone wanting to dip their toes into web components, where should they start?

It's worth getting your head around Custom Elements if you're not already familiar with them, and then I would definitely check out the Daily Developer Tips from Chris Ferdinandi - they're usually web component related and you can sign up to get them in your inbox every day. I've learnt some really cool stuff through his articles.

Find out more about Hannah online at: LinkedIn

Join us in November to see Hannah's talk: 2025.ffconf.org

Meet our speakers! We are welcoming Hannah Clarke to FFConf to talk about "An Uncomfortable Place"

What’s your origin story?

Spent my teenage years learning HTML and CSS for my MySpace profile (my falling stars were next level). Never considered web development when I went to study politics, then glaciology (obviously…), followed by a career running social inclusion projects. But these days I'm a UI Engineer. Full circle.

If your MySpace profile was still live today, what song would auto-play when someone visited?

If I was still keeping it updated then the new Deftones track for sure. If it was the same page left unaltered from when I was 16 then probably something like Bright Eyes - Lover I Don't Have to Love </3 (or something shamefully emo...)

What’s the biggest misconception developers have about web components today?

That they're somehow inferior to framework built components. Or won't work in their specific framework eco-system.

You can read Hannah's full interview questions and responses in our latest articles.

Meet Hannah and our other speakers on 14th November.

Get your ticket today

From Our Archive

We know that there is something special about FFConf. We can't put it into words so we want to share the words of people who have sat in the audience and on stage:

Tereza K sums up their experience of FFConf in 2023:

As a shy, low-energy introvert who can struggle in social situations, I am always surprised at how much I enjoy the post-conference social. I interpret this as a sign of how friendly and inclusive the FFConf community is.

You get a chance to chat with brilliant, kind and funny people. Even if, like me, you feel out of place and are terrified at first. Chances are there are others, so you can find them, or someone will introduce themselves or include you in a conversation.

And one of our speakers that year, Ana Rodrigues wrote about her experience on stage. Ana describes FFConf as a "life-changing conference:

Not only did I find my current job through chatting with people there, but the talks I saw and the people I met throughout the years were the inspiration and acceptance I desperately needed to find.

Community News

Do you have something you would like us to shout about? We would love to support our community so let us know what you are working on - a project, an event, a training course, a podcast. Please let us know, we would love to spotlight some of our FFConf Community.

Some homework set by our 2025 speaker, Hannah Clarke if you want to become familiar with web components in advance of her talk:

Check out the Daily Developer Tips from Chris Ferdinandi - they're usually web component related and you can sign up to get them in your inbox every day. I've learnt some really cool stuff through his articles.

We'll see you next week where we're expecting to announce more speakers.

Welcome Back! Our household is full of back-to-school vibes as our youngest started secondary school today 🥹

If you missed out on the early bird, then make sure to secure your ticket this time around, as we have limited tickets before they move to the late bird price.

Get your ticket now

In the coming weeks we'll be sharing more about our current speakers and introducing the rest of our line up.

From Our Archive

Using our back to school energy, we are re-watching Tim Holman's talk Weird Web & Curious Creation. Tim loves to make things and his message is: look at what inspires you, indulge yourself, ideas can be big and small whilst being mindfully weird.

This was from the "double FFConf" days where we repeated the event, and both days we were in tears from how fun and silly Tim's talk was!

If you need some respite from the current mundane, check out Tim's "I Build" section - it's fab!

Community News

Since we've been away it's been nice to look back on the posts about the web and some of the things I (Remy) might have missed.

Although I'm not a fan of "you don't need X for that" posts, but Lyra Rebane's CSS focused post You no longer need JavaScript is jampacked full of useful content. Two TILs for me: nesting media queries and the lvh, svh, and dvh units.

Then there's the URLPattern API which I know is going to save JavaScript developers from the hellscape that is the URL regular expression.

Then I stumbled upon the Summarize API (and I have mixed feelings about AI shipping in the browser), and it has already landed in Chrome stable (along with two other language based APIs) meaning a relatively small amount of JavaScript gives me on-device summarisation, possibly a nice addition to something like an RSS reader (or even this email!).

That's all from us this week. We're now returning to our regular newsletter schedule of every Thursday with our FFConf news and we'll continue to introduce the rest of our speakers in the coming weeks.

Today is the last day to take advantage of our early bird tickets. Once the deadline passes, we'll be closing ticket sales until September.

August is always quiet (usually for summer holidays), so for the first time we're being intentional, and we'll close the doors until 4th September. When tickets re-open, they'll be available at full price.

This also means that our newsletter is taking a break during this time, and you'll hear from us again in September when we return with more interviews with our speakers, news about the event and community news.

Get your early bird ticket

From Our Archive

There really is a wealth of content in our FFConf archive, going back over 16 years, and with nostalgia in mind, we thought it might be nice to look back on some of the history of the web.

Remy asked Chris Wilson to speak in 2012 on his own experiences - as he was a key figure in the development Mosaic and then on IE2 through to IE8, and he had some battle stories to share - including the origins of <BLINK> and <MARQUEE>!

So take a step back in time to get a sense of some of the origins of our web.

Community News

The Online Safety Act was passed in October 2023, and as of 25-July, it became enforced legal duty for web sites to use "highly effective age assurance to prevent children from accessing pornography, or content which encourages self-harm, suicide or eating disorder content".

There's quite a lot to take in, but if you want to consume some of that information passively, we'd recommend the following:

• Skeptics with a K, Mike Hall covers the process and software performing these checks - and some of the data is shocking.

• Novara Media has a good video covering the issues and includes an interesting interview with Kate Sim from Children's Online Safety & Privacy Research.

There's already push back and a campaign to tell our government that this act isn't working.

Searches for VPNs have exploded and Proton VPN has claimed over 1,400% increase in sign ups. There has already been rumours that the UK government might want to ban VPNs, but this has already been ruled out.

Of course there's going to be ways around these checks too, donning faces that are computer generated (weren't those face ageing apps all the rage a few years back?) - and equally, would you even trust a 3rd party with this kind of data? It's not like data never gets leaked…

Meet our Speakers! We are welcoming Sergès with their FFConf talk: "You're in a Code Cult (And That's OK)".

When you need a break from all the 'code cults', what's your favourite way to remind yourself that it’s all just people (and fun) in the end?

As a JavaScript dev, I get roasted constantly - especially by PHP and Java developers. But at the end of the day, even they have to grudgingly touch JavaScript when their boss needs something on the frontend. So I laugh. Because JavaScript won. HAHA.

What keeps me grounded is not taking it all too seriously. I've come to understand that in the history of software engineering, languages come and go. Trends rise and die. The key is to adapt, and not get too emotionally attached to any one technology. It's all just part of the cycle.

What do you hope people take away from your talk when they next find themselves deep in a flame war over tabs vs spaces?

You want me to spoil my own talk? Rude. 😄

But okay - here's a teaser: I'm actually pro-arguing, as long as it's constructive and leads to better outcomes. Healthy debate is good! What matters is that we don't forget we're all just nerds trying to build cool stuff.

For the rest, you'll have to watch the talk. I promise it'll be fun and enlightening.

You can read Sergès' full interview questions and responses in our latest articles.

Just one more week left to secure your early bird tickets.

Tickets will close on 31st July - reopening on 4th September at full price.

Tickets available now

From Our Archive

FFConf isn't just about the latest technical advances. It is about being human and embracing vulnerability.

Sharon Steed's talk Engaging Empathy demonstrates this beautifully. Sharon illustrates how we can communicate and collaborate with patience, perspective and connection.

Detailed sketch notes by Andy Polhill during FFConf 2019

Community News

I, Remy, have been thinking lately about vibe coding (I feel like as an industry we're being forced to constantly think about AI, perhaps we're being force fed).

After using Claude Code to build niche tools, it's easy to see the appeal. Though recently coined, “vibe coding” still means different things to different people. Simon Willison writes that it is:

building software with an LLM without reviewing the code it writes

I also recently posted my own thoughts comparing vibe coding to Ed 209 (for those of you not old enough to get the reference, I included links to videos!).

We’re used to adding 3rd party tools to our workflow - so how do we feel about letting an AI agent access our machines? I wonder how many people are vetting the system access that an AI agent has to their machines.

There's certainly a growing number of (fascinating and farcical) failures: entire databases deleted (probably the most high profile facepalm), computers wiped, emails leaked and let me just remove those tests 😂

What about you? Have you given it a try? Perhaps you work on the web but not a coder, would is helping you?

We are welcoming Sergès to their first FFCONF to talk about "You're in a Code Cult (And That's OK).

We want to thank Sergès for taking the time to answer our questions so we can all get to know her a little bit more before 14th November.

About Sergès and their talk

• Title: Sergès You're in a Code Cult (And That's OK)
• About the talk: Programming languages often become more than tools—they’re badges of belonging. This talk explores why devs fight fiercely over languages, even though they share so much in common, uncovering the culture and rivalries behind the code.
• Sergès' origin story: When I was 15, I went full hikikomori (iykyk) for an entire summer, locking myself in my parents' basement to build text-based RPG forums with good old HTML, CSS, and JS. I had no idea what I was doing—but I got so obsessed, I somehow turned it into a full-time thing.

The warm up

If your teenage basement self could see you now, what do you think they’d say about your “code cult” talk?

OMG, you're starting strong! I think my teenage, basement-dwelling self would be completely confused—and maybe a little amazed—if she saw my current talk. Mostly because, back then, I had no idea people could actually get paid to write what is essentially broken spaghetti code.

To me, software engineering looked like someone furiously typing green text on a black screen—nonsense words, Matrix-style. I knew there were different programming languages, but I didn't understand why. (Why couldn't they just agree on one?) I definitely didn't know there were entire communities built around them, or that they were in competition with each other.

So, yeah—15-year-old me would probably be a bit baffled... but also deeply intrigued.

When you need a break from all the 'code cults', what's your favourite way to remind yourself that it’s all just people (and fun) in the end?

As a JavaScript dev, I get roasted constantly—especially by PHP and Java developers. But at the end of the day, even they have to grudgingly touch JavaScript when their boss needs something on the frontend. So I laugh. Because JavaScript won. HAHA.

Okay, but seriously—what keeps me grounded is not taking it all too seriously. I've come to understand that in the history of software engineering, languages come and go. Trends rise and die. The key is to adapt, and not get too emotionally attached to any one technology. It's all just part of the cycle.

What’s the weirdest or most unexpected “badge of belonging” you’ve seen in a programming community — something that instantly marks you as an insider?

Maybe not the weirdest, but definitely the most surprising: the cult-like obsession with PHP's ElePHPant mascot. I know PHP devs who collect them like rare Pokémon and proudly display them everywhere. My sister's a PHP dev, and I once saw her squeal when she spotted a rainbow-colored ElePHPant. Apparently, they're super rare!

I haven't seen other communities care nearly as much about their mascot. Not gonna lie, as a JS dev, I'm kind of jealous. We just have... a yellow square. ::cries::

About the talk and the work

What first made you realise that programming languages can feel like clubs or fandoms?

There were two big moments. First, when I joined dev social media and saw how seriously people debated which language was "best". And second, when I started working on a team made up of devs from different tech stacks.

That’s when the roasting started—mostly at my expense, as a JavaScript dev. At first, I didn't get why people were so opinionated about languages. It honestly bothered me. But now, I've finally put all those thoughts and observations into words—or rather, into a talk.

Have you ever “switched cults” yourself—moved to a new language or framework and felt the culture shock?

Kind of! I started out on the frontend with React, then switched to Vue for a job. It wasn't a major cultural shift though. Most of the JS framework infighting seems to happen between React and Angular. Vue's kind of the quiet cousin in the corner, doing its own thing.

And at the end of the day, it's still JavaScript—just wearing different clothes.

What do you hope people take away from your talk when they next find themselves deep in a flame war over tabs vs spaces?

You want me to spoil my own talk? Rude. 😄

But okay—here's a teaser: I’m actually pro-arguing, as long as it's constructive and leads to better outcomes. Healthy debate is good! What matters is that we don't forget we're all just nerds trying to build cool stuff.

For the rest, you'll have to watch the talk. I promise it'll be fun and enlightening.

Meet our speakers! We are welcoming a Brighton local, Hellen Ward, to talk about "Bias in our products: The case for diversity in tech".

What’s your origin story?

I studied drama, which inevitably led to a series of sparkling roles in admin. Somewhere between playing calendar Tetris and speed typing minutes, I thought: "What if I taught myself to code?"

Somehow this became my new career and I haven't looked back.

For someone who wants to advocate for diversity and inclusion but feels powerless, what’s one small, tangible step they can take?

One of the most impactful things someone can do is be an active ally - especially if you’re someone with influence in a space where others are underrepresented.

Some of the people who helped me most along the way were those who recognised their privilege and used it to support me in my learning, make me feel welcome in their team and and take my perspective seriously.

You don’t need to have all the answers - just the willingness to listen, support, and speak up when it counts.

You can read Hellen's full interview questions and responses in our latest articles.

Join us on 14th November and learn more from Hellen and our other speakers.

Tickets available now

From Our Archive

Happy World Emoji Day! 🙄🎂🥳

From the depths of FFConf archive, check out Mariko Kosaka's Power of Emoji talk from 2016.

Mariko brings a wonderful insight into the history and context to a something we use everyday without thinking.

Did you know that emoji means "picture (e 絵) letter (moji 文字)" in Japanese?

Community News

We wanted to highlight Mike Hall's excellent account of 128 kilobytes:

The entire application (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, fonts) had to fit within a 128KB page budget. This wasn’t arbitrary, it represented what we could realistically load on an EDGE connection within a reasonable time. Any page requested with a cold cache had to stay within this budget.

It's a worthwhile read. For me, Remy, I've got a lot of similar experiences from the last few decades. Mike touches on a lot of different techniques, some of which still apply today - certainly the approach and thinking does.

Specifically Mike's closing notes are absolutely at the heart of our work:

Constraints aren’t a straitjacket, keeping us from doing our best work; they are the foundation that makes innovation possible.

We want to thank Hellen for taking the time to answer our questions so we can all get to know her a little bit more before 14th November.

About Hellen and their talk

• Title: Bias in our products: The case for diversity in tech
• About the talk: Bias isn't just a bug — it's a feature of who builds the product.
• Hellen's origin story: I studied drama, which inevitably led to a series of sparkling roles in admin. Somewhere between playing calendar Tetris and speed typing minutes, I thought: "What if I taught myself to code?" Somehow this became my new career and I haven't looked back.

The warm up questions

If your coding journey were a play, what would its title be?

'In Bits: while ( !ready ) { keepGoing() }'

What’s your secret superpower — calendar Tetris or speed typing under pressure?

Ha! These days the speed typing is the real superpower - it's much easier to think when your fingers aren't tripping you up.

Calendar Tetris? It’s something of a frustrating multiplayer game where the goal is to summon meeting rooms out of thin air or trade favours like Pokémon cards. 10/10 do not recommend - unless you enjoy playing with the space-time continuum.

How does your drama background sneak into your day-to-day life as a developer?

I used to be a scare actor, so I’m professionally trained in terrifying people - though these days it’s usually just my code that does that! I’ve also worked as an extra, which turns out to be excellent preparation for waiting patiently while builds deploy...

But seriously, studying drama taught me how to collaborate closely with others and adapt quickly when things don’t go to plan - which, as any developer knows, is most days.

About the work and the talk

What do you wish teams understood about inclusive design before they ship a single line of code?

That if you want to build products that will benefit a diverse range of people, you need to have diverse teams. Unconscious bias is a real problem that can lead you into some embarrassing pitfalls further down the line.

How would you love to see the conversation around diversity in tech evolve over the next five years?

The recent dismantling of DEI initiatives for the sake of it is truly scary and risks undoing a lot of the progress we've fought hard for over the last few decades.

Over the next five years, I’d love to see the tech industry not only protect existing rights and spaces but also take a long, honest look at how deep our diversity issues still run. That means addressing the systemic barriers that continue to shut people out.

For someone who wants to advocate for diversity and inclusion but feels powerless, what’s one small, tangible step they can take?

One of the most impactful things someone can do is be an active ally - especially if you’re someone with influence in a space where others are underrepresented.

Some of the people who helped me most along the way were those who recognised their privilege and used it to support me in my learning, make me feel welcome in their team and and take my perspective seriously.

You don’t need to have all the answers - just the willingness to listen, support, and speak up when it counts.

Find out more about Hellen online at: hellenwellsward.com, LinkedIn

Join us in November to see Hellen's talk: 2025.ffconf.org

Our inclusion scholarship is now open to anyone from an under-represented group in tech. Apply now to receive a free ticket to attend with limited funds available to cover travel.

Our Early Bird price of £219+VAT will end on 31st July so grab your reduced price ticket soon!

Tickets available now

From Our Archive

Everyone knows FFConf started in 2009 but did you know that it started in the pub on a snowy day in Brighton? It took only nine months from a random conversation over a beer to become the conference we all know and love.

Remy was complaining about the lack of a conference in the UK that talked about things he was interested in (JavaScript and the web) and that he wanted to attend. So I grabbed a (paper) pub menu and together we sketched out the idea – venue, speakers, possible dates, budget, sponsorship, marketing, website. We still have that piece of paper.

So much has changed over those 16 years but our passion to bring people together and share a special atmosphere and connection, remains strong.

Read Julie's full story.

Community News

The web development (and tech industry) as a whole, as you know, is awash with articles about AI. So it's hard not to point to lots of articles (though do let us know if you'd like that too).

With that in mind, we'd highly recommend this excellent long form interview with Karen Hao author of Empire of AI that covers how AI is often misunderstood, debunks myths, and shows the industry’s full scope — from CEOs to exploited workers. Watch it on YouTube.

I want to share the origin story of FFConf with you, as I think it is a special one...it was a snowy February day back in 2009 when Remy and I found ourselves in a pub that brought back memories of our après ski days.

Remy was complaining about the lack of a conference in the UK that talked about things he was interested in (JavaScript and the web) and that he wanted to attend. So I grabbed a (paper) pub menu and together we sketched out the idea – venue, speakers, possible dates, budget, sponsorship, marketing, website. We still have that piece of paper (rather faded now!).

At the time, I was working full time for a charity running their fundraising events. Remy had been self-employed for just 3 years. It was the perfect collaboration - Remy would curate the line-up and build the website whilst I would run the logistics.

We reached out to contacts for speakers and potential sponsors. We started looking at Brighton venues. We were originally thinking 80-100 or so people until Jeremy Keith suggested Duke of York's (thank you, Jeremy!).

Nine months later, we ran our very first sold-out 'Full Frontal: JavaScript Conference' and Remy posted back in 2016 where the name came from.

We are grateful to every single person (240!) who took a chance on us that first year and bought a ticket. We had 7 speakers (we could claim we launched Jake Archibald's speaking career!) with Simon Willison presenting the first talk about Node in the UK.

The lead up to the conference was intense as we also bought our first flat that month! The day seemed to run smoothly, apart from (a comical) lunchtime and waiting the entire break for the speakers' pub lunch to arrive, we ended up buying sandwiches for them all from the local deli in order to get them back in time!

One standout memory from the end of the day, was listening to Remy's closing comments, when suddenly he calls me to the stage to say thank you. It was unexpected but set the tradition that now extends to the kids - from a seven-week-old baby asleep in my arms in 2011 to a teen and a tween volunteering; handing out ice creams and t-shirts in 2024.

My favourite feedback from all the years is "it felt like we were all invited into your lounge" and that is the vibe we go for – which is why we have never left Duke of York's Picturehouse, even when we sold out in 11 minutes in 2013.

The website for each year is still live and it's fascinating to look back and see the progression of the design and the content. We hold our hands up for the white, male line up for the first two years and we can see our own progression of awareness and acknowledgement of our own privilege and how we can make a difference with our little corner of the world.

We are grateful to the 110 speakers (to date), the (4,170) attendees, all the sponsors who have invested their time and money with the two of us, for 14 editions. At the end of each event, our hearts are full of love from spending the day with awesome people - we wish we could bottle that feeling!

Tickets were launched last week. A reminder that our reduced Early Bird price of £219+VAT are limited and will be increasing to £249+VAT once sold out.

Get your ticket

Why not play an even bigger role in FFConf and join our family of sponsors & supporters.

We have a range of packages available to promote your product, raise brand awareness and demonstrate your support of the web development community. Contact us and get in touch.

From Our Archive

As the world around us has changed and we have matured, the curation of FFConf has shifted from a purely tech conference. This is perfectly illustrated by Heydon Pickering's talk on Capitalism, The Web, and You

The talk has been viewed almost 4,000 times, a testament to Heydon who brings humour to a complex subject that affects us all.

Community News

This week, sadly, Middlesborough Front End announced after six years they will not be running again. In their words "please keep supporting local events. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone."

Especially if you're in the North of England, then you should grab a last minute ticket to Front End North and attend a wonderful UK event.

Your community is waiting to meet you.

We have launched tickets with a reduced early bird price of £219+VAT! There's a limited number available so grab them while you can - and please help us spread the word 💜

There are already four excellent sessions on the website, so join us in November, and become a better citizen on the web.

Early bird tickets available now

From Our Archive

We have worked with talented photographers over the years giving us their time and skills to capture our special days.

We shan't bore you with them all but if you want to see how things have changed over the last two decades, compare 2009 - our very first event, the one where we all look very young - and last year where everyone has grown up!

Community News

Since Amber Shand spoke at FFConf in 2023, she has gone on to build her own community called 'She Bytes Back" that she told us was inspired by her experience at FFConf.

Amber has run 14 fantastic events and built a community of 3,000 women in tech. You can get on her mailing list for updates on new events and how you can get involved too.

The 2025 web site is now live (under the hood, it's using lots of CSS clamp and P3 colour space, so Remy has really upgraded his skills…finally).

The first three of eight talks are also live, and our CFP remains open until all sessions are allocated.

So check out the website, set your alarm for 11am on 26th June for our first ticket release, and we will see you in Brighton on 14th November!

From Our Archive

One question we get throughout the years is: what does the FF stand for in FFConf?

Remy would often reply with "whatever you need it to mean", but for us, Remy & Julie, it means Friends Forever.

Our first event was back in 2009 and seeing familiar faces join us over the years through the many ups and downs we've all faced, through the industry changing and all of us growing older, many, many of you have come to be our real friends. FFConf continues to treasure that aspect of the day and we love welcoming new faces every year.

A few years back, Remy blogged about how the origin of the event name changed (and perhaps matured) over the years in a post called What's In A Name?

Community News

This week we were drawn to Andy Bell's/Set Studio's Support Piccalilli.

The page title doesn't quite do the page justice, the core tennant being: This isn’t the internet we want - this is a value that FFConf also drives towards.

Piccalilli aims to contribute towards the better web through their open and public development process, teaching you along the way - that's a great reason to check the resource out but also share it with the newcomers to the industry.

What's even more important, to us, is trying to find a way that we (that is, all of us) can contribute something positive towards keeping the web open to everyone. The sad alternative is shrugging and accepting that large corporations control everything, jobs can be swapped for AI agents, and junior jobs are headed for the void.

But if all that's a bummer, here's something we found to temporarily cheer us up!

As a family run community conference, we depend on our sponsors to bring our event to life. If your company is keen to support FFConf, we would love to hear from you. By sponsoring, you'll be supporting the web development community and gaining valuable exposure.

We offer a variety of sponsorship packages, tailored to suit different needs and levels of engagement. Get in touch today to find out more.

From Our Archive

Last week, we highlighted Natalia's talk who references Lena Reinhard's Talk About Everything from 2015. Natalia describes it as:

to date, the most powerful and inspiring presentation that I have ever seen and … the reason why I have become the developer I am.

Lena's message of privilege, responsibility and power sadly still resonate. Almost 10 years on, we are still having the same conversations about discrimination, harassment, safe spaces, diversity.

We need to build technology for everyone because "our technology is political; with every design, with every line of code, with every action, we need to take a stand because everything matters".

Take some time and watch Lena's talk.

Community News

Our friends at Tetralogical have created Accessibility Unlocked a free six-day email series for anyone, at any stage of their accessibility journey - which hopefully is all of you!

The series offers practical guidance, useful resources, and a customisable roadmap to help you design, build, and manage more accessible digital experiences.

Whilst Tetralogical have sponsored in the past, this is not a paid post, just something we think is useful to our community.

Remy is building the new FFConf website, as you know, we like to have a brand new design every year (created by Chris Mahon)

Here is a sneak peak:

Quick reminders that we are looking for speakers and the first batch of tickets will be launched on 26th June, save the date!

From Our Archive

To mark World Environment Day, we want to celebrate Natalia Waniczek's excellent session from 2022.

Natalia's scary and hopeful talk highlights quick actions to help understand how your work is intertwined with the environment and what you can do to reduce your impact:

• Estimate your web page carbon footprint
• Check if your website runs on green energy
• And if it doesn't, then change it!

Community News

A frustration fuelled blog post came out this week from Fly.io originally titled "You're all nuts" (later retitled to narrow down who exactly, is nuts…). The article is long, impassioned but rather than moving the needle on the conversation, manages rather more to draw a line in the sand.

We're on the AI sceptic's side with a heavy concern for ethics without any real answers. The reality of daily AI use lays in the greys, but this particular post helped to show how polarised we're becoming.

Additionally, last week the CEO of Anthropic (responsible for Claude AI) was interviewed saying that he wants to raise the alarm on the potential of 20% unemployment due to AI. Novara Media have a good digest on this interview too.

Ultimately the concern for us is that AI could pull the career ladder up on the entry level positions leaving them null and void, compounded by the fact that companies are using AI as a reason to let their teams go rather than using AI to supplement them.

We would love to continue this particular conversation at FFConf, if you think you can contribute, please let us know on our call for proposals.

The answer to the question you have all been waiting for...when will tickets to
FFConf on 14th November go on sale?

We will be releasing a limited run of tickets on 26th June for £249+VAT (prices held since 2023). Further batches will follow, with release dates to be announced.

📆 Thursday 26th June at 11am BST (ical file)

The ical link above should drop easily into your calendar software.

From Our Archive

Not a day goes past without a discussion about AI. Its omnipresence, its benefits, its environmental impact.

Maggie Appleton asks when language models can churn out millions of human-like words, images, and videos in seconds, what happens to human creation and connection on the web? Watch Maggie's talk, it's incredible

Community News

There's been some useful developments with respect to what "Baseline" support means for developers.

This recent Google IO talk from Rachel Andrew (who spoke 9 years ago) looks at using baseline feature usage in our tooling such as VS Code and ESLint along with our Netlify instances.

For instance, although our FFConf website(s) use CSS nesting, from the baseline widely available figures and our actual visitors, I can see that most users won’t support this so it’s a good plan to process the CSS through postcss.

Please note that although web.dev have sponsored us in the past, this is not a sponsored link - Remy just thought it would be useful to fellow developers.

For 8 months of every year, FFConf consumes The Sharp Household and our thoughts turn to our wonderful FFConf Community.

We're doing something different with our newsletter. You'll receive a weekly email with three easy to digest sections: news about the 2025 event, delving into the FFConf archive, and sharing a link that's relevant to our community.

We opened our call for papers last week and if you are considering applying, Lex Lofthouse wrote this really great insight into her experience with us in 2022.

Submit your talk

From Our Archive

Did you know our archive site contains nearly 100 videos which have been viewed over 250,000 times?

It includes Simon Willison's audio from his talk that he changed the subject at the very last minute, even working through the night right before the event.

He had learned about an exciting new technology called "Node" and wanted to be the first to share it in the UK at FFConf in 2009 - our very first event!

Community News

For those who have been part of the FF Family for a while, you will have noticed the change to the curation and topics on stage to reflect the world around us changes. Remy explains further in his blog post: Do politics belong at web events?

Let us know if there are any topics or speakers you would like to see on stage or any thoughts about our new format.

🗣 We have opened our call for papers - the link includes the topics that are piquing Remy's interest and also our promise to all speakers.

🎩 As always, we need your company's support to run our event and budget for things like our scholarship. Please email us to request a sponsor pack

🎟 Our next email will be about early access tickets, so watch out for that, and if you're reading this post on our site - make sure to sign up for the newsletter.

Please help us spread the word, and make sure to tell the boss that you're coming to the UK's best web developer conference held in Brighton, in the Duke of Yorks, in November!

Finally, if there is a speaker who you think should be on the FFConf stage, drop us a message, either email or on our discord, we'd love to hear from you.

Let's start with Michael Kibedi's introducing the idea of death and technology. It's a really interesting topic that's not really considered very much in technology - what happens when a product dies and all my "cloud storage" dies with it? Let Michael explain.

Finally, Imran Afzal's excellent talk on The Art of Reflection. To me, one of the most valuable take aways from Imran's talk was taking the time to be still to reflect (though, it's possibly obvious from the title). I (and probably "we") never really stop, not in work and not in my personal projects. Imran has some excellent things to say about this.

And that's it for our talks from 2024. If you want to join us for 2025 then our newsletter is the best place to get first dibs on tickets when we launch, otherwise you can find us on the socials.

Amy reprised and updated her "It all means nothing in the end" talk especially for FFConf, a self reflecting (whilst also funny…possibly in a dark way) excellent talk with some useful advice throughout. Watch Amy's talk now.

Then Mike was asked to bring his scepticism skills to FFConf. He starts with a non-exhaustive list of biases and showed some excellent practical examples of how they work and how we can reframe our thinking. Watch Mike's talk on debugging the mind.

That's it for this week. Next week and our last set: Michael Kibedi on Death and technology, and finally Imran Afzal on The art of reflection.

Andy Bell spoke around the topic of communication. It's far from rocket science but Andy does a brilliant job (whilst being entertaining) of comparing and contrasting terrible and lazy exchange with subtly tweaked and much more effective exchange. Watch his video now.

Then to close the first half of our day last year, Kimberley Cook, director and trustee of Codebar, talked about the experience of building a community and the mistakes and learnings she experienced along to way to Codebar becoming 27,000 strong community. watch Kimberley's talk

That's it for this week. Next Monday (or… Tuesday): Amy Hupe on meaning and Mike Hall on critical thinking.

Olu started the day in a swiftly delivered talk on creating a better webs (plural). I do remember that Olu gave me the overall impression that there was hope for the web, and for us, specifically it's amazing that we can, and have learnt from shared efforts of people. Watch their video now.

Léonie was next with accessibility, AI and the bollocks. Léonie prefix her talk with an incredibly important reminder, and went on to share both incredible amazing and horrible ways in which AI is contributing to accessibility. I've been telling people it's their duty to watch Léonie's talk!

That's it for this week. Next Monday: Andy Bell on communication and Kimberley Cook on learnings from growing Codebar to 27,000 people.

So that we don't overwhelm your week with videos - because who's really got time to watch through eight conference talks right away, we're going to release them out to you in pairs.

The first release will include Olu's "Build Better Webs" and then Léonie's accessibility talk entitled "AI and Accessibility: the Good, the Bad, and the Bollocks".

That will be release next Monday. I'm going to block out two of my lunch times next week to re-watch these - I know they're valuable to my day job.

Please help us spread the word, folks can get the announcement first on our newsletter, or via our socials or just revisit the entire archive at ffconf.org.

Oh, and maybe pop this date in your diary too…

There's also a free ticket for FFConf 2025 (yes, we're running again, 14 November 2025) available. All that's required to be entered in a draw is to send us your thoughts/write up/blog post/etc of the event. Either reply to events@leftlogic.com with the link or ping us on socials.

We'll announce the winner on December 2nd (and email directly).

Finally, photos by Trys Mudford are online and videos will be uploaded (to YouTube with captions) as they're edited in the coming weeks, so we'll let you know when those are live too.

Thanks again,

– Remy & Julie

That's why we just sent out this newsletter for people thinking of attending FFConf alone:

FFConf has long had a reputation for being friendly and welcoming but we still appreciate that coming to a conference where you might not know anyone, or you haven't been for a while, can be a daunting prospect.

We want to share that beyond the inspiring and informative talks, how you can experience FFConf's welcoming experience.

🎤 Show and Tell with Async. Our friends at Async run a very special International Show & Tell the night before FFConf. They welcome you to give a 5 minute talk or just attend and meet fellow delegates on a smaller scale or reconnect with previous attendees. After Async, we move onto nearby Alcampo Lounge.

🏃 Fancy an early morning run? A casual 5K run led by friendly FFConf locals for all levels of fitness before the conference opens. See Brighton before the city really wakes up and hope for some sunshine!

☕️ For those who prefer a slower start to the day, Brighton Codebar host a coffee morning to welcome delegates for early refreshment.

🍲 Lunch with Future Friends! Remy has experienced that moment at a conference when everyone piles out of the venue in groups and he has been left eating a sandwich alone. We never want this to happen to you so we reserve a large area in two nearby pub/restaurants so just turn up and break bread discussing the morning talks.

🕺🍸 Social at OhSo. You can’t visit Brighton without seeing the beach (even if it is November!) So join us at directly after the conference to continue the conversations with your new friends.

We've got you. Join us in November.

For this, we've invited Mike Hall to bring his experience in thinking critically.

Who: Mike Hall

What: Debugging the Mind: A Programmer's Guide to Critical Thinking

By challenging assumptions, using evidence-based reasoning, and recognising our bias, we're able to come to better solutions. Mike is going to outline how a sceptical approach can help avoid common pitfalls and foster more reliable decisions.

As well as sharing his "sceptical skills", Mike also co-hosts an excellent podcast called Skeptics with a K along side Michael Marshall and Dr Alice Howarth. An excellent listen for deep dives into … well, all kinds of things 👍

Find out more about the event 👉 2024.ffconf.org.

🤔 What's next?

Announcing next: A talk about critical thinking.

💞 Support and sponsor ffconf

We have some fantastic sponsorship opportunities available with significant visibility during the event. One example is our famous ice-cream sponsorship, which includes featuring your branding on our ice-cream cartons and exposure through photos and direct engagement with attendees.

We also have our inclusion sponsorship positions, allowing your company to support our scholarship program, which reserves 10% of the event attendance for marginalised groups by providing tickets, travel, and accommodation - a meaningful cause to be associated with.

✉️ Get in touch to join our event today

We'll be in touch soon with more of the speakers and our CFP remains open until all slots are confirmed.

Get your ticket for ffconf now 2024.ffconf.org.

This marks the halfway mark of speaker and session announcements. Do you have your ticket yet?

Who: Amy Hupe

What: It all means nothing in the end

What do you do when you've attached your sense of self to work, and work suddenly feels meaningless? In this talk, Amy explores burnout, purpose and making meaning in an increasingly confusing and calamitous world.

Aside from being a design systems pro (working for GDS and being content lead for their design system), Amy also hosted an excellent podcast last year called Systems of Harm, with 6 episodes asking how we can work to design more inclusive experiences. Definitely check those out.

Find out more about the event 👉 2024.ffconf.org.

🤔 What's next?

Announcing next: A talk about critical thinking.

💞 Support and sponsor ffconf

We have some fantastic sponsorship opportunities available with significant visibility during the event. One example is our famous ice-cream sponsorship, which includes featuring your branding on our ice-cream cartons and exposure through photos and direct engagement with attendees.

We also have our inclusion sponsorship positions, allowing your company to support our scholarship program, which reserves 10% of the event attendance for marginalised groups by providing tickets, travel, and accommodation - a meaningful cause to be associated with.

✉️ Get in touch to join our event today

We'll be in touch soon with more of the speakers and our CFP remains open until all slots are confirmed.

Get your ticket for ffconf now 2024.ffconf.org.

We all know a good CV is (supposed) to include "good communicator", but in reality how often do we review that. Are we any good at giving feedback, or more importantly, receiving it?

We're pleased to have Andy Bell (not the lead singer of Erasure!) join our family of speakers to help address this problem and how we can become better work colleagues.

Who: Andy Bell

What: Get the core right and the resilient code will follow

Web developers often focus only on technical skills. Andy is going to show a better approach by improving planning, core skills, and feedback exchange to produce simpler, more resilient codebases.

Check out Andy's Piccalilli web site, an excellent resource for his own newsletter, constant collection of links, and his blog posts.

Find out more about the event 👉 2024.ffconf.org.

🤔 What's next?

Announcing next: A talk about burnout, purpose and making meaning.

💞 Support and sponsor ffconf

We have some fantastic sponsorship opportunities available with significant visibility during the event. One example is our famous ice-cream sponsorship, which includes featuring your branding on our ice-cream cartons and exposure through photos and direct engagement with attendees.

We also have our inclusion sponsorship positions, allowing your company to support our scholarship program, which reserves 10% of the event attendance for marginalised groups by providing tickets, travel, and accommodation - a meaningful cause to be associated with.

✉️ Get in touch to join our event today

We'll be in touch soon with more of the speakers and our CFP remains open until all slots are confirmed.

Get your ticket for ffconf now 2024.ffconf.org.

As AI seems to either dominate or worm its way into every conversation around the web, Remy felt it was important to call in an expert in understanding it's use in accessibility.

Léonie is an expert in her field of web accessibility and, Remy felt, the best person to answer the call.

Who: Léonie Watson

What: AI and Accessibility: the Good, the Bad, and the Bollocks

In this talk, Léonie is going to cut through the clickbait, dodge the doomscrollers, and focus on the facts to bring you the good, the bad, and the bollocks of AI and accessibility.

You can visit Léonie's web site and follow her on Mastodon where she posts but also shares useful accessibility links.

Find out more about the event 👉 2024.ffconf.org.

🤔 What's next?

Announcing next: A talk about feedback: how to improve it and the code resilience that follows.

💞 Support and sponsor ffconf

We have some fantastic sponsorship opportunities available with significant visibility during the event. One example is our famous ice-cream sponsorship, which includes featuring your branding on our ice-cream cartons and exposure through photos and direct engagement with attendees.

We also have our inclusion sponsorship positions, allowing your company to support our scholarship program, which reserves 10% of the event attendance for marginalised groups by providing tickets, travel, and accommodation - a meaningful cause to be associated with.

✉️ Get in touch to join our event today

We'll be in touch soon with more of the speakers and our CFP remains open until all slots are confirmed.

Get your ticket for ffconf now 2024.ffconf.org.

Take a look for yourself: 2024.ffconf.org (and get your tickets)

We are so incredibly excited to introduce the first of our 8 speakers:

Who: Kimberley Cook

What: 0 - 25,000 people! Growing a global community over 10 years

Kimberley is Director and Trustee of codebar, an organisation which we have admired over the years and worked with the Brighton chapter on our scholarship programme.

You can visit Kimberley's web site, or help her raise money for Codebar as she plans to run the London Landmarks Half Marathon.

Get your ticket for ffconf today 👉 2024.ffconf.org.

🤔 What's next?

Announcing soon: A talk on AI and accessibility - what's the reality?

💞 Support and sponsor ffconf

We have some fantastic sponsorship opportunities available with significant visibility during the event. One example is our famous ice-cream sponsorship, which includes featuring your branding on our ice-cream cartons and exposure through photos and direct engagement with attendees.

We also have our inclusion sponsorship positions, allowing your company to support our scholarship program, which reserves 10% of the event attendance for marginalised groups by providing tickets, travel, and accommodation - a meaningful cause to be associated with.

✉️ Get in touch to join our event today

We'll be in touch soon with more of the speakers and our CFP remains open until all slots are confirmed.

Get your ticket for ffconf now 2024.ffconf.org.

Over the years we've had some amazing CFPs, and if there's a topic you feel passionate about, I'm sure we want to hear about it too.

As a speaker, new or thoroughly seasoned, we treat you with the same respect, and you can read our promise to you here.

If you've already got a ticket and your CFP is selected, of course we'll refund you (if you don't have a ticket, what are you waiting for - tickets are LIVE!).

Here's some ideas that Remy would love to see, just to get you started:

• How to think critically / being sceptical
• How our development practices are changing / "How I've changed my development process over X years"
• An introduction to the Indie Web: blogs, web mentions, web rings, web components
• The art of giving and receiving feedback

And many more here - but again, they're just ideas!

You can apply here and find out more about our entire CFP and what it offers: ffconf.org/cfp

We'll see you in November.

As with previous years, all the talks from 2023 are accessible on our FFConf archive site. Last year featured some truly exceptional presentations, and we strongly recommend taking the time to watch or revisit them.

We Need Your Support!

We're excited to be opening our Call for Papers soon and to continue our popular scholarship programme, now in its 8th year. Keep your eyes peeled for that in our newsletter and socials.

More critically, we depend on our sponsors to bring this event to life.
If you or your company are keen to support FFConf, we would love to hear from you. By sponsoring, you'll be supporting the web development community but also gain valuable exposure. We offer a variety of sponsorship packages, tailored to suit different needs and levels of engagement. Please email us at events@leftlogic.com.

Keep an eye out for more updates on FFConf 2024, and follow us on Twitter or Mastodon for the latest news.

Looking forward to another great year,

– Remy & Julie

First is Ana Rodrigues on Exploring the Potential of the Web Speech API in Karaoke, who describes their talk with:

Isn't it frustrating when the song you want isn't available at karaoke? Let's see if we can solve this. We will look at the current state of the Web Speech API and what's coming next, and have some fun!

And finally Salma Alam-Naylor who closed our event with Entertainment as Code who describes their talk with:

This talk is about live streaming and learning in public, and about how writing silly code and building silly websites in front of a live audience is a powerful (and hilarious) way to build a community.

And that's it. Our full day is now available to watch online.

No doubt you'll hear again from us in the new year, otherwise, I hope you have a little break and we'll see you in 2024.

First is Steven Goodwin's Ada Lovelace and The Very First Computer Program, who describes their talk with:

We all know that Ada Lovelace is credited as the first computer programmer. But what did she write? What did it do? And how does it work?

Then we had Jonathan Fielding on Embracing Neurodiversity in Tech: Building Empathy, Unveiling Strengths who says:

Unveil the power of neurodiversity. Through personal experiences and practical strategies, foster empathy, challenge stereotypes, and create an inclusive environment for hidden disabilities. Celebrate unique strengths together.

We'll be back this Thursday with the final set of talks from the day.

First is Angela Ricci's We need to talk about the front web, who describes their talk with (rather succinctly!):

Why the front web became this monster, and how to fix it..!

Next was Ire Aderinokun's on Web accessibility - it's not just about HTML who says:

Plain Old Semantic HTML allows accessible web pages, but CSS and JavaScript can hinder accessibility by altering element meaning, behaviour, or blocking content. Learn how to use them appropriately to enhance accessibility and adapt experiences for all users

We'll be back next Tuesday with the next talks from Steven and Jonathan.

First is Amber Shand's Imposter syndrome, overworking, and working environments, who describes their talk with:

Dealing with imposter syndrome, perfectionism and building a growth mindset - this talk is essentially a survival guide on how to cope when we feel inferior in the tech space where we're surrounded by people doing incredible things both in and outside of work time.

Next was Maggie Appleton on The Expanding Dark Forest and Generative AI who says:

The web is already an eerily lifeless place filled with automated predators like bots, advertisers, clickbait attention-grabbers, SEO-optimisers, and angry twitter mobs - and they now have a generative AI hammer to swing. When language models can churn out millions of human-like words, images, and videos in seconds, what happens to human creation and connection on the web?

We'll be announcing the next set of videos in two days and then the remainder next week - so look out for that!

We are proud of what we have built within the community and look forward every time to seeing old faces returning year on year and also welcome new faces to the FFConf family 🥰

However, the conference simply cannot happen without the support of companies sponsoring the day. We know that times are tough right now and we were loathe to increase the ticket price so we want to say a special thank you to our three sponsors: Google Chrome, Interledger Foundation and Legal & General.

Please take a moment to check our their pages, and read their messages below.

Google Chrome

Learn how Chrome is partnering with the ecosystem to build a powerful web and making it easier for developers to build, grow and innovate on the platform. Some of Google's excellent resources: developer.chrome.com and web.dev.

Interledger Foundation

The Interledger Foundation (ILF) stewards Web Monetization (WM), which aims to considerably simplify payments from site visitor to site owner. The site owner creates a wallet address and adds a specialized tag to their site. If the site visitor has their own wallet, they can pay the site owner automatically.

The ILF created a draft Web Monetization standard that is currently under discussion in W3C's Web Incubator Community Group. Igalia is creating a native Chromium implementation, and a few Chromium engineers have agreed to implement Web Monetization behind a flag as an experiment. Thus, a test implementation may be rolled out in 2024. You can find more information at webmonetization.org/docs.

In addition, if Web Monetization interests you, PPK will be around all day to discuss Web Monetization and will also be giving a short talk in our first break.

Legal & General

We're delighted to announce that Legal & General will once again be sponsoring this year's FFConf. We'll be offering scholarships so we can ensure that the brightest young minds from a variety of backgrounds are able to contribute to crucial conversations about the future of the web.

We have first-hand experience of this event and, as a result, we're delighted to partner with FFConf. We're proud to work alongside the organisers to make sure this year's conference is the most successful so far!

You can find out more about Legal & General here.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post, again: creating a diverse web community is incredibly important to us and this is just one of the places where we can (all) have a direct impact.

FFConf has been running a full scholarship programme since 2015 and this year we continue to do so.

Scholarships are available for anyone in an under-represented group in tech. This includes (but is not limited to): people of colour, LGBTQIA+ people, people who identify as women and disabled people.

We've seen so many individuals come through our programme and many of them share how it helped them:

The inspirational speakers and welcoming community were a big part of giving me the confidence to keep coding, attend bootcamp and become a developer. Cheers, hope everyone has a great time @FFConf 😊

We still have a few places available and applications close on October 13th, so please apply today, travel and hotel expenses are covered for individuals who need it.

How you can help

Financial support is the starting place - because it allows us to create a sustainable budget for the scholarship scheme:

1. Your company can sponsor FFConf under our scholarship sponsor package.
2. You, or your company can donate towards our scholarship fund. For example, £300 would cover a ticket, £1,000 can help 3 individuals and cover their travel and hotel.
3. You can actively spread the word about our scholarship programme (either to support it or for individuals to benefit from it).

One of FFConf's core values is to help change the face of the web industry - to pull in those people from marginalised communities and to drastically reduce the barrier to entry. Doing this year on year, partly supported through our scholarship programme, I believe, helps to normalise a diverse web community.

Scholarship sponsors

Legal & General have supported our scholarship programme again this year, and as you've read their support is highly valued, please take a moment to read their message:

We're delighted to announce that Legal & General will once again be sponsoring this year's FFConf. We'll be offering scholarships so we can ensure that the brightest young minds from a variety of backgrounds are able to contribute to crucial conversations about the future of the web.

We have first-hand experience of this event and, as a result, we're delighted to partner with FFConf. We're proud to work alongside the organisers to make sure this year's conference is the most successful so far!

You can find out more about Legal & General here.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post, again: creating a diverse web community is incredibly important to us and this is just one of the places where we can (all) have a direct impact.

🎟️ 👉 Remember you can still get a ticket today.

Salma Alam-Naylor: Entertainment as Code

Salma's origin story: This is what happens when you combine a high school music teacher, a comedian, a front end developer, and the strange novelty of live streaming on the internet.

With a repeating the mantra of "I write code for your entertainment" (where I imagine visitors demand to be entertained!) you can find Salma over on Twitch live coding and on her blog.

Ana Rodrigues: Exploring the Potential of the Web Speech API in Karaoke

Ana's origin story: In the early 2000s, I needed more than my favourite band's official website. So I learned how to code in order to build a proper fan site.

Ana also has an excellent blog - which smacks a lot of indie web - (a good thing), she uses web mentions, her blog is part of a web ring (proper old school) and even has a guestbook that you can sign using webmentions.

💞 Support and sponsor FFConf

✉️ Get in touch to join our event today

We have some fantastic sponsorship opportunities available with significant visibility during the event. Example options are our ice-cream sponsorship, which includes featuring your branding on our ice-cream cartons and exposure through photos and direct engagement with attendees.

Read Remy's blog post on the real impact of sponsorship on small events like FFConf.

So that's all of them. Did you guess any of our speakers from their obfuscated pictures? Let us know via our socials (Mastodon or Twitter) or join us on Discord.

– Remy & Julie 👋

🎟️ 👉 Remember you can still get a ticket today.

Ire Aderinokun: Future proof CSS

Ire's origin story: I was a little too obsessed with Neopets as a teenager and had to build the best profile page. Once I started down that rabbit hole I was hooked!

Remy invited Ire to talk because under this CSS-centric title, there's some really useful and important messages about accessibility. Ire has also created a very thorough resource for web developers on Notion called Frontend Developer Learning Guide - even if you're seasoned, check it out.

Jonathan Fielding: Embracing Neurodiversity in Tech: Building Empathy, Unveiling Strengths

Jonathan's origin story: Escaping from an after school club I found my way back to my classroom where a student teacher showed me BASIC on a Acorn.

Jonathan has been a long time regular of FFConf - so much so, he's even managed to bag himself a coveted FFConf t-shirt. Take a moment to check out his website too.

💞 Support and sponsor FFConf

✉️ Get in touch to join our event today

We have some fantastic sponsorship opportunities available with significant visibility during the event. Example options are our ice-cream sponsorship, which includes featuring your branding on our ice-cream cartons and exposure through photos and direct engagement with attendees.

Read Remy's blog post on the real impact of sponsorship on small events like FFConf.

We're half way, look out for the next two speakers in the coming days, and do let us know via our socials (Mastodon or Twitter) whether you'd already guessed any of our lovely speakers.

– Remy & Julie 👋

🎟️ 👉 Remember you can still get a ticket today.

Steven Goodwin: Ada Lovelace and The Very First Computer Program

Steven's origin story: I have been involved in computing, science, and technology since the family computer, a Sinclair ZX81, moved in with me to become my first piece of domesticated hardware.

Who doesn't love a bit of computing history!? On that, Steven has also been writing a book that Remy had backed in 2021.

Angela Ricci: We need to talk about the front web

Angela's origin story: I fell into a cauldron of a magic potion called the web, when it was still cooking. Since then, web technologies became my super power for designing new interfaces.

Remy had the pleasure of working with Angela in 2013 and in 2019 both times at CERN to recreate some of the first web browsers in the world.

💞 Support and sponsor FFConf

✉️ Get in touch to join our event today

We have some fantastic sponsorship opportunities available with significant visibility during the event. Example options are our ice-cream sponsorship, which includes featuring your branding on our ice-cream cartons and exposure through photos and direct engagement with attendees.

We also have our inclusion sponsorship slot, allowing your company to support our scholarship program, which reserves 10% of event spaces for marginalised groups by providing tickets, travel, and accommodation - a meaningful cause to be associated with.

We're half way, look out for the next two speakers in the coming days, and do let us know via our socials (Mastodon or Twitter) whether you'd already guessed any of our lovely speakers.

– Remy & Julie 👋

Maybe you wonder why we've obscured our speakers at launch like this for so many years?

FFConf sets the focus on the content of the conference, over the individual speakers… the greater good and all that. It shows the strength of FFConf as a content driven event 💪

🎟️ 👉 You can still buy a ticket today too.

Without further ado, let us introduce the first of our speakers.

Amber Shand: Imposter syndrome, overworking, and working environments

Amber's origin story: I was told that because I didn't have a Computer Science degree, I wouldn't be able to learn how to code, I didn't listen and I'm now a multi award software engineer, keynote speaker and consultant

Amber has lots of links worth exploring, so we'll point you straight to Amber's about pages, do explore.

Maggie Appleton: The Expanding Dark Forest and Generative AI

Maggie's origin story: Built an elaborate Neopets page using only the HTML <table> element for positioning and layout. Graduated to maximalist design aesthetics and animated cursors with CSS on MySpace.

Check out Maggie's web site, Remy found the patterns section particularly interesting.

💞 Support and sponsor FFConf

✉️ Get in touch to join our event today

We have some fantastic sponsorship opportunities available with significant visibility during the event. Example options are our ice-cream sponsorship, which includes featuring your branding on our ice-cream cartons and exposure through photos and direct engagement with attendees.

We also have our inclusion sponsorship slot, allowing your company to support our scholarship program, which reserves 10% of event spaces for marginalised groups by providing tickets, travel, and accommodation - a meaningful cause to be associated with.

That's all for this time. We'll be in touch soon with the unmasking of the next speakers. Have you guessed any of them yet?!

– Remy & Julie 👋

In true FFConf tradition, we lead with the session content. Over the next month we will reveal who our awesome speakers are. Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit a CFP, Remy reads them all very carefully and is always humbled by the time, effort and talent 🙏

Tickets are still on sale so get yours today.

Is your company interested in partnering and supporting FFConf? Sponsor the ice cream pots (with fancy QR codes or even just a logo), champion inclusion in tech by becoming a scholarship supporter or increase brand recognition with your logo around everyone's neck? Get in touch today ❤️

Finally, if you want to join in on our socials, you can catch us on Mastodon, Twitter and Discord.

We hope to see you later on in the year when we start to reveal the faces of our speakers.

If you missed the talks from last year, you can catch up on them all on our FFConf archive site. We had really incredible talks last year, and we'd highly recommend checking them out.

But we can't do it again alone! We rely on the support of sponsors to make this event happen. So, if you or your company are interested in supporting our event, please don't hesitate to email us at events@leftlogic.com. We have a range of packages available, and we would be happy to discuss how we can best meet your needs.

Oh, and one last thing! We wanted to let you know that codebar Festival is running 6th-11th March. A five day event with workshops, talks and panels covering all things tech, career and wellbeing. Check it out and share festival.codebar.io

That's it for now. Stay tuned for more updates on FFConf 2023, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter or Mastodon for the latest news and announcements.

Sareh Heidari starts us out with Digital exclusion in healthcare & how to change it, asking questions that perhaps we've not considered:

So you don't need to take a whole morning off for a doctor's appointment - great! Using tech for healthcare can speed up so many interactions & some changes are here to stay. But who is excluded when options are digital-first? What can we do to ensure the health of the most vulnerable in society is improved and not hindered by our rush to web-first tech?

Finally, to close our day was Ruth John with her Day Disco who declared!

Welcome to your obligatory FFConf browser disco! This talk will cover the current state of media APIs and what's coming next.

And that's it. All our talks are live and available to watch online - or if you're into the audio, these are also available in our archive

As for us, we're taking a break for the Christmas holidays and we'll be rebooting our FFConf brains in January to start prep'ing for FFConf 2023!

We returned with Lily Madar's Programming with Yarn

Crochet and other yarn crafts can be viewed as a form of programming. Without realising it, crocheters interpret their own patterns, thus becoming "computers". This talk explores the analogies between a craft and what we know of programming.

Then was Natalia Waniczek on Working towards a greener world from behind the keyboard who says:

In what ways tech is affecting the environment & climate change? We'll discuss processes which devs can use in their work to create a greener web and implementable systematic changes within an organisation that'd make a positive impact on the world.

The last part of our day will be published later this week and I hope you're able to work your way through our amazing talks.

Look out for our next posts or get it first to your inbox through our newsletter.

First we have Lex Lofthouse's Design for Developers, with lots of useful tips and describe's their talk with:

If you've ever wanted to learn more about the magical secrets of UI design (trust me, they're no secret at all!), get ready for a tour of fundamental design principles, the building blocks of a successful design and how we put that all together to create something beautiful!

Then was Sophie Koonin on This Talk is Under Construction: a love letter to the personal website who says:

This is a nostalgic look back at the evolution of personal websites, and a look forward to how we can recreate this magic today. It's a manifesto for building something just for the fun of it, and a call to tell your story on your own platform.

In the next few days we'll be releasing the rest of the day's talks, so look out for our next posts or get it first to your inbox through our newsletter.

Perfect weekend viewing to chew down some great discussion and ideas to start on our journey to being better web citizens.

First is Florence Okoye's Designing as we want, to create the experiences that we need, who describes their talk with:

Delight. Inclusion. Awareness. Justice. Reparation. That's a lot to embed into every workflow. Are there ways that we can combine data and research to empower the people who use our products? Is there anything from critical design that can help us work differently? Let's do some design discourse and design better for the web and beyond.

Next was Heydon Pickering on Capitalism, The Web, And You who says:

In 2020, the UK government ordered schools in England not to use material from anti-capitalist writers, likening it to promoting crime or terrorism. This talk is about capitalism, the web, and what people who can create things for the web might do to help separate the two.

These were the opening to our first FFConf back after a 3 year break, and both were an excellent start to an amazing day.

Look out for our next posts or get it first to your inbox through our newsletter.

Jobs

Before the conference, Chetan Padia got in touch to ask whether we posted jobs, and whether he could build something for us. I got ahead of myself and wrote the whole thing in an evening. This is a (currently) free to list service which we (Julie and I) will manually moderate and approve.

You can view and submit jobs at ffconf.org/jobs.

Blogs

For those who came to the event last week, don't forget to blog about your experience at ffconf for your chance for a free ticket to 2023. You can either send these to events@leftlogic.com or post a tweet or a toot with #FFConf and we'll pick it up.

If you didn't come to the event and/or don't have a blog, Sophie Koonin gave a great talk on why you should have a personal web site - so catch our video of her talk when it comes out.

On that note…

Videos

We filmed all the talks, and Rosie, our videographer has made a start on editing the first of the talks. The whole process takes a little while as there's edit, upload and captions to be added before they're ready, but we'll be doing rolling releases of the videos freely on YouTube (this will be in separate newsletters).

Chat

We have a discord channel for chat but it's not meant for just the event. I'll be in there year-round and you're welcome to join.

It's a place for web people, code questions, hardware questions, pet photos and anything you want to make of it.

The Game

You might have caught wind of it on Twitter, but as a gift, I decided to refurbish original Gameboys and make a game for the speakers, featuring the speakers. The tool I used also happens to output a web compatible version, so you can play this yourself if you want at ffconf.org/game (you can also download the ROM if you have an emulator or your own hardware).

(If you on desktop, keys are: Z, X, enter and cursor keys)

There's just over a month to go for FFConf 2022, and the first order of this newsletter is to tell you a handful of tickets have been released!

That's right, if you missed out now's your chance, but be quick, our venue has limited capacity so tickets are very restricted.

https://2022.ffconf.org

You can also see our 7 confirmed talks and I'm aiming to add the last this week.

If you can't make it, but would love to learn, we'll also be freely releasing the videos from the talks after the event - so look out for that.

Finally, I wanted to share an amazing resource from our top sponsor Google:

If you've not used web.dev before, it's packed with articles on new technology that's landing in the browser, explainers and many examples of how to use web tech.

So take advantage of the latest modern technologies to build amazing web experiences for everyone. From courses to patterns, get best practices for building for the modern web by the Google Chrome team:

👉 web.dev

That's it for this week, and once The Mighty Eight (speakers) are up, I'll start revealing who these fine individuals are.

Thanks 👋

- Remy & Julie

That's right, next week! If you didn't manage to catch one of our peek-a-boo tickets last month in the 30 minutes they sold out, then you'll want to secure your ticket next week!

Half of the talk content is online and we'll be revealing more details in the coming weeks, but maybe you can guess our speakers just from their titles? 🤔😁 Take a peek here: 2022.ffconf.org

We're very excited to be back in person and we're really looking forward to seeing you all (yes, every one of you), to share a day to be excited and inspired about working on the web, with the web and with each other.

So, set those reminders: 18 July 10am UK time.

We'll catch you next week ♥️

So what the hell is a "peekaboo ticket" when it's at home? Well, this round of tickets will be available before any topics are announced on the web site.

Yes, you'll be buying on trust, but I should hope that the 13ish years we've been running our event we've earned that from you.

That said, since it is limited, there will also be a larger proportion of tickets set aside for the "main" release. This date is still being decided between myself (Rem) and Julie - but expect it to be during July.

Whilst I can't tell you what we have in store for you, I can tell you that our CFP is open and the submissions are rolling in - so please help spread the word if you know someone who should take a chance on us.

The event will be held, as always, at the Duke of Yorks cinema in Brighton and run on 11 November from 9am to 6pm (with a social event in the evening running until late).

Tickets for the pre-launch-peekaboo batch will be priced at £200+VAT (held at 2019 prices) and tickets during the "main" batch will be £229+VAT.

Other than that, have a great week and we'll be in touch again in 7 days with a link for that early batch.

– Remy & Julie ♥️

Here's some important items you'll want to know (and hopefully you'll help us spread the word):

📅 The conference will be one day, again, at the Duke of Yorks in Brighton on Friday 11th November (and yes, the geek in me loves the binary 1111 version of the date 🤓)

🗣 We have opened our call for papers - the link includes all the details of things Remy would love to hear about, but also our promise to all our speakers.

🎓 We will, again, have a scholarship programme - full details in the link.

🎩 As always, we need your company's support to run our event and budget for things like our scholarship. Please email us to request a sponsor pack

🎟 Our next email will be about tickets, so watch out for that, and if you're reading this post on our site - make sure to sign up for the newsletter.

That's all folks. We miss you. We'll see you again. Please help us spread the word, and make sure to tell the boss that you're coming to the UK's best and only web developer conference in Brighton, in the Duke of Yorks in November!

We (Remy and Julie) want to acknowledge that we haven't been in touch with our FF community and for that, we apologise and hope that you understand that FF is just the two of us, juggling work and family commitments during what has been a very topsy turvy year for us all.

As a family, we have really missed it as part of our year. The kids love helping to cut up stickers, alphabetise name badges and of course, throwing t-shirts out on stage!

We are sure this comes as no surprise to you that there is no FF 2021. We feel deeply in our hearts that this conference is about people and bringing people together.

With the restrictions of our small (albeit beautiful) venue, it just did not feel viable or safe to run in 2021, particularly as we normally start planning back in February, which was when we were in full lockdown in the UK.

The good news is that we have a date booked at the venue for Friday 11th November 2022 and we hope we will see you there.

After spending ten years building FFConf and everything that it means to us, we are eager and excited to get back together with you all again.

Question is, how long will Remy's hair be by then…

Until November 2022…

– Remy & Julie ❤️

Whilst we appreciate there's many events that are running virtual conferences, both Julie and I have discussed this at great length and it always comes down to the simple fact that FFConf is an event about and for people. Although FFConf runs under the guise of a tech conference, it's really about connecting humans (through the power of the web).

It's for that reason that there is no FFConf this year – if you hadn't already guessed 😃

We're wary that we had been quiet during lockdown. There's definitely guilt about not saying anything officially whilst at the same time we know that everyone else is in the same boat as us (or similar-ish boats): there's trying to navigate work (of what's left), kids (having 6 months at home is no small thing) and trying to stay mentally healthy (whilst eating all the chocolate I/Remy can lay my hands on).

So, for now, there's no FFConf 2020. It would have taken place on Friday 13th to boot - so I can imagine there's a couple of you relieved. We're already discussing FFConf 2021 and have a date: 12th November, 2021.

I hope, genuinely, that society is back in a place where we can come together, but the reality is that we'll keep checking what our government is saying and plan accordingly.

Otherwise, stay safe, keep washing those hands, wearing those face masks, doing some exercises - both physically and mentally - and know that Julie and I miss your smiling faces.

If you need your FFConf (content) fix, then check out the full archive of talks from the last decade: https://ffconf.org/talks

– Remy & Julie ❤️

Firstly we'd like to thank all those bloggers who participated and we can tell you that we (Julie and myself, Remy) read every post - so thank you so much.

So, the winners of the draw are:

• Sophie Koonin
• Josh Hudson

Congratulations to you both - and we'll be in touch via email.

If you want to see how the winners were selected (the short version is: randomly) then I made a screencast of my process using a tool called jq:

We have Harry Roberts' From Milliseconds to Millions: A Look at the Numbers Powering Web Performance, which describes their talk with:

We all know performance is big business, but how big? Let's take a look at some of the numbers powering the web performance industry, from both sides of the table. What do performance improvements mean for my clients, and how do we translate that into a working relationship

Then Charlotte Dan's amazing Taking The Web Off The Screen:

The rise of generative art has brought a whole new wave of creativity to the web; this talk is about the myriad of ways we can use all that coding knowledge to make cool art in the physical realm.

And finally, our closing talk of 2019, Suz Hinton's Adventures in reinventing interfaces:

Computers and other electronic devices existed for a long time before the web made its debut. Can modern web interfaces help invigorate the small computing space, while driving a new set of creative developers to invent better and more playful experiences?

I hope you're able to find time to watch these talks and enjoy the videos from FFConf 2019.

Until next year, have a great December 👋

First is Alice Barlett's Getting more from Git, which describes their talk with:

Git is like a Swiss Army Knife for telling the story of your project. Yet most of us are only using the big knife and maybe the scissors to fudge our code into version control. In this talk we're going to learn about some more advanced Git commands and some history too.

Next is Laura Kalbag on 8 Unbelievable Things You Never Knew About Tracking:

The web, and big tech at large, is tracking our every move, habit, and facial expression. As developers who are also users, we both contribute to the surveillance system and are exploited by it. But it doesn't have to be this way.

We'll be publishing the next talks next week - until then 👋 have a great weekend.

First is Sharon Steed's Engaging Empathy, which describes their talk with:

Empathy and vulnerability aren't necessarily two words associated with professional success, but they're invaluable to achieving long-term goals leaders set for their companies. Lets both define what those look like at work and how to engage them for optimized collaboration.

Next was Amina Adewusi on What does it take to become a developer in 2020? a personal story as described:

Amina shares her story about what it takes to become a developer after teaching herself how to code, juggling a full-time job and baby.

Both these talks we excellent and well received and indeed exactly what I (Remy) wanted and needed to start my own 2020 on the right foot.

We'll release the videos in pairs over the coming weeks starting tomorrow with Sharon's talk on empathy and Amina's talk on starting out in the web industry - both excellent sessions with advice that we think we can all use.

The videos will be hosted on YouTube and free to access (though after Laura's talk on privacy we're strongly reviewing moving across to Vimeo for our videos).

If you keen to keep learning, Remy has released a Black Friday discount for his online training courses - one on Next.js (with similar content from the in-person workshop) and one on learning the terminal. The discount is live today and current set at 80% off - so grab it whilst it lasts:

Terminal Training @ $19+vat (down from $99) - 4 hours of videos based on my Working the Command Line book.

Universal JavaScript with Next.js @ $19 (down from $99) - 31 videos that gets you started with Next.js for React and takes you through data driven pages, deployment and auth (note that this course does not include the latest Next@9 features but is pegged for an update in late December which is a free upgrade).

All videos can be streamed in the browser or downloaded locally and include full closed captions.

We wanted to let you know that there's still FFConf in the air. Our videographer, has the video for editing and we've got a rough release date of early December - so you'll hear from us as soon as they start going live.

However, all the audio from the talks are online on our archive site (we have slides from 5/8 of our speakers too): https://ffconf.org/talks/?years=2019

Trys Mudford took amazing photos throughout the day which you can find here: https://flickr.com/photos/remysharp/albums/72157711751196107

Finally, remember to get to blogging, it can be a round up, it can be a particular talk you liked, it can (and should) be entirely about you and your experiences. Send us your post links, we'll read every single one of them and we'll pick two at random for a free ticket to FFConf 2020 (we'll pick the winners next Friday - 22 Nov and currently there's only 3 eligible posts - so you've got a good chance!).

We'll be in touch again with links to the videos.

– Remy & Julie

The things you can't control

For those you attending in person, something you won't be able to avoid seeing is how our beautiful venue is currently looking.

Julie took this photo just last week and it's fair to say the grand Duke of Yorks isn't looking their best right now. The inside is marvellous as always, but the exterior is having major restoration work.

In the restoration work they've discovered that under the plaster there's some original artwork (including pineapples…obviously) dating back to the early 20th century.

From the outside it's a bit of an eyesore but there's a good possibility that the scaffolding will be gone for FFConf next month. Certainly we have arranged for no building work to be going on during our event ::phew::

All the deliveries

Being a small team (in the preparation and lead up, it's simply Julie and myself), it means that all the deliveries are delivered to our home.

Swag, t-shirts, banners, lanyards, stickers, more stickers, MOAR STICKERS, and anything else required. So our home quickly becomes an assault course of boxes (if it wasn't already).

We also looking for opportunities to recycle some of our conference material from one year to the next. Last year we took our previous 9 years of popup banners and turned them into cycle bags to gift to our "lifers" - the handful of individuals who have attended every year.

The last stages

As everything comes together over the coming 18 days, the last bits are (mostly, but not exclusively) dotting the eyes and crossing the teas. Making sure those last details are all in place.

This work, all the logistics comes down to Julie's amazing event organisation work, whereas I, Remy, don't get involved (my strength is elsewhere). It's impressive how much Julie juggles to pull the event together.

As all the tickets are sold out, as you read this you'll either see you in November, or hopefully you'll be able to catch the videos when we post them online.

The scheme is now in its 5th year and is one of the few conferences who also offer ticket, travel and accommodation costs to reduce the barriers of entry.

We're also extremely proud to know that other events have used our scholarship scheme as a template for their own events - go team inclusion 💪

We all have our part to play in working towards inclusive and safe environments that can foster diversity. For us, Julie and Remy, our conference's scholarship is our platform for just that.

It is truly an honour to be able to provide scholarships to individuals, and to have FFConf play part of their journey.

This is what one scholarship recipient had to say about FFConf last year:

This conference is different. First it is very family oriented which brings together innovative coding and great speakers to inspire, motivate and share with its community.

It is run as a partnership with Julie and her husband Remy who work very hard to make the conference run smoothly, enjoyable and valuable.

The eclectic mix of talks which I have kept record of on my tweets to refer back to as there was so much knowledge, and experience gathered in one room.

It's also with yours and your company's help that we're able to make this happen. More specifically, thank you to the 5 individuals who bought tickets and the 8 individuals who made a donation towards travel and accommodation.

We couldn't do it without the help of our sponsors as their support means can budget for the needs of the programme.

Those sponsors include:

• Nexmo
• Prodpad
• Samsung
• Unmade

Please also take a moment to read these messages from a few of those sponsors about why they wanted to sponsor FFConf and support the scholarship programme:

ProdPad is passionate in supporting underrepresented communities within the tech industry. It's important that our sector remains forward-thinking, evolves with the times, and supports those that need it.

The FFConf represents that, and has created wonderful opportunities for all types of tech-loving people.

– ProdPad, Brighton - their jobs page

Unmade is a growing company, and as part of our efforts to be more engaged in the tech community, conference sponsorship was something we knew we wanted to do. When we came across the opportunity to offer scholarships for FFConf, it was a no brainer (some of us have attended in the past and would highly recommend).

Inclusively, diversity, and sustainability are fundamental principles we're trying to abide by as a team, and as we grow, and we can't think of many better ways to do that than helping create opportunities for others.

We're excited to be a part of this years event, we hope you enjoy it, and we look forward to seeing you in November!

– Unmade, London - unmade.com

Thank you for reading and thank you for supporting a more inclusive web.

– Remy & Julie

We've already sold some of the tickets in our super-dooper-early bird back in November last year and being a single day it means tickets are (very) limited. So if you want to attend, be online tomorrow to guarantee your space.

Inclusion Scholarships Live

We started our scholarship programme in 2015 and we're running it again this year. What we think it special about our scholarship is that we offer three scales of support: ticket, travel and accommodation - and both Julie and myself have heard some truly beautiful stories of people who have been able to attend a web conference because of this support.

If the scholarship doesn't apply to you, you can still help: please spread the word to those who could benefit from the chance to attend. You can also make a donation (big or small) at the time you book your ticket which will be used to cover travel expenses. Or gift a ticket to the scholarship programme and receive credit for your generosity!

The application is open until 16th September, and full details and how to apply, can be found here: https://2019.ffconf.org/scholarship

2019 Website Live

After giving you all a sneak preview last month, the amazing Giulia Alfonsi has been hard at work to turn the design into code and it's now live along with the first of the confirmed sessions - and importantly a "buy tickets" link will be clickable at 10am tomorrow morning (UK time).

You can see a little preview of the site below, or check out the real thing, in all it's halftone glory!

When you're on the site you'll notice the heavily affected speaker photos. That's entirely on purpose as from our second year FFConf has been content-first. The speaker's images get de-fudged as we're closer to the event (or we sell out tickets) - and you'll see the halftone effects that I spent about 3 hours doing just to do 6 photos!

We hope you enjoy the new site and we hope to find you on the site tomorrow grabbing one of those tickets 💪

You can also follow the @FFConf.org BlueSky account for the latest announcements to find out how to join in on this fun!

Please note that the call for proposals is now closed

Topics I'm interested in hearing about

Here are the topics that I often think about around FFConf in no particular order.

Most recent ideas

• Using accessibility tools for the average dev, devtools, screen readers, braille readers and more
• How can we use tech to make an impact for good
• Disconnecting from Big Web and the alternatives
• Switching thinking from React components to Web Components
• AI Act and surrounding legislations, what it means, how to protect people and how do we push back

These are the topics that are piquing my interest lately, and below are further topics I'm (usually) always interested in.

Code, development

• How our development practices are changing / Support from AI / "How I've changed my development process over X years"
• An introduction to the Indie Web: blogs, web mentions, web rings and the like
• Accessibility first hand, what is the impact of our work? (example)
• Unhooking from libraries: A World of Web Components
• Forget ESNext: what about ES2049 aka "ES Blade Runner"?
• Tick box guide to security and/or performance
• Talking hardware
• Data science with the web (example)
• Fun, eccentric, making music and art (example)

Process, ideas

• The art of feedback / communication
• How to think critically / how to be sceptical (without being a grump)
• The army of one: the developer that does it all (what motivates you day-to-day, what inspires you, any war stories from the web)
• The (social) importance of progressive web apps (example)
• History of the tech we take for granted (example)
• Using a browser in ways that was never intended

Bettering ourselves and others

• Community and how do we reduce the ratio of White Dudes in web (example)
• Is (or are) there other languages/disciplines that web developers should learn from?
• What it's like to start out in web development (1st person POV). What's hard, what's easy, what helps, what doesn't? (example)
• Teaching the next generation of developers (in, or straight of school) (example)
• The sharp end of open source (example)

If you're passionate about something and it's not listed or a variation of what's listed - please ahead and get in touch anyway; I want to hear from you.

Topics that don't work, unless they're genuinely going to change the World, then CFPs like these generally be rejected immediately (sorry):

• What's great about some new fancy pants library or plugin
• Your company's new shiny product
• Talks that are extremely similar to recent years of FFConf talks (do check previous years)

Send us the title of your talk, an outline of the talk and any extra information you want us to know about the idea:

CFP is current closed

Deadline for submissions and when will you hear back?

In short, there is no deadline for submission. It takes me a long time to process and decide on CFPs, so whilst there's not 8 sessions up on the site, it means your talk is still up for consideration. I will respond to everyone with a yay or nay eventually. If you want to come to FFConf, regardless of whether your CFP is selected, please buy a ticket and if your talk is selected, the ticket will be refunded and returns to the public pool of tickets.

Our promise to you

All our speakers are treated the same. We will, as always:

• Pay and organise your travel (or you're welcome to organise yourself if you prefer). If you're flying long haul, we'll upgrade you to premium class (or whatever the name is for "above economy")
• Put you up in our "speaker hotel". It's not that cool, but it's right in town and two minutes walk from our venue. We're also open to offering the hotel stay. If you want an extra day or two here and there, then that's cool too (obviously if everyone does this, it breaks our bank, but so far it's worked)
• Arrange your travel and help you with anything you need ahead of the event
• £500 honorarium - we know it's not much for the work you've put in, but it's a thank you
• We can, if you need or want it, provide you with a mifi preloaded with data
• We'll endeavour to feed and water you as much as we can (including a speaker meal and lunch and if you're partial to a tipple, we'll pay for all these too)
• ~35 minute talk, generally we don't do Q&A and it's best to err on the side of "there is no wifi"
• A free pass to the next FFConf, and for evermore part of our growing and much loved speaker alumni. If you bought a ticket for FFConf, we'll refund the ticket (as we don't expect, or want, our speakers to pay)
• Uphold our conference code of conduct (available on our yearly sites), both for you, and our attendees

So I hope to hear from you soon!

CFP is current closed

👉 FFConf 2019 tickets are released on Tuesday, 16 July 2019 at 10am BST 👈

Set your clocks, add the calendar events, do what you gotta do!

A sneak at 2019's website

The new 2019 website is now in the works - if you've followed our event over the years, you'll know that every single year has it's own unique design and it's own unique FFConf logo.

I live streamed building out the backend code infrastructure for the website, which you can watch on youtube (there's some questionable language, rushed coding and talk of cats - so fair warning).

Then the frontend implementation work is handed over to Giulia Alfonsi for our ticket release date.

Here's a preview of the 2019 design (bear in mind that we use last year speaker details as placeholder):

Introducing: The Archive

As last year was our 10th FFConf since launching in 2009 and we had collected so much amazing content, it stood to reason that the full archive should be released and made available at https://ffconf.org.

The archive includes:

• 10 years of talks, a total of 78 talks
• Audio for every single talk, and video for 56 of them (we started recording video in 2012)
• Articles and blogs that you've been posting (and RSS to keep up to date)
• Some of our favourite tweets and photos
• A little history
• An API
• Source code on Github and made with 11ty

So take a peruse and enjoy, and set your clocks for ticket launch!

– Remy (& Julie) 👋

Importantly: no - we have not sold out (yet). A slew of you found our 2019 ticketing page and spotted it said sold out. Those were only early bird tickets released last November. There'll be another round of tickets released in the coming months so you can reserve your spot if you haven't already. Phew!

Most usefully FFConf 2019 will take place on Friday 8-November in the Duke of Yorks, Brighton.

We're working to pin down a ticket launch date (some time in June or July, but you'll hear first), and I've (Remy) have been approaching individuals that can speak about topics I'm keen on hearing about (web art, performance, privacy, a better web and more) and we already have four speakers on board (with another three pending). Julie has already booked the big venues (Dukes and our workshop). In a future Insights email I'll share some of the mood board design going into this year's web site.

Also this year we're launching the FFConf archive - a web site dedicated to all the content FFConf has curated since November 2009 - so you'll be able to re-watch talks and listen to audio and see whether our web jobs have changed much or not! The design is pretty functional (unlike our individual year web sites) and here's a preview of the wireframes put together by our regular web designer Chris Mahon:

If you've gotten this far - then thank you. I'll be in touch again to share progress of 2019 event organisation efforts.

In lieu of that, for those of you that have attended in the past, you'll know how much work Julie puts into organising an amazing day. If wanted to say "well done", Julie is running the Brighton marathon this coming Sunday - you can support her here.

Until next time,

– Remy (& Julie) 👋

Our videographer is in the final throes of editing the videos, then we have the process of uploading, captioning and then releasing over the coming weeks - so look out for those.

I know you all loved the music 🎶 to FFConf and the occasional Rick Rollin' so here's our Spotify playlist for your pleasure: ffconf.org/playlist

The photos from the day are also online (thanks to Seb's amazing photography), and if you have your own, tag them with #FFConf so we can see them too!

The next FFConf is booked for Friday 8 November 2019, so pop that in your diary and look out for when tickets, student tickets and scholarships go live next year.

Thanks again for all the very excellent memories.

There's 22 tickets left for Thursday (and at time of writing a single Friday ticket has become available) - so if you were on the fence or badgering your manager and they've forgotten: time for action!

With that in mind, I'm very pleased to introduce the final speakers of our lineup for 2018, Charlie Owen and Tim Holman:

Charlie is going to be fighting the good fight for the web this year at FFConf. I'm pretty sure most of you dear reader love the web and want to make it a better place, and Charlie has a bit of (excellent) soapboxing to do that I'd highly encourage you to take back to your colleagues and preach 🙌.

Tim has been asked if he could talk to the amazing and beautiful things the web has to offer - both creatively and just as pure fun. Tim has a fairly large collection of fun projects, one such is inspiring.online that curates those projects that exist purely to remind people like me, that the web is a GREAT place to make and share things.

You can follow our speakers on twitter, and please say "Hi":

• Charlie: @sonniesedge
• Tim: @twholman

And that's it. Our full speaker roster, and it all begins in 7 days time 🎉.

Get your last minute Thursday ticket while you can.

We'll see some of you there. Others will catch up on video, and others will simply wave from afar.

Until next time,

– Remy (& Julie) 👋

Get your ticket today - Friday (sold out) Thursday available

Let me introduce Jenny Wong and Eleanor Haproff.

Jenny is a self confessed open source community junkie, in fact I've seen Jenny at a number of the jsconf conferences myself. Jenny has a tonne of experience attending and organising events, which is why Jenny's talk will look at how we can create welcoming and diverse environments.

I'm certain that even FFConf won't tick every point that Jenny covers, but this is the point of FFConf: to better ourselves.

Eleanor has the honour of answering my questions about The Rise of the Machines 😱! …well, not quite, but AI and Machine Learning in the browser. My brain aches when I see some (or any) of the projects that run in a browser using AI. Eleanor and friends also run aijs.rocks, a site dedicated to showcasing curated AI-powered JavaScript projects - do check it out:

You can follow our speakers on twitter, and please say "Hi":

• Jenny: @miss_jwo
• Eleanor: @EleanorHaproff

More speakers next week, with our final two speakers, rounded out the team of eight superstars that will fill our brainz with juicy new knowledge.

And get your ticket today! (Friday sold out) Thursday tickets available.

Until next time,

– Remy (& Julie) 👋

As I talked about last week, the curation process for events is extremely important to me, and this year, every single speaker has been individually sought out and asked if they can address a specific topic.

Our next two speakers are Jo Franchetti and Michaela Lehr.

I see FFConf having an important part in sharing knowledge and experience, but then once you go back to your day job, it's your job to pass on that inspiration. Jo Franchetti will talk to use about being better mentors, using Jo's own personal experiences from being a self-taught developer and importantly how mentoring is more than just passing on knowledge.

Next I'd like to introduce Michaela Lehr who I approached to speak about WebVR and WebAR, better known as WebXR. This may not be applicable to my day-to-day job, but it's important to know what the browser is capable of, and creatively it's brilliant what such a readily available interface can do. Michaela is going to give us a tour of what can be done with today's libraries and today's JavaScript.

One of our sponsors, Mozilla has some really great demos on their WebVR blog: https://blog.mozvr.com/

You can follow our speakers on twitter, and please say "Hi":

• @ThisIsJoFrank
• @FischaelaMeer

More speakers soon!

I'll be in touch again soon with more speakers and why and what they're speaking about. I can assure you that FFConf v10 is going to be a great day of speakers, a superb range of content and the chance to meet like-minded webby people.

And grab your ticket today! (Friday sold out) Thursday tickets available.

Until next time,

– Remy (& Julie) 👋

You can get your Friday (sold out) Thursday ticket today

As I talked about last week, the curation process for events is extremely important to me, and this year, every single speaker has been individually sought out and asked if they can address a specific topic.

The first two speakers I'd like to introduce you to are Lisi Linhart and Willian Martins.

Lisi is speaking about Web Animation. It was when I saw this beautiful animation that Lisi had created (below), and then spotted that it was a web animation (from the description) it blew my mind as to how seamless and smooth it all ran. I personally still shy away from the animation APIs because I've really no idea what's involved.

Willian is bringing us all up to speed with the next JavaScript specifications. What's coming next. I'm sure a number of you live in Babel-Land covered by the fabled Mount Webpack, but for the rest of us, this kind of syntax needs some introduction:

1::plus(2)::times(4)::div(3)::minus(1);

So Willian is going to give us a guided tour of what's coming next.

You can follow our speakers on twitter, and please say "Hi":

• @lisi_linhart (Lisi on Instagram)
• @wmsbill (Willian on Smashing Mag)

So grab your ticket today: (Friday sold out) Thursday tickets available

Sponsorship of FFConf is extremely important to the running of the event, and Beamly has joined us at the platinum level to support FFConf (which in turn helps make the event great for you). Here's a little about them:

Beamly is proud to support this year's FFConf, one of THE best curated conferences in the UK. We believe there's nothing better than the power of community bringing together top speakers, inspiring work and a buzzing environment.

As a fast-growing Marketing Technology company working with global brands, we bring together Product & Engineering with an integrated digital agency under one vision.

Currently we are looking for systems engineers, full-stack JS developers, back-end python engineers and more. If you're interested in doing high-profile work, using the latest technologies & delivering data driven consumer experiences, check out our Careers page here & get in touch.

More speakers soon!

I'll be in touch again soon with more speakers and why and what they're speaking about. I can assure you that FFConf v10 is going to be a great day of speakers, a superb range of content and the chance to meet like-minded webby people.

Until next time,

– Remy (& Julie) 👋

From 2017, Addy Osmani on using real analysis to measure web site performance 💻⚡️

1. The Future of JavaScript & Machine Learning
2. Mentoring: Being the help you wish you'd had
3. Practical Web Animation
4. Is it possible to build a truly diverse community?
5. Back to the future of JS: the next features and amazing proposals
6. WebXR: A New Dimension For The Web
7. Dear Developer, the Web Isn't About You
8. Weird Web & Curious Creation

You can get your Friday (sold out) Thursday ticket today

Remember: it's the same line up, the same content, the same amazing day.

Curation all the way

Unlike a lot of other events, FFConf is carefully curated by me, Remy. CFP has typically only accounted for just one of the eight talks in previous years. As soon as the previous FFConf event is over, I start thinking about the types of talks I want to hear.

The process (since 2011) has been to list the topics I want to host at FFConf, then match that content up to a potential speaker.

My invitations to speakers are always asking if they would speak to a particular topic or specific question.

As a conference speaker myself, I find it a little frustrating to receive an invitation that simply says "can you speak at our event". Sure, I'd be happy to speak, but why are you inviting me?

Again, as a speaker myself, I felt like a significant number of events would use the same speaker year after year. With that in mind, I made one of FFConf's golden rules: no speaker speaks again.

It's a blessing and a curse for curation! It's made curation harder and harder as the years have piled on! The huge positive upshot is that FFConf has hosted 78 unique individuals since 2009 🎉

Why don't we reveal speakers? Initially this was an accident back in 2014 they were going to be revealed - but I just forgot!

The following year, I realised that hiding (or blurring) the speakers only reinforced the idea that FFConf is content first. We do start to slowly reveal the speakers much closer to the time.

Painstakingly careful curation is absolutely one of the keys to the success of our event. If you're thinking of running an event yourself, I'd highly recommend it. And if you want to see how it works out, see it first hand at FFConf in November.

And now for a word from our sponsors ❤️

We wouldn't be able to run FFConf with the support of some truly amazing companies. Many of them have positions available at their companies and it would mean a lot to myself and Julie if you took a moment to check out what they're doing and what they have to offer.

They are:

• Beamly
• TheFinancial Times - junior and senior developers wanted
• American Express
• Google - their amazing developer learning centre
• Mozilla

Signing off for now

Our newsletter has been quiet during the summer holidays, but we'll be back with more insights, including how we run our diversity scholarship programme, how the FFConf web site runs and some of the fun we had with accidental DDoS on our ticket provider and more.

And if you ever have any questions about FFConf or how we run the event, don't hesitate to hit reply and myself or Julie will be more than happy to answer.

Until next time,

– Remy (& Julie) 👋

From 2016, Ada Rose Cannon superb and timely progressive web apps talk 💻💪❤️

1. Duke of York's Picturehouse
2. Brighton, UK

After the first few years of FFConf, when we started selling out very quickly, people would often ask myself and Julie whether we were going to go to a bigger venue. At the time, I believe we could have (reasonably) easily grown the event to hold 600, maybe 800 people in a bigger venue, but it just wouldn't have the same personality and absolutely amazing feel of the Duke of York's.

The cinema was opened on 22 September 1910, and the structure is largely the same (including the balcony box that some of you clever folks find!). Not only is our venue historic, beautiful and pioneering, but it boasts to be one of the most comfortable venues!

Then there's Brighton itself. Brighton is an amazing little city, I think, punching well above it's weight. We could run our event in London and appeal to more of the big city corporates, but Brighton is my home town and an extremely welcoming, open and diverse city.

The city has many many digital business here ranging from large to small. Although our event is just one day (though, remember, repeated twice!), there's lots of opportunities to head down here for visits or even pick up a new job or career in Brighton.

In particular, two of our sponsors based in Brighton (well…one is 15 minutes outside, but close enough that we'll let them off) have open job opportunities.

ProdPad is looking for both front end developers, and backend developers with JavaScript and Node experience to work on their slick product management product: find out more here

Amex (American Express) - their UK engineering team is hiring a full range of positions with the chance to make a digital difference to massive audience of customers. Amex are supporters of open source, and in particular have created their own "inner source" environment to promote the sharing of code internally in support their own technology solutions Find out more here

So, come join us down in sunny (and yes, often rainy) Brighton!

From 2013, Brighton's own Mr Jeremy Keith his words on the web and time ⏲❤️

And before you go, here's a few final words from our local sponsors:

ProdPad - https://www.prodpad.com/about-us/jobs/

Based in Brighton, the ProdPad team are building a product that's used by thousands of product managers. It's the only product management software that supports the complete product journey. ProdPad is built by product people who are dedicated to challenging the way that amazing products are built. They're constantly striving for the best product management practices and aren't afraid of trying amazing new things to improve the product for their customers. If this sounds as exciting to you as it does to them, then check out the awesome development roles they have available.

American Express - https://jobs.americanexpress.com/tech/jobs?locatio...

ffconf18 is one of the most exciting JavaScript events in Europe and American Express is proud to return as a sponsor for the second time.

A strategic imperative for our company is to make Amex an essential part of our customers' digital lives, by bringing continuous innovation to our existing offerings, and developing new products and services to meet the emerging needs of customers … and technology underpins everything we do. As a company with many lines of business, we develop groundbreaking technology for a global audience.

Our UK engineering team, based in Burgess Hill (near Brighton in the UK) works side-by-side with our product colleagues to deliver solutions for our customers. We employ modern software development practices and tools, using long-range strategic plans and product roadmaps to inform our PIs and product backlogs. We encourage open source contributions, and we've created an "inner source" environment to promote the sharing of code internally in support of our technology solutions. We believe top tech talent is key to our success, and we're always looking for people with new perspectives and top-notch skills to help us capitalise on growth opportunities.

The launch day

FFConf is run by myself (Remy 👋) and Julie. We also double as parents to a couple of little tikes, so although launch morning is a huge milestone for us, the morning leading up to 10am is rushing/trying-not-to-rush around getting the kids ready for school and nursery, whilst also mentally running through checklists to make sure the actual launch is a smooth as possible.

Inevitably one of us realises the web site is missing something…every year (you'd think we'd make a note somewhere!). This year Julie spotted this morning that nowhere on the web site does it say it's our 10th year! Even this morning I'm tweaking and tweaking!

The importance of launch day

With the ever growing number of web events, selling tickets becomes harder and harder - particularly as the event gets older since potentially seen as either "always going to be around" or "not new" - of course neither of these are true!

The ticket launch is where we'll sell most of our tickets in a single period. In fact, it was 2013 when we first sold out on our launch day. It took a couple of hours and then all our tickets were done. 2014 took 11 minutes and 2015 took 4 minutes!

As an organiser this is a massive relief – but the flip side was that we felt like we let people down by selling so quickly - and 2013 is when Julie and I first considered running the event twice (it would take until 2016 until we bit the bullet to actually run it twice).

The actual launch

When we first sold out in a massive rush in 2013 - the traffic took down our ticket provider. It was kinda awesome and kinda terrible at the same time. In fact, the exact same thing happened the following year - and by 2015 our ticket provider was working with us so that they would make sure they could handle the traffic bursts.

Currently the FFConf web site runs on Heroku (more on our tech stack in future emails), and it's mostly static content. This is to try to make sure we can serve pages as quickly as possible. The other reason I chose Heroku (some years back) was that scaling to handle a burst of traffic was a matter of moving a slider and letting the dynos run wild for the initial burst, and then scale back down later in the week (and keeping our budget under control). Even with a static site we found this was a good back up to have in place.

Then since our site is mostly static, the actual release process, the process to give you a buy button on the site, requires an actual deployment. Which, I'm kind of ashamed to admit, but it is what it is 🤷‍♂️

If you love our event…

As you read this email right now, know that Julie and I stand over our laptops, excited, worried, stressed and hearts thumping, whilst we watch tickets come through and shout loudly from Social Media Mountain!

If you love our event, please please tell people about it. Tell your friends, tell your social meeja, tell your colleagues and join us in November for a super dooper awesome day.

❤️❤️ ❤️ ❤️

– Remy & Julie

When the site goes live (in about 2 weeks), you should expect to see some key information:

1. When the tickets will be available (and yes, I'll be emailing and tweeting that vital information!)
2. The list of sessions we already have lined up
3. Our current stock of sponsors - without whom we wouldn't be able to pull off our 10th event (and please do get in touch if your company would like to be part of this year)

Speaking of sessions, one of the most important jobs I have is to curate FFConf each year. This involves thinking about topics I already want to learn more about and looking at subjects that are being discussed amongst the web community that appear to be important (and no, an entire 40 minute talk on tabs vs. spaces isn't technically that important!).

Once the very first FFConf was over, people immediately asked me (literally at the after party) when the next event would be. From that moment, I knew that if we were to run it again, the event would always need to be content driven. That's to say: no "super hero" speakers (which I think we were seeing a lot of in the early 2010s), and a rule that I imposed: no speaker returns.

This makes finding speakers that match the content I want to hear about increasingly hard each year, but I also feel that it's an organiser's responsibility to present new faces. It also means that after FFConf v10, we would have presented 84 speakers (the first 2 years we had 7 speakers and we ran a secondary event in 2013). Julie and I are immensely proud of that fact alone.

I'm often asked "what's the theme for this year" or even post-event I've had people tell me what they thought the theme was. The truth is the common thread amongst the talks is usually a happy accident. One theme I personally do see each year, albeit a lofty theme, is: how do we do better job tomorrow?

At time of writing this post, I have already locked in 6 sessions with 6 amazing individuals in their own right - but of course you can expect to see 8 sessions on the day itself.

A sneak preview of some of these subjects include:

• WebXR (that's Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality)
• Web Animation (using native APIs)
• Machine Learning using TensorFlow
• Mentoring others
• Beyond the edge of browsers - The intersection of health and animation with biofeedback sensors, the future of 3d in the browser complete with interviews with people who are writing these specs

I'll post some relevant links in our Slack channel if anyone wants to do some light reading around the subjects.

I'm still filling out those last sessions, but I already know what I want to hear and it's on me to find those individuals to speak. That's also to say, that right now, there's no CFP (some people have asked on Twitter). If I change this, there'll be announcements on Twitter too.

If you ever have a suggestion for an amazing individual who you'd like to see speak at FFConf or an event like it (we're both well connected with other organisers), please feel free to reply to this email and let me know.

Otherwise, we'll see you soon, and the next email we should have a lovely web site to reveal 😍

– Remy (& Julie)

From last year, Jenn Schiffer's amazing talk on art, the web and an inspirational call to arms to make our community better 💪❤️

Every year, for each variation of FFConf, we've released an entirely new web site design, a new logo design and typically the entire site is based on a new codebase. This isn't the typical route and almost puts undue extra effort on us!

I've even heard of some people who have visited past FFConf web sites and remarked that they weren't sure if they had landed in the right place because it didn't look familiar.

In fact, the only consistent part of the design is the two f's in the logo:

Even the event name is intentional ambiguous to allow for me to grow and change the conference over the years. I always remember watching an interview with Madonna where the interviewer observed that she would reinvent herself over and over. I kinda love that idea.

But why? 🤔 New design each year required additional budget (i.e. re-using the same design would mean less expenditures), but it's really quite simple: I want to create something.

I want something out there in the world that I can love and be proud of, and although I don't personally have the skills to do amazing design, it's certainly I've been involved in creating.

But more importantly, did you want a sneaky preview of the 2018 FFConf logo? 😃

It's tucked behind this link

– Remy (& Julie)

From 2016, here's Mathieu Henri on being creative. And pro tip: you'll want the sound up, there's some AWESOME sounds at the end 🎧

In the lead up to the event, I wanted to share some of the behind the scenes that goes into creating FFConf, some of the challenges, heartaches and more importantly, give you an idea of what you can expect.

For those of you that have attended FFConf in the past, you'll have an inkling of when the event will run, but so it's safe in your business diary, we'll be running the event on Thursday 8th November and again on Friday 9th. Yes, we're doing it twice again ✌️

I published the dates back in late March at 2018.ffconf.org, and rest assured I'm working with a graphic design and web designer to make sure my own design efforts, the tear-inducing pink and giant font, will be long gone! I'm hoping to also preview some of the graphic work here with you all.

Speaking of dates, we're discovered there's now two other events that are running the same dates as us - and Julie and I have been giving a lot of thought to how that impacts our event: whether it affects attendance and how it affects sponsorship (the much needed money to secure our venue and pay a lot of the big fees).

Our next big announcement will be the ticket release date (for your diaries: approximately June) - and we've had a few conversations about pre-selling tickets before anything is announced . But, we don't like this idea. We both want to make FFConf an excellent content-driven experience, and buying a ticket blind doesn't really hold true to our values (so, you'll have to wait 😉 ).

That's it for now. We'll be in touch again with more insights. As for me, I'll continue searching for speakers to match the topics I want to hear about this year (details of which I'll share in the future).

– Remy (& Julie)

If you find yourself wanting to learn something, check out Monica's talk from 2017 on Web Components 👆