It’s always a good idea to visit San Francisco, but doing so on a tech ticket makes it extra special.

The who’s who of the technology world are located at each street corner, the industry’s biggest players are based here and the city thrives off it. Not to mention that this year’s event was being hosted in the highly impressive headquarters of GitHub, right in the heart of the city.

The two-day conference was great, it attracted over 200 developers and a full schedule of speakers delivering talks on a multitude of React based topics.

Our every need was catered for, thanks to the cool surroundings of Github’s office space and a full team of food and drink servers who ensured we didn't get hungry or become dehydrated.

A series of lightning talks kicked proceedings off on Saturday evening with Ken Wheeler discussing the renderless component pattern to make sweet music, his fellow speakers then in-turn delivered their prepared pieces on a range of topics related to the React ecosystem.

I found Jen Luker’s delivery on accessibility and the importance it has for potential business growth really engaging as it had real-life based scenarios associated with it.

Day two of the conference presented lots of opportunity for networking and discussion between the many talks. During these intervals, I found it tremendously beneficial to chat with other conference goers about their background and their thoughts on what they had just listened to.

These chats confirmed for me what I already knew to be true. The best talks aren’t ones that deep-dive too far and leave the audience gasping for air but ones that thread just below the surface and provide examples of how the theory works in practice. Thankfully, many of the speakers in attendance did just that.

Wes Bos and Scot Tolinski closed the conference by delivering their weekly Syntax

podcast live from the fireside couch setting and generated fantastic audience interaction while chatting about the latest React trends and why you should be using them.

For me, the important takeaways from the conference were, have an open mind, be prepared to step outside your comfort zone and engage with the people next to you, there’s a wealth of knowledge ready to be absorbed.

Until next time San Fran.