GDevCon#5, the latest and greatest yet in the series of conferences so far, came to Stuttgart this year – home field advantage for #teamhampelsoft! Join us as we recap the highlights, featuring inspiring keynotes, engaging huddles, and fantastic networking opportunities. Our team had an unforgettable experience connecting with the community, presenting, and showcasing our open-source solutions on this exciting leg of the GDevCon World Tour!
Background
GDevCon is an independent conference open to all graphical developers. It was formed in 2017 by 10 international companies – Hampel Software Engineering being one of them – with the goal of creating an entirely independent LabVIEW conference. Today, it is focused on delivering world-class graphical programming material covering a wide spread of topics relevant to today’s discerning developers. It’s usually a two-day conference with presentations by LabVIEW peers from around the world, but this year, we got one extra conference day on top. Run by community leaders, it is independent of system vendors and focused on real problems encountered every day by LabVIEW developers.
Prep Time
With Hampel Software Engineering being the local boots on ground this year, things went a little differently than usual. We had taken care of having all the merch printed in a local print shop and sent to the HSE headquarters. Seeing as we speak the language of the locals, we also took it upon ourselves to communicate with the conference and evening venues in the final days before the conference to make sure that everything is arranged, taken care of and ready to roll.
The final excitement for GDevCon #5 kicked off on the day before the conference when our team gathered in Stuttgart, ready to dive into an adventure! Our first stop was the venue, to drop off the pens, books and posters we had stashed at our office.
Pre-Conference Sports
Next item on the itinerary: Bouldering! This is a rather young tradition that only started last year at GDevCon#4 in Glasgow and was continued in Golden, Co, at GDevConNa this year. It is inspired by the pre-conference group runs that originated way back in CLA Summit times (or even earlier). We believe that business and pleasure not only can be mixed, but they should!
Climbing the walls together was a fantastic reminder that, together, we can conquer any challenge while having a blast. This energetic start truly set the tone for an incredible event ahead! It was nice to have a few #LabVIEWfriends with us: Eli K. and Sergio V. as well as Sam T.
Day 1
With warm coffee and tea in our bellies, the first day of GDevCon burst into life! We gathered eagerly for the keynote address by Joerg, who welcomed attendees with enthusiasm, setting the stage for the exciting days ahead.
Quoting Carsten Thomsen, the author of the Living History of NI blog:
In his introduction to the conference Joerg Hampel reviewed the history of NI, LabVIEW and GDevCon. Joerg frankly described the downward trajectory of LabVIEW and NI until its acquisition by Emerson. At the same time Joerg was optimistic about the future, saying “there is no better time to use LabVIEW”. The tremendous growth of GDevCon, as a volunteer driven organization, along with developments from NI showing that things are now moving in the right direction.
Following the keynote, which left the audience excited for what’s to come, we transitioned into team announcements and proudly introduced the Headline Sponsor, Konrad Technologies. This introduction beautifully highlighted the event’s collaborative spirit and reinforced the sense of community that makes GDevCon truly special.
The agenda was packed with a fantastic lineup of speakers, including our close #LabVIEWfriends, Olivier and Fabiola. One of the standout moments was Fabiola’s inspiring talk titled “What is for Sale? Adventures in Acqui-Hiring,” where she shared her journey and insights, illustrating the power of perseverance and innovation in the LabVIEW community. This set the stage perfectly for the thought-provoking Huddle session that followed, led by her and Joerg. Together, they delved into the critical decisions behind the design of DQMH, prompting enthusiastic participation from attendees who exchanged ideas and gained valuable insights to ignite their own projects.
Official Evening Social Event
The first evening is traditionally reserved for a social event, i.e. having dinner together. This year, the event was hosted at Sophie’s Brauhaus, a comfy traditional regional venue with local cuisine. The food was excellent and the drinks were plenty as the bar was open all night (yes, you read that right)!
The organizers had rented out the whole house so we could enjoy ourselves. Judging from the amount of people getting crammed at our HSE table – at one point there must’ve been 10-12 people at a table of 6, nearly sitting on each other’s laps – the huge space wasn’t necessary after all 😉
In all seriousness, though, this goes to show how well we are connected with our #LabVIEWfriends, and that we do make everyone feel heard and welcome.
Day 2
Continuing Day Two of the conference with yet another warm team welcome, energizing us for a day packed with learning and collaboration. We dove right into engaging sessions covering crucial topics such as LabVIEW Errors, Arrays and Strings, and Determinism & Memory Allocations in LabVIEW—far from boring, as promised by the title! While there were some presentational hurdles during Wiebe’s talk on Arrays and Strings, the content was sublime.
After a refreshing break, we were all eager for Manu’s long-anticipated talk, “gRPC and DQMH – The Perfect Match for Communicating with Non-LabVIEW Applications.” His presentation captivated the audience, showcasing innovative approaches to enhance communication between LabVIEW and other programming languages. Following this, we were thrilled to welcome our dear partner, NI, who contributed to the vibrant atmosphere of the conference.
As the day progressed, we were particularly proud to present our progress on the new LabVIEW driver for Gantner Instruments, one of the Tech Cave Premium Sponsors. Collaborating closely with their team, we demonstrated how far we’ve come, with the release just around the corner. The feedback we received from attendees proved invaluable, helping us refine key aspects of the driver and enhancing its functionality.
HSE Open-Source Offerings
In the afternoon, our HSE Huddle provided an engaging platform for participants to explore our open-source code offerings and discuss exciting collaborative projects. We were thrilled to host this session, where our team shared valuable insights about our open-source products and how attendees can easily connect with us via Discord.
With the entire HSE team present, we ensured that everyone could contribute, helping us maintain visibility on some of our lesser-known products while also gaining a better understanding of community needs. This collaborative atmosphere fostered discussions on potential improvements for our existing tools. Additionally, we took the opportunity to address our recent significant change—the migration of our libraries to vi.lib—offering clarity and answering questions from those in attendance.
Unofficial Socialising
We use the unscheduled time on the second evening to gather with some of our #LabVIEWfriends and have drinks and dinner together. Joerg had shared his all-time favourite Stuttgart eatery – Bona’me, a Turkish-Kurdish restaurant which everybody loved just as much!
Day 3
As all good conferences do, GDevCon #5 started with a keynote and ended with an endnote and we were lucky enough to get both from our team. Ioan delivered heartfelt closing remarks, capturing the essence of our incredible journey together. His words beautifully encapsulated the collaborative spirit of the conference and highlighted the wealth of knowledge shared by everyone involved. We extend a huge thank you to our generous sponsors, whose invaluable support made this event possible and who are committed to fostering innovation in the software development community.
To the very last minute, the conference grounds were filled with engaging Huddles and additional networking opportunities, allowing attendees to continue sharing insights and building connections. We especially appreciated the contributions of all our presenters, including Joerg and Manu, whose expertise enriched the discussions.
As we eventually wrapped up the event, with all the impressions and the newly gained knowledge still reverberating in our heads, we left inspired and motivated, ending GDevCon #5 on a high note. We look forward to carrying this momentum into our future endeavours and continuing to build our vibrant community.
The GDevCon World Tour
This GDevCon was only one of many – thank god! The networking and mingling were effortless, thanks in part to the amazing food and the stellar organization by the GDevCon team. The Tech Cave in the foyer provided easy access, inviting attendees to engage and connect. Wearing our GDevCon World Tour shirts, we feel a sense of excitement for what lies ahead. This event has not only enriched our knowledge but also strengthened our community ties, and we can’t wait to see what the next GDevCon has in store!
The Future
See you next year! The conference will once again return to its origins in the UK, with the final location and venue not secured just yet. So stay tuned and make sure to subscribe to those Social Media accounts! We’re also looking forward to revisiting all the great presentations on the GDevCon YouTube channel in a few months – pop over there to see us in action.
Finally, we would like to once again thank all the organisers for their incredible work!