NOBLUG02, was not just a LabVIEW User Group meeting. To Ioan Polenciuc, it was also a personal journey to grow the LabVIEW Community in the North of Britain. His writing dives deep into the process of organising the event.
Background
NOBLUG02 continued the success of the last NOBLUG (North of Britain LabVIEW User Group). Our man in the North (of Britain), Ioan Polenciuc, undertook the no small feat of organising the event. On April 3rd 2025, at the Clavering House, in Newcastle upon Tyne, #labviewfriends from all over gathered to exchange ideas. This article is Ioan’s personal account of how it came to be. Let’s hear it in his own words:
A Personal Journey to NOBLUG02
When I became the first and so far only UK-based employee of #teamhampelsoft, I quickly noticed something was missing: there was no local LabVIEW user group. From York — where I studied at university — all the way up to Scotland, there wasn’t a place where LabVIEW developers could regularly meet, learn from each other, and build connections. That gap gave me the idea to start the North Of Britain LabVIEW User Group.
NOBLUG isn’t just about sharing technical knowledge — it’s about giving back to the community that helped us grow, creating new opportunities for collaboration, and making sure LabVIEW users in the north have a voice. Organising the meetings takes time out of my evenings and weekends, and it’s not always easy to find the right topics for a group with a wide range of skill levels. Finding suitable venues before knowing exactly how many people can attend is another challenge — but so far, we’ve managed pretty well.
The support I’ve had along the way has made a huge difference. Jörg Hampel’s help has been instrumental; his experience running NOBLUG’s “big brother”, the Würzburg LabVIEW User Group in Germany, has given us a fantastic foundation to build on. It’s been invaluable to learn from what works, what doesn’t, and how to create a space where LabVIEW users feel welcome and engaged.
We’ve also been lucky to have strong backing from the wider LabVIEW community. National Instruments has been eager to join our meetings and share their insights. In addition, distributors like Yotta Volt and Farnell have supported us enthusiastically. It’s clear that great opportunities come from meeting in person — not just technical learning, but building connections and finding new collaborations.
There are still many LabVIEW users across the North who haven’t yet experienced what NOBLUG has to offer. I hope we can continue reaching more people, helping them make their voices heard, and growing a thriving LabVIEW community together.
The Agenda of NOBLUG02
Ioan and Jörg kicked off the meeting with a short introduction. Afterwards, Danilo Mariano introduced Yotta Volt and its activities.
This was followed by presenters from NI itself, Chris Roebuck and Pete Horn. Chris discussed the use of hooks to extend LabVIEW’s features. In layman’s terms: creating tools within LabVIEW with … LabVIEW itself! In particular, he showcased the functionality of bookmarks.
Pete explained the ins and outs of approval testing, an alternative to traditional unit testing. Originally developed by Sam Taggart, this differing technique is a more real-life, pragmatical approach. Pete showed us how to use it and how to use it well. This type of testing involves creating the expected results in a controlled manner, and then challenging subsequent changes to the code, against the established results.
As always, we finished with a lovely informal discussion and socialising, over a few slices of pizza. Thanks again to NI for sponsoring the event! This part of the meeting went so well and for so long, that the cleaners had to kick us out for it to end. Yet again, proving that the #labviewfriends community is more than eager to get involved.
What’s next for NOBLUG?
Organisation for NOBLUG03 is already underway! It is planned to take place in July. Join the discussions on the NI Forums to stay up-to-date:
NOBLUG Forum