5 reasons that make me want go back to Devoxx Morocco-2020

5 reasons that make me want go back to Devoxx Morocco-2020 🇲🇦

I had an opportunity to speak at Devoxx Morocco last month(Nov 2019), It was my second Voxxed Event and one of the best conferences I have been to so far. I gave a talk on A Practical approach to CSS Grid and I liked the conference both from a perspective of a speaker and an attendee. I got some amazing pictures from the conference(Finally 🖼) and thought I could share few things I liked about Devoxx Morocco with you all.

Content of the Conference

The conference got amazing content and a great speaker line up. There were 10 different tracks at the conference Including Robotics, VR, Cloud, Containers, etc. Though I was a speaker I attending multiple sessions and Keynotes around Performance, IoT, Documentation, Containers, etc. and Explore/learn from my co-speakers. All I wish to see is a little more talks under Modern Web and UX track next year. 🤞

Hospitality of the Conference

The hospitality at Devoxx was one of the best I have had at a conference so far. Starting from confirming my presence as a Speaker at Devoxx to returning back home, they were the best of the kind. I was worried about getting to the hotel, going around in Adagir, My way around in Casablanca(where I had to stay for a night), but they took care of everything. There was already a guy waiting for me at the airport when I arrived, A team to take care of registrations when I arrive at the hotel, Everyone made it so easy around the conference. It is always a bit hard and can be stressful when you travel to a new city for the first time but they sorted out the hard part of our speaker's lives.

Culture of Morocco

I’m glad that I got an opportunity to dress like the locals, eat local food, dance in the Moroccan style, Celebrate a Moroccan wedding and much more. On the second day of the conference, All the participants and speakers were invited to a Moroccan Dinner where we dressed like the locals from different provinces, Had the local food(I loved it), Danced a lot and got a chance to check out how the weddings Happen in Moroccan Traditions. I was told that In Morocco they dance along all night and get married at midnight just before sunrise. Truly, they got one of the best wedding celebrations around the world.

Diversity

I have never been to a conference that is as diverse as Devoxx Morocco. I’m not just talking about speakers, I’m talking about audience, Organizing, and Volunteer community/teams. and I’m not just talking about diversity in terms of Gender(which is the best here among all the conferences I have been too), I’m talking about geographical distribution, Age groups, the Experience level of speakers and ethnicity. and Each one of them is as energized/excited as any other person in the room.

People

The people of Morocco are Kind, Helpful and Most friendly. A funny thing happened to me multiple times when I was in Morocco. Apparently many Moroccans watch Bollywood movies and they love them, so whenever I walk into a store to buy something they used to ask me where I’m from, If I say Indiathen they used to start singing Bollywood songs and we used to do a short karaoke session then and there. I used to get India discount too(I bought 2 beautiful fridge magnets for 20MAD, Hope it was a good deal 😄). Even at the speakers trip after the conference, We danced for Bollywood bits, They taught me some Moroccan moves, Had great conversations about everything but nothing. I was a bit worried as I didn’t know anyone when I decided to go to the conference. But from the moment I arrived at the conference, they made it easy for me and I felt home.

Finally, This is me giving my talk(The photographers at Devoxx were amazing 😍).

I’m glad that my talk got selected. This was truly an experience of a lifetime and I hope I will visit back again next year for Devoxx Morocco — 2020. 🤞