This fall, NG-DE is back once again!
For the third time, the Angular community will gather on October 10–11 at the Martim Hotel in Bonn. Over two days, the former capital will be all about Angular. This year, the lineup includes 15 speakers and 6 workshop trainers.
The keynotes will be delivered by Emma Twersky, Staff Developer Relations at Google and a member of the Angular team, and on the second conference day by blogger and Google Developers Expert Matthieu Riegler.
We sat down with two members of the NG-DE team who have been involved since the very first edition and helped shape the conference into what it is today: a must-attend event for the Angular community.
Martina is a Security Engineer, speaker, and trainer with a focus on Angular and security. She is a Google Developer Expert (GDE) in Angular, part of the ngGirls team, and a jury member for NG-DE.
David is a web developer, speaker, and trainer, also a Google Developer Expert (GDE) in Angular, and a jury member for NG-DE.
This year marks the third edition of NG-DE. In your own words, what is NG-DE and how did it come about?
Martina: The end of JSConf EU left a huge gap in the frontend community. Fortunately, Martin, Peter, and Robin stepped up to organize an Angular conference. The guiding principle was the same: from the community, for the community. At first, I was selected as a speaker only, but toward the end, I got a chance to peek into the organizational side, and in the following years, I became fully involved.
Dave: For me, NG-DE feels like my baby. I’m deeply connected to the community, so for me, it feels like a family reunion.
What new developments or trends in the Angular world will be highlighted at this conference?
Dave: The new Angular with Standalone and Signals will likely be a major topic. The overall slimming down in many areas will also be discussed.
Martina: Hydration is a big topic that is gaining popularity. Server-side prerendering and lazy-loading individual HTML snippets on demand is something the Angular world has been eagerly awaiting for a long time. Not to mention Signals and their potential to fully enable zoneless change detection in the future.
Which keynotes or talks are you particularly looking forward to?
Martina: Since I was part of the jury that selected the talks, I naturally look forward to every single one. We chose a lot of high-quality talks and made sure that controversial topics like micro frontends or template-driven forms found a place in the lineup.
Dave: I’m looking forward to every talk, even though I’ll probably be too wired to absorb much. I’m especially curious about the Signals talks. Afterward, I’ll watch the videos on YouTube and celebrate all over again.
How does this conference foster collaboration and networking within the Angular community?
Dave: NG-DE was started and is run by community members. Everyone involved is part of the community. It’s the only community-driven conference in the German-speaking region. All speakers come from the community. During the conference, there will be plenty of time for networking, whether during breaks or in the evening over a cold drink.
Martina: As mentioned, the conference strongly follows the idea of "from the community, for the community." There are numerous long breaks to allow ample time for networking. There is plenty of room for the community to actively shape the conference. For example, there’s currently a T-shirt contest where the community decides the design of the conference shirts and can also win tickets to the conference.
How does the Angular community contribute to the framework’s evolution, and how is this collaboration reflected at the conference?
Dave: The team regularly collects feedback, whether through RFCs or from Git. This feedback is reviewed and factored into decisions.
Martina: The Angular team is indeed very open to feedback. There are numerous discussions on social media initiated by the DevRels. Additionally, there are open RFCs. At the conference itself, several members of the Angular team will be present, so you’ll have time during breaks to exchange ideas about various specifications.
What tips do you have for newcomers attending an Angular conference for the first time?
Martina: I can fully understand that a big conference can be intimidating, but as they say, everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time. If you overhear a conversation on a topic that interests you as you walk by, just join in. That’s normal at conferences, and many people will immediately include you in the discussion. By the way, many speakers are terribly nervous before their talks (no matter how many years they’ve been on stage). If you liked a talk, go up to them and tell them—it will make their day.
Dave: Don’t be afraid of "big" names. Everyone is equal. Everyone makes typos, debugs the wrong methods, or forgets to save. Approach people boldly. We’ll likely have ConfBuddy there again to help you connect. Talk to staff and speakers. And if in doubt, ask for WebDave.
What tips do you have for convincing the boss to buy a ticket?
Dave: Make it a company outing with the whole team. Bonn is a beautiful city. At a conference like this, you’ll find companions and potential new employees, employers, colleagues, and friends. You’ll also have the chance to talk directly with the developers of the library you’re currently struggling with.
Martina: If it’s going to be an Angular conference, it has to be NG-DE. Not only will you get concentrated knowledge about the latest features and specifications, but you’ll also have the opportunity to talk at length with like-minded people. Many other developers face the same problems as you, and maybe they’ve already found a solution that can help you too.
To give you a glimpse of the NG-DE lineup, here’s a list of the speakers and workshop trainers.
The speakers are Enea Jahollari, Gregor Woiwode, Ankita Sood, Julian Jandl, Jan-Niklas Wortmann, Stephen Cooper, Cathrin Möller, Devlin Duldulao, Vitalii Bobrov, Alisa Duncan, Eliran Eliassy, Robin Goetz, Benjamin Legrand.
Workshops will be led this year by Younes Jaaidi, Manfred Steyer, Alex Okrushko, Rainer Hahnekamp, Michael Hladky, Christian Liebel.
Details on the individual talks can be found here.