Skills to Bills: A Users Guide to Demonstrated Competency

In today’s tech environment and job market, one needs to be able to discuss how to build solutions to resolve business problems and articulate the “why” and "how" behind one's choices. This concept can be best explained as demonstrated competence. This session aims to focus on bridging the gap between technical competence and professional confidence by showcasing how to present your work effectively, share your knowledge, and solidify your standing as a capable developer.
We will break down this talk in the following steps:

Speak to it.
In this talk, you will learn how to share your experiences of what you worked on at the workplace, in personal projects or in the open-source community.

Build it (Demonstrate it)
You will also learn that the workplace isn’t the only place where you build your repertoire of experience, there are other places you can do this.

Share it
Share the word with social media and other means to share what you know. We will discuss options that you can take advantage of.

The emotional wherewithal ( Beware of Imposter Syndrome)
Finally, we’ll discuss how you can handle some of the emotional traps that can cause you to trip up as you demonstrate your competence A.K.A. imposter syndrome raising its ugly head and how to head off and prevent it from happening to you.

By the end of this session, you’ll be equipped with practical tips for developing, presenting, and confidently discussing your work, proving that you truly know what you’re talking about.

This session focuses on developing the ability to articulate the "why" behind your technical choices, demonstrating competence in solving business problems. You'll learn to effectively present your work, share your experiences, and solidify your confidence as a capable developer. Key topics include discussing your tools, design choices, and problem-solving methods, building experience through personal projects and open-source contributions, and sharing your achievements via portfolios, blogs, or video platforms. We’ll also address overcoming imposter syndrome and enhancing your professional confidence. By the end, you'll have practical tips for building, presenting, and communicating your work effectively.

How to Conference : A User Guide

Are you an introvert who dreads large gatherings? Do you find it challenging to attend tech conferences or user group events? We know how you feel, but the good news is that these gatherings present invaluable opportunities to expand your knowledge, enhance your skills, and even discover your next career move. The key is to navigate them effectively without feeling overwhelmed.

Join us as we discuss how introverts can make the most of conferences and user groups without exhausting themselves. In this session, we will explore strategies to ensure your success, from what to bring to these events, to uncovering the most effective learning methods and practices. We'll also delve into techniques and ideas for finding essential breaks to recharge and reveal the optimal places to be for maximum advantage.

Discover how introverts and extroverts can thrive in the world of tech conferences and user groups.

The Engineer's Guide to Socialization

DB Associations as Networking Patterns: A Developer's Guide to Professional Connections"

This talk reimagines professional networking through the familiar lens of database associations, making relationship-building more approachable for developers. By mapping associations to networking scenarios, we'll transform technical knowledge into effective social strategies.

Talk Overview
We'll explore how common Rails/ db associations parallel networking patterns:
- `belongs_to`: Building one-on-one mentor/mentee relationships
- `has_many: through`: Leveraging existing connections for introductions
- `has_and_belongs_to_many`: Engaging with tech communities and groups

Key Takeaways:
1. A technical framework for understanding networking dynamics
2. Practical strategies tailored for introverted developers
3. Implementation techniques for each "association type"
4. Tools to measure networking effectiveness
5. Actionable steps for immediate application

This session bridges the gap between technical expertise and professional relationship building. You'll gain:
- Structured approaches to networking that align with developer thinking
- Concrete examples of successful networking patterns
- Implementation strategies for various career stages
- Methods to convert technical knowledge into social capital

Target Audience:
- Developers of all levels seeking to grow their professional network
- Engineering leaders aiming to strengthen team connections
- Community organizers building tech communities

Whether you're starting your career or leading a team, this talk provides a systematic approach to networking that feels natural to technical minds. You'll leave with practical tools to build and maintain professional relationships using familiar patterns from your daily work.

Target Audience
- Software developers at all levels who want to improve their networking skills and understand it in a technical format.
- Team leads and engineering managers looking to help their teams build better connections.
- Community organizers seeking structured approaches to building tech communities.

Format
- 35 - 50 -minute presentation
- 5 -7-minute Q&A session

This is Technical Talk - Essential People Skills for Developers

In the tech industry, we often focus heavily on technical abilities while undervaluing the crucial "soft skills" that can make or break a developer's career. This talk delves into nine fundamental people skills that are essential for thriving in software engineering, presenting practical, actionable steps for improvement in each area.

You'll learn:

- How effective communication can prevent project derailments and strengthen team dynamics.
- Techniques for fostering meaningful collaboration in both remote and in-person environments.
- Systematic approaches to problem-solving that go beyond just debugging code.
- Time management strategies specifically tailored for developers juggling multiple projects.
- Methods to build adaptability in an industry where change is the only constant.
- Ways to nurture creativity while working within technical constraints.
- Techniques for maintaining attention to detail without becoming overly perfectionist.
- Building interpersonal skills that enhance team relationships and client interactions.
- Developing leadership capabilities, regardless of your current role or title.

Each skill area will be illustrated with real-world examples and scenarios from my experience in the field, accompanied by one specific, implementable action that attendees can take immediately to improve in that area.

Perfect for:
- Junior developers looking to accelerate their career growth
- Senior developers transitioning into team lead roles
- Tech leads wanting to build stronger teams
- Anyone in software development seeking to enhance their professional effectiveness

Key Takeaways:
- Understanding why people skills are also technical skills.
- Practical exercises and habits to develop each skill.
- Common pitfalls to avoid and how to overcome them.
- Resources for continued growth in each area.

This talk aims to help developers become not just better coders, but better professionals who can navigate the human aspects of software development with confidence and skill.

Here is a list of the skills I would like to talk about:
=> Communication
=> Collaboration
=> Problem-solving
=> Time management
=> Adaptability
=> Creativity
=> Attention to detail
=> Interpersonal skills / Networking
=> Leadership skills

Unlocked : Growing Your Skills Through Open Source Development And Civic Hacking

As a developer, we want to increase our knowledge of the development world around us so that we can help grow our careers or help the world. Many folks can grow their career through reading blogs, books, following tutorials, building projects, or watching videos. But some of us need a project or community to help us attain our career growth. Where can we find these projects or the community? In this discussion, we will show you 2 paths that you can take advantage of, so that you can give to the community and grow your career.
The first path that we will discuss is how to contribute to an open-source project. This includes the who, what, and how of open source and the places where you can contribute to an open source.

Spoilers: Anyone can contribute, and you need not be a coder to contribute.
The second path we'll discuss is civic Hacking. We will define what it is, where to get involved, and cover its basic tenets:
- Do what you can?
- Where you can?
- With what you've got?

This is a talk that is presented with two speakers handling 2 separate sections.

How !To Be Mentored

How to does one get the best out of a mentor-ship, while provide providing value to both the mentee and the mentor in times of time spent and growth?

The mentee/mentor relationship in tech tends to be wrought with issues if not structured properly on both ends. This talk hopes to provide actionable steps learned from my wins and losses based on my experience being a part of a learn-to-code mentorship group for 1 year period. This talk will include :
=> Understanding the value propositions of the participants [mentee vs mentor]), etc.
=> Setting relationship fundamentals/foundations and expectations/results.
=> Time and task management suggestions.
=> How to deal with challenges as they come up.
=> Content to read ( books, articles, and people to follow on Twitter).
=> Etc ( Anything else that can come to mind when writing this talk based on the theme of the audience/ conference ).

- This talk is aimed to be a community talk.
- It can be 30 - 50 mins long based on the audience.
- target: Anyone but catering to entry-level and mid-devs

Social Goodness || Civic Hacking - What's in it for me?

I am giving away my time and talent for free, how to I benefit from being a part of civic hacking?

This talk will look at the benefits of being a part of the local civic hacking community. This talk will use some concrete examples to speak about how I have become a better developer and project manager through those experiences and was a part of a team that donated $40,000 to charity. I will also cite experiences and provide actionable steps learned as a developer and a community organizer, explain how civic hacking has helped me to grow as a developer ( using examples from Marta Hackathons, AT&T C3 Hackathons, Civic Hack nights, Atl Thinks competitions )
These steps include :
=> How to use civic hacking to grow your soft skills.
=> How to use civic hacking to grow your technical skills.
=> How to use civic hacking as a networking tool.
=> How to use civic hacking projects as a part of job hunting ( both technically and behaviorally).

Back to Basics: Essential JavaScript Foundations for Modern Framework Development

In an era where AI and tech influencers often promote jumping directly into framework development, this talk emphasizes the critical importance of mastering JavaScript fundamentals before diving into frameworks like Vue.js. Drawing from real-world experience transitioning into Vue 3 development, we'll explore why solid JavaScript foundations are crucial for effective framework usage.
Through practical demonstrations and real-world examples, we'll examine how core JavaScript concepts directly map to modern framework features, using Vue 3 as our primary example. This session will help developers understand why "learning to walk before running" in JavaScript is essential for long-term success in framework development.

See : https://dev.to/nerajno/11-javascript-fundamentals-for-vue-developers-42a1

Beyond SEO: Optimizing Your Web Content for the Age of AI

The Problem:
Most developers build websites that are well-coded, fast, and accessible — but invisible to AI. When someone asks ChatGPT "what's the best way to handle state in Vue 3?" or "who are the developers writing about Astro in Atlanta?", your content doesn't show up. Not because it's bad. Because it's not structured for how AI engines ingest and cite information.

Traditional SEO taught us to optimize for keyword ranking and backlinks. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the next layer — and right now, most developers don't know it exists.

What This Talk Covers:
This talk is split into two acts — mirroring a two-part article series I wrote on the topic — and takes attendees from zero to implementation.

Act 1: GEO Explained:
What GEO actually is (and what it isn't — it's not just SEO with a new name).
The five key differences between SEO and GEO: discovery method, content focus, goals, metrics, and technical needs.
Why AI models need structured, explicit, self-contained content to cite you.
The real career opportunity: GEO is an emerging skill with low competition and high demand.

Act 2: GEO Applied:
The three core pillars: semantic HTML structure, explicit content formatting, structured data markup.
Live Astro component walkthrough — transforming a generic page into a GEO-optimized one.
JSON-LD schema implementation for BlogPosting, FAQPage, and Person types — with copy-paste patterns.
Writing self-contained, citable paragraphs (and why vague "as mentioned above" writing kills AI discoverability).
Building FAQ sections that map directly to how users query AI platforms.
Advanced techniques: entity optimization, content hierarchy, cross-referencing, accessibility as GEO foundation.

How to Measure It:
Querying AI platforms directly to test citation frequency. Structured data validation with Google's Rich Results Test. Tracking "conversational reach" — a new metric most teams aren't measuring yet.

Who This Is For:
Junior, mid-level developers and other professionals who publish content, maintain portfolios, or build client-facing websites — anyone who wants their work to be discoverable in a world where AI answers come before search results.

No prior GEO experience needed. Basic HTML/CSS familiarity assumed.

Why Now:
Generative search isn't coming — it's here. Perplexity, ChatGPT Search, Google AI Overviews, and Gemini are already changing how people find information. Developers who learn GEO now will be the ones defining team standards and consulting on content strategy in 12–18 months. This is the early adopter window, and it's closing.

Search is changing. Fewer users are clicking blue links — they're reading AI-generated answers. If your content, portfolio, or product isn't structured for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), you're invisible where it matters most: inside ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity.
This talk breaks down GEO from the ground up — what it is, why it matters right now, and exactly how to implement it. We'll cover the core pillars: semantic HTML, structured data (JSON-LD), explicit content formatting, and FAQ architecture. Then we'll get hands-on with a real Astro implementation showing every technique applied to actual code.
You'll leave with a practical checklist, reusable patterns, and the confidence to start making your projects — and your career — AI-discoverable.