SoCraTes 2018

When I left SoCraTes 2018 this year I was as energized as the years before:

I have blogged about my experiences before, I called it Magic. It's magic because it is a place where I get to meet friends I have known for years, and we all arrive with the strong urge to learn from each other to be a better human in tech, in an open-space setting where everybody can be a teacher, and a student—at the same time.

This is so entirely different compare to regular conferences, because nobody is put on a stage. There is no stage, no list of speakers. We are all equals and those with many years of experience working in our industry know not to use experience as an excuse to not listen.

But this is not really news and upon reflecting I think I witnessed a very important change for the first time. This year I noticed that session related to diversity were proposed by members of underprivileged groups and it happened with a level of naturalness which made it evident that SoCraTes has become a safe-space for everyone. Big Kudos to the organizers who have been pushing to be more inclusive for many years now.

I cannot stress enough how important this is for me, to be invited to join a session where women shared their experience with sexual harassment. It provides a view to what I need to look out for, in my own behavior and this of my coworkers which I would not otherwise.

I invite you to join our community and make it even more diverse: https://www.softwarecrafters.org/