SmashingConf New York 2019: Videos And Photos

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Rachel Andrew is a web developer, writer and speaker. She is the author of a number of books, including The New CSS Layout. She is one of the people behind the … More about Rachel ↬

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The video from SmashingConf New York is ready to share. If you didn’t manage to get a ticket, this post should give you a feel for what happened. Rachel Andrew rounds up the event with all the video, photos and memories of the fun we had together in New York. We also have the video of the presentations to share with you.

We love running our event in New York, and given that it sold out a long way in advance we think that you do too. If you didn’t manage to get a ticket, this post should give you a feel for what happened. We also have the video of the presentations to share with you.

Enjoy this roundup, and if you want to be there in person for one of our events next year, tickets are on sale right now!

A set of mock show posters feature the Smashing cat
Topple the Cat greeted attendees by way of our Broadway posters (Photo credit: Drew McLellan)

The Presentations

The main focus of the conference is the speakers and the presentations they bring. As with all of our 2019 events, some speakers opted to present without slides.

One person in the middle of the stage, two behind a desk
Brad Frost, Dan Mall, and Ian Frost co-presenting (Photo credit: Drew McLellan)

In the tables below, I’ve linked to slides for those talks which had them, plus the video of each presentation. Enjoy two days worth of learning from the comfort of your own couch!

Day One

The Day One Collaborative Doc created by attendees is full of takeaways from the first day of the conference.

Speaker NameTalk TitleVideo & Slides
Dan Mall and Brad FrostDesigner vs. DeveloperVideo, Slides
Marcy SuttonGarbage Pail ComponentsVideo, Slides
Trine FalbeDesigning For Kids Is Not A GameVideo, Slides
Denys MishunovI Built A Frankenstein Monster: 3 Stories Of MigrationVideo, Slides
Maggie WachsLessons Learned From A Decade Of Building Pattern LibrariesVideo, Slides
Wes BosSlam Dunk Your JavaScript FundamentalsVideo, Slides

Day Two

Check out the Day Two Collaborative Doc for more resources and thoughts from our attendees and speakers.

Our mystery speaker was dina Amin. The Smashing Team love her Instagram!

We then enjoyed talks covering a wide range of topics from our day two speakers.

A woman presenting on stage
dina Amin (Photo credit: Drew McLellan)
Speaker NameTalk TitleVideo & Slides
dina AminMystery SpeakerVideo
Harry RobertsDemystifying Vim, Live!Video
Sara SoueidanApplied Accessibility: Practical Tips For Building More Accessible Front-EndsVideo,
Remy SharpUsing A Modern Web To Create 1980s Horrible Slow and Loud Loading ScreensVideo
Scott JehlMove Fast And Don't Break ThingsVideo
Miriam SuzanneCSS is RadVideo,

Workshops

People behind desks working with stickers and paper
Workshop attendees working together (Photo credit: Drew McLellan)

Our workshops are a big part of each of our Smashing conferences. We held busy workshops the day before and day after SmashingConf New York, at the Microsoft Technology Center. Here is what attendees could choose from.

NameWorkshop Title
Dan Mall and Brad FrostDesigner / Developer Collaborative Workflow
Scott JehlLightning Fast Web Performance
Marcy SuttonBuilding Accessible Sites With Gatsby
Vitaly FriedmanSmart Responsive UX Design Patterns
The Deque TeamHow To Translate Wireframes Into Accessible HTML/CSS
Rachel AndrewNext Steps With CSS Layout
Remy SharpModern Universal React Dev With Next.js
Harry RobertsFront-End Performance: Building Faster Websites
Vitaly FriedmanNew Front-End Adventures

Side Activities

A conference isn’t just about the talks and speakers. We want to make spaces where attendees and speakers can learn from each other and share experiences in a more informal setting. We want to offer something for everyone — from the party-goers to the fitness enthusiasts, and everyone in-between! So at lunchtime, we had lunch sessions: On Day 1, we saw the “Web We Want” panel discussion from Microsoft, and on Day 2, Deque ran a session for those who wanted to learn more about accessibility over a plate of lunch.

We also invited people who organize community meetups in the local area onstage to tell the audience about their group.

A woman onstage under a slide saying Local Community
Community Groups talk to the Smashing audience (Photo credit: Drew McLellan)

Morning Run

The SmashingConf run is becoming a fixture, and in New York we had Central Park to run around. We started just as it was getting light and joined the runners of New York for a lap of the park.

Evening Events

The Jam Session this time round was hosted by Shopify. Attendees spent time socializing and hearing some lightning talks from Tiffany Tse, Rachel Weil, April Ellsey, Timirah James, Jordan Patterson, and Taylor Poulos.

People watching a talk and raising their hands
The Jam Session (Photo credit: Drew McLellan)

We also had a party after day one which was held at The Waylon, where there were some nice craft beers and a lovely outdoor space to enjoy. Luckily the torrential rain didn’t arrive until day 2!

People in an outdoor space at a pub
Enjoyng good conversations with new friends (Photo credit: Drew McLellan)

Want To Join Us In 2020?

We packed a lot into those few days! If you were there, we hope that you enjoyed it as much as we did. It was great to meet so many of you.

An audience throwing colored balloons into the air, taken from the stage
Balloons! (Photo credit: Drew McLellan)

In 2020 we’re back with many more cats, mysteries and 4 friendly and inclusive conferences. Join us in:

The team are already hard at work making these events as amazing as those we have enjoyed running for you this year. Grab an Early Bird ticket and we’ll see you there!

A large group of people on stage under a slide that says Thank You.
The Smashing Team on stage at the end of the conference (Photo credit: Drew McLellan)

Further Reading

Smashing Editorial (il, mrn)