I was invited to this conference a week ago and I enjoyed it so much!

Day 1

To be honest, I was a bit tired just coming back from FOSDEM so it was a struggle to wake up early to commute with other Londoners to the conference. I am glad that I did do to the conference.

First, we have an opening by Amanda Brock, the CEO of Open UK. I talked to her later at the conference and she is really sweet.

Keynote by @ChiOnwurah, @TheLabourParty_ MP of New Castle upon Tyne at #SOOCon23 pic.twitter.com/gMqjkUbZwo

— Cheuk Ting Ho (@cheukting_ho) February 7, 2023

Next, the first keynote is the by Chi Onwurah - the Labour MP of New Castle upon Tyne. I am glad to see the tech community connected with decision-makers and I think we need the conversation.

Next in #SOOCon23 we have Damani Corbin from @Boeing speaking about their use of OSS pic.twitter.com/fhxoVBGkrr

— Cheuk Ting Ho (@cheukting_ho) February 7, 2023

Next, we have Damani Corbin who’s in charge of Strategy & EcoSystem Growth at Boeing speaking about open-source within their company.

Good time at #SOOCon23 @openuk_uk 😊 pic.twitter.com/MUiD3LSeft

— Cheuk Ting Ho (@cheukting_ho) February 7, 2023

After these amazing talks, I decided to take a break and walk around and check out the booths. I had a good chat with some amazing people. Including Deb, the executive director of FreeBSD and Nick who was the director of development at Open Source Initiative. I also got loads of swags.

Let’s try the unconference at #SOOCon23 @openuk_uk pic.twitter.com/K5SIph2sDp

— Cheuk Ting Ho (@cheukting_ho) February 7, 2023

In the afternoon I attended an unconference session, which is very interesting and there was a lot of discussion about open hardware securities.

Unfortunately, I have to leave early after one drink at the all-hands party. I planned to attend the PyData London meeting that night.

Day 2

Another morning commute across London for me, and I am not a fan of it. However, I feel much better after a coffee at the conference.

Community building round table at #SOOCon23 pic.twitter.com/2KmcBzUtvN

— Cheuk Ting Ho (@cheukting_ho) February 8, 2023

In the morning, I decide to go for a roundtable session about community building. The discussion is interesting and I have learnt a few things. After that, I also have a very nice conversation with the host of the session and a teacher names Adam. We exchanged contact as he said he would like to invite me to speak at the school, we will see how it goes.

At lunch, I hang out with Sammy, my friend and organiser of PyCon HK. We don’t have much time to hang out while he is in London, so we may as well have a chat during the conference. After lunch, I went for another unconference and met a bunch of cool people how we later went to karaoke with.

Got to meet @cheukting_ho in person who is rockin Python and data science community work at @anacondainc #stateofopencon23 pic.twitter.com/yc4mwp3LzZ

— Bart Farrell (@birthmarkbart) February 8, 2023

I left the conference early to head home for more meetings. However, I went back for the unofficial karaoke party, who doesn’t love karaoke? I think the conference ended on a high note here.

State of Karaoke has started! #SOOCon23 pic.twitter.com/oco1u0e8jk

— Cheuk Ting Ho (@cheukting_ho) February 8, 2023

And there it is! I am glad to join the conference and I now I will keep an eye on all the Open UK events as I like what they are doing and the community is very nice.