GeoDev HackerLab and Meetup in PDX - June 2018
On Wednesday, June 6th, the Developer Outreach team headed up to PDX to support the Esri Portland R&D team to host a HackerLab during the day and their first theme-based GeoDev Meetup in the evening! The theme was Web GIS, and they had Rene Rubalcava host the HackerLab as well as keynote the Meetup. Here's how the events shook out:
HackerLab
This free, hands-on self-guided training was focused on our Data > Design > Develop model, and this was led by both Rene and Mara Stoica. They started out focused on introducing the ArcGIS Platform and the role of web maps and web scenes. They moved into covering the basics of the ArcGIS API for JavaScript which included how to get it and how to use it. The team then worked with the class on web maps, pop-ups, searching/geocoding, directions, and styles and Smart Mapping. They moved into Arcade First Aid, which seemed to be useful to the class. To finalize the training, Rene and Mara covered authentication and the cream on top, building apps.
Overall, the training was successful, as we had 18 attendees - with many of them having never even heard of Esri's capabilities! Can you believe it? Well, they came to the right spot to learn about building apps using our ArcGIS Platform!
Meetup
After the HackerLab, most people decided to stay to join the rest of the PDX developer community that came out for the GeoDev Meetup! We saw some familiar faces and some brand new ones. The new attendees had never been to our office and enjoyed seeing our setup and meeting some of our key developers in the office.
Eli Gregory welcomed everyone to the meetup and provided a great deal of information on what the Portland, OR team has been working on and what the Developer Outreach has accomplished in their efforts. Click here to see Eli's slide deck.
Rene came back to give his "Web GIS and JavaScript" keynote talk and demo. The audience loved seeing new features and ways to use some of Esri's tools. He was kind enough to share his slides. They can be found here.
Allison Davis and Nate Bedortha demo'd some really cool base maps as part of the Vector Tile styling tool we recently introduced. They were kind enough to provide a way for you to see it here.
Aside from enjoying the developer networking atmosphere over pizza and beverages, they were also given the opportunity to share a project of theirs with the PDX community. This meetup was unique in that we made it based on a Web GIS and JavaScript theme. Here are those who decided to share their work with others based on this theme:
We had a great time listening and learning from our speakers, and we appreciated how they came through with some awesome content for a theme-based meetup!
After stumping a lot of our attendees with some really cool Portland, OR trivia, we randomly selected our DevSummit winner, Kevin Hill, who will be attending the DevSummit in Palm Springs in 2019.
Thank you to everyone for making this event a fun and fruitful event. We have made some new connections and rekindled previous ones. Please keep your eye out for our next meetups in September and November. We welcome any suggestions you may have for themes. Leave some in the comments below!