It all happened on the morning of May 2nd. About 90 developers, representing more than 50 companies and 10 countries, got together at the OutSystems Lisbon office, for the first edition of Developers Morning - a morning entirely dedicated to OutSystems biggest champions: its own community. (And spoiler alert, it was a total success). But let me start from the beginning...
The day had barely started, but you could tell something was coming up. Assembled at the entrance, impatiently waiting, you could see several developers all dressed in black t-shirts, stating a proud “No Code”. Who were they? Our OutSystems Engineers, looking like charming warriors, straight out of Braveheart (but better looking and wearing pants), ready to welcome the guest developers and their feedback, thoughts, ideas, compliments. Oh, and the pizza of course.
For one unforgettable morning, the OutSystems Community left the cyberspace and got together in a real life environment of pure co-creation, where questions were asked, critics were shot, praised was given and a lot (and I mean, a LOT) of brainstorming took place.
The concept was (kinda) simple: three sessions, twenty minutes each, all happening at the same time. At the sound of a whistle, the guests changed sessions, in a true speed dating system. But, worry not, it was all very professional!
“I didn’t know what to expect. I came with an open mind. But it was very interesting, especially the ‘Ask me Anything’ dynamic. Some really tough questions were asked, but the moderators managed them very well”, commented Justin James, from FICO (USA), who has been an OutSystems developer for 7 years and is a very popular member of the Community.
“We were expecting a torch and pitchfork crowd, but all the feedback was very constructive”, said Sérgio Silva, one of the moderators of the session.
And we didn’t forget about our newly launched MVP Program - during the event, there was also time to unexpectedly award the Most Valued Professionals, for their amazing work on OutSystems (eheh, we put them right on the spot).
“It was a nice surprise being awarded MVP. And I didn't expect it to happen. It shows that OutSystems appreciates the work we're doing trying to promote Platform. And this morning was a great idea. After all, next to the end customers who actually pay the license, the developers are the ones building all those great apps that make the platform into a success”, said Kurt Vandevelde, from Providit (Belgium), one of the MVPs awarded with the trophy mug.
But, of course, there were plenty other surprises, such as the launch of the new Community Homepage, carefully re-design having in mind the opinions and suggestions of the Community. And it was welcomed with a round of applause from the excited audience (you will all get to see this very soon..).
It was a successful initiative that served to prove not only OutSystems confidence in its product and developers, but also to confirm the value of the Community in the constant improvement of the Platform (I mean, for some reason OutSystems was named the world leader among the low-code development platforms, so, thank you guys!).
“It shows OutSystems can handle anything. I’m a client for three years. At the time, it wasn’t an easy choice; I didn’t really believe in the product. But if I was going to make the choice now, after three years, it would be a much easier decision. Today, everything is better, faster. And I’m too old to code”, concluded Bob Casey, from Prologis (USA), a previously assumed skeptic of the OutSystems Platform.
And that’s what happened at the first edition of Developers Morning (well, a quick overview, otherwise we’d end up with a much longer post).
Thank you all of you who joined Developers Morning and made this event the success it was!
If you missed it, I’m pretty sure that after reading this brief peek into the event, you won’t miss it next year! Looking forward to the second edition!
Written by Rita Ferreira (Social Spy) & Carla Sofia