My Experience as a Speaker at ConFrontJS 🎤 [+ Poland Vlog]

Hello dear readers, in this article I’ll describe my last 3-4 days traveling in Warsaw, Poland and attending as a speaker for the 2nd time the ConFrontJS Conference, a tech conference about front-end development. I'll share what I did (tech and non-tech wise) as well as some new experiences!

Going to this conference I wasn't as nervous as other times, since I already knew some of the organizers and speakers!

P.S. If you are not feeling like reading, you can watch the video version 😉.

Day 0 - Preparations 🏠

Since I would be traveling for only a few days and I was going to a familiar place I didn't have many preparations to do..! Also as time passes, covid restrictions are becoming less and less hard which means I didn't have to do any covid test or prepare any PLF form.

Day 1 - Greece to Poland ✈

I woke up early that morning to work for a few hours and then catch my flight. I arrived at my city's airport on time and the process for the check-in was fast and easy. I had my first flight at about 14:00 and after a few hours, I was in Krakow, Poland. There was a big layover and I didn't have many things to do... I scroll a bit on my social media, I updated my online friends about the trip 😅 and I read a book! Later, I caught my next flight, Krakow to Warsaw is just 30 minutes and again the flight was smooth and fast! As soon as I arrived I took an Uber and checked-in in the hotel. The hotel is located in the heart of Warsaw and very near to the conference venue.

When I arrived it was almost 22:00 in my time zone (21:00 in Poland). Although I had an invitation for dinner, with some other speakers, I had to decline as I was feeling quite tired. That day I just explore the hotel (it was quite big 🏨) and I fell asleep.

Day 2 - Explore the city & Speakers' dinner 🍝

I woke up fresh and excited for the day! My plan was to work for a few hours and then explore the city. And that's exactly what I did.

Exploring the city

The day was lovely and I decided to walk to the Vistula river. It was about 20min walking distance.

Near the river there is the Kopernik-Planitarium. I tried to go there too, but there was a huge line to get in and I decided to just keep going and explore the OLD city. The old city is very pretty and I highly recommend it. Before going back to the hotel I made a stop at a quite little pastry and coffee shop for a late lunch!

Speakers' Dinner

I returned to the hotel, had a quick workout session at the hotel's gym and then it was time for the Speakers' Dinner.

All of us met in a traditional polish restaurant and had excellent food!! We discussed about tech, our careers and our future plans. It was so lovely seeing familiar faces but also meeting new people. I always enjoy connecting with people... (yeah, at first is a bit hard as I'm a bit shy... but after a while it becomes easier...)

Day 3: The day of my talk + After Parties 🥂

Once again, I woke up pretty fresh and ready for the day. I arrived at the conference venue (Palace of Culture and Science - I highly recommend visiting this place too!) and started attending the talks. After a few of them it was my turn! I had my talk, I answered a few questions from the audience and I kept the contacts of a few people...! I had lunch at the conference, I attended some more talks, and when the conference was about to end, three of the organizers and me decided to visit the tower of the Palace of Culture and Science. According to wikipedia the tower has "a total height of 237 metres (778 ft) it is the second tallest building in both Warsaw and Poland". The view from up there is amazing!

After the conference we went to the after party. It was held in Warsaw's Hard Rock Cafe. Something I enjoyed there was the fact that the after party was open to everyone and we could network and make connections which hopefully will turn out to good friendships 😊. After a few hours, we went to another pub-bar and enjoyed a few drinks there as well. I returned back to the hotel pretty tired. 💤

Day 4: Returning back home 🏠

After a lovely breakfast at the hotel, and a few walks in the city it was time to catch my flight again. First stop was Krakow and next stop was SKG-Greece.

Well actually, I'm writing this article from a coffee shop in Krakow's airport... But hopefully I'll return back home safe and sound! 🙌

Conclusion and future plans 🔮

I had a lovely time in ConFrontJS and I enjoyed meeting new people but also seeing familiar faces! I'm also really happy that I'm finally able to share my next few trips and conferences (and more TBA).

21-22 April - Verona, Italy - Jsday

25-29 April - Porto, Portoguese - NDC Porto

More info here.

13 May - Belgium, Brussels - BeJS

Not only that

Until late June I have a few more conferences, but I'd rather share more info in the upcoming months! Stay tuned.

The Vlog ⬇

👋 Hello, I'm Eleftheria, Community Manager at Hashnode, developer, public speaker, and chocolate lover.

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