SmashingConf 2020 – San Francisco, Freiburg, New York And Austin
We’ve been running SmashingConf since 2012, when we held our very first conference in Freiburg, Germany. Since then, we’ve continued to experiment and improve on our conference experience. Our aim is that you enjoy your time with us, but also return to work with new insights and knowledge. Each time we hope to leave you with practical takeaways that will help you in your own work and want to share with your team.
What is a SmashingConf like? It’s hard to explain until you have been there, however ,this video compilation from Toronto might just give you an idea!
## Experimenting With Presentation Formats Back in 2018, we began to experiment with the live-coding format. While not every presentation at SmashingConf was live-coded, many presenters brought a live element to their talk. Some speakers opted to present without slides completely, and these interactive sessions have been incredibly popular with audiences. Being able to watch an expert doing their work, seeing the tools they use and the choices they make in real time, brought many subjects to life.“I love the fact that this talk format also kind of rid me of the expectation that it needed to be flawless.”Many of our speakers enjoyed the chance to try something different on stage; some have gone so far as to decide to make live-coding part of how they present in the future.
— Sara Soueidan
“I didn’t expect this, but I’m now seriously considering this format as a way I do talks at other conferences.”Not every talk fits a live-coding format, of course. Throughout 2019, we feel that we’ve found a great balance of practical live-coded (or live-designed) sessions, more traditional presentations with slides, and some which have mixed the two approaches. SmashingConf audiences are a mixture of designers and developers, of visual thinkers and those who learn best from seeing a lot of code. As Dan Mall noted in his [write-up of his live-coded talk](https://danmall.com/):
— Dan Mall
“A few designers felt validated in their processes by seeing mine [...]In mixing up the formats as well as the subjects being discussed, we hope to bring parts of the industry to life — even for those who don’t normally work in that area.
“A few developers said design felt less intimidating now, both to understand as well as to try.”
![Vitaly interviewing Val Head on stage at Smashing Conf Freiburg 2019](https://res.cloudinary.com/indysigner/image/fetch/f_auto,q_80/w_400/https://archive.smashing.media/assets/344dbf88-fdf9-42bb-adb4-46f01eedd629/5d19cbe6-ee9c-4480-aaa1-713db4358b80/smashingconf-vitaly.jpg)
San Francisco, Freiburg, New York Or Austin! #
The Smashing Cat will soon be on its way to Austin for the first time. We’re really excited about heading to Texas and about our events in cities we already know and love. Over the next few months, we’ll be announcing speakers and schedules for all of the events, but early-bird tickets are already available for San Francisco, Austin, and Freiburg 2020.
This year’s events have all been sold out well in advance of the conference dates, so mark the following dates in your calendars, have a chat with your boss, and work out where you will be heading to spend a fun and educational few days with the Smashing crew!
San Francisco, USA #
SmashingConf SF will be taking place on April 21–22 where we’ll be bringing back two full days packed with front-end, UX and all that jazz! Live sessions on performance, accessibility, security, interface design, debugging and fancy CSS/JS techniques — and a few surprises along the way, of course! 🎸
Austin, USA #
SmashingConf Austin will be taking place in the wonderful ZACH Theatre on June 9–10, 2020. Tacos, cats, and a friendly community — see ya in Austin, I reckon? 🌮
Freiburg, Germany #
We will be returning to our hometown for SmashingConf Freiburg on the 7-8 September 2020. We pour our hearts into creating friendly, inclusive events that are focused on real-world problems and solutions. Our focus is on front-end and UX, but we cover all things web — be it UI design or machine learning. The Freiburg edition is, of course, no exception!
New York, USA #
Join us for SmashingConf NYC on the 20-21 October 2020. This event is always a popular one, so watch out for tickets going on sale very soon!
Further Reading #
- Sketchnotes And Key Takeaways From SmashingConf Antwerp 2023
- How To Become A Better Speaker At Conferences
- State Of CSS Survey: Influence The Future Of CSS
- The Conference Platform We Use For Our Online Events: Hopin
![Smashing Editorial](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/images/logo/logo--red.png)
— Comments 4
What happened to Toronto for 2020? I know there was no hard date but I thought it had been confirmed for June? Canada is a "smashing" place to hold a conference.!
@Jeff Carter:I'll admit that I'm also disappointed about not seeing Toronto in the list of SmashingConf 2020. Is there's any reason ? Any plan to replace the location to somewhere else ?