The many topics of beyond tellerrand in Munich

Künstlerhaus Munich – the venue for the first btconf in Munich

I have about why I run beyond tellerrand in Munich in January 2018, about what drives me, why Munich and why January. In short it is, because I was looking at the German map and thought ”Hmm … there is Düsseldorf and Berlin, maybe I can also try to get beyond tellerrand to the south and have people in south Germany, Austria, Switzerland and maybe Italy look beyond the tellerrand. I have chosen January, because I loved attending the New Adventures Conference, when it took place for three years in Nottingham in January 2011–2013. I loved the idea of meeting interesting people at this event and kick off the year together right after those lazy days around Christmas. In the first year we rented a van and drove to Nottingham with 5 or 6 people in the van. I loved it!

Now I try to take this spirit, not only by inviting Colly, who ran New Adventures Conf, but also by trying to find a great mix of topics for you. Wanna have a look about what’s already announced? Ok, here we go:

The Internet of Natural Things

Simon Collison aka Colly, startet writing again a few months ago. And right when he announced this (and is working on a relaunch of his own website), I was asking him to come and speak and really like the general topic he is going to write and speak about this year.

I also love to make connections and, if possible, have a reason to invite someone next to being a great speaker with something to say. This connection here is clear, as I mentioned in my post on the beyond tellerrand blog: Simon was the head and heart behind New Adventures, which took place in January, which I loved so much.

Stop motion

When I was on my daily round on Instagram, I stumbled over lovely stop motion movies created by a woman from Egypt. Her name is dina Amin and I directly had to contact her. I asked, if she ever has spoken at events like mine and she said, she did in Egypt and was happy to have a look at what I was doing. We had a Skype chat and I explained the concept and we chatted about what she does. We had a lovely conversation and I highly recommend checking out dina’s Instagram and/or Vimeo account to see how beautiful her work is. Fingers crossed that everything with her visa will be easy!

Data Visualisation

I usually wait a some time until I invite people back to beyond tellerrand. Not because I don’t like to have those people back every time, but to make it more interesting for the attendees and to not always have the same faces on stage. If people come back, I ask them, if they have new content. I was sure Nadieh Bremer would not disappoint and I love the way she speaks about data visualisation. It is visually appealing, technically top level, presented in a charming way with beautiful slides – always worth watching her at any event.

Responsive Web Design

With the roots in the Web Community and having the Web still as main theme, beyond tellerrand of course wants to serve, who want to learn and hear about new things, best practices and tips and tricks from the field. Surely Vitaly Friedman is one of the best people you can get for this. Not only with his expertise as long time editor in chief of Smashing Magazine, but also with his many, many workshops and trainings he was running during the last couple of years. So, if you are interested in hearing about New Adventures in Responsive Web Design, be there. Furthermore, if you want to dive deeper, Vitaly is giving a full-day workshop on Monday 15th with the title Smart Responsive Interface Design Patterns.

Email

Email? What is interesting about email? you might think. I have to admit, if I’d not know Mark Robbins and his talks, I’d think the same. But he completely surprised me and taught me what an interesting topic that is. Technically and from a designer’s point of view. So if you wonder, what is possible with email, like building a fully functional shopping card into an email fro example, this is the talk that is going to be for you.

Accessibility

A topic that, if possible, I always want to cover at any of the beyond tellerrand events. I think it is extremely important and a topic we tend to forget easily about when being under time pressure, having to finish a project or when it comes to budget discussion. That is wrong and people like Marcy Sutton do a great job in reminding us about it. This time she is speaking about Radically Accessible Internet Applications and I am sure, I will be there to watch it.

Graphic Design

I myself have a background in graphic design and I am honoured about the fact, that I am able to invite some of my heroes to my own events. In November, at beyond tellerrand Berlin, I was so happy and delighted to have Paula Scher speaking. In 2015 Chip Kidd was my guest. Now I am happy to have Stefan Sagmeister back in the family. I love meeting with and chatting to Stefan, whenever I can and I love listening to his talks.

Performance

Harry Roberts is going to be the first person who has spoken at btconf in Düsseldorf, Berlin and Munich. When I invited him for the first time in 2013, he was only 22 and still employed. Quite some changes happened in his life since then and I am always completely sure that he is going to deliver a high quality talk. Next to a talk – most possibly about performance – he is giving a full-day workshop called Front-End Performance: Building Faster Websites which is already well booked … so don’t wait too long, if you want to attend his workshop.

Robotics and Future Technologies

If you ask me, where I met Carla Diana for the first time, I have to admit, I do not really remember, but I think it was at one of the Flash on The Beach events of my friend John Davey. I always wanted to invite her to come and speak and am happy, that she now is coming to the first edition in Munich. I love her little book Leo the Maker Prince, I want to be friends with Simon and Curi and I am looking forward to have a glimpse into the future with Carla.

SVG and CSS

I think there is one person you think of, when hearing those to terms together … SVG … CSS … correct: Sara Soueidan is back and the good news is, that we most probably don’t have to fight for her visa this time, as she already has one. I am going to make sure to cool her down before she goes on stage, so that she maybe speaks a bit slower, but you know, it is her excitement, her joy of speaking about what she loves to work with and therefore I am more than happy to have Saran back on stage at beyond tellerrand. Next to a talk, Sara packed a full-day workshop about SVG into her suitcase. Well booked already, but you can use the chance to learn about SVG from someone who really knows he shit. ;)

Kirby CMS

Bastian Allgeier, the mastermind behind Kirby, gave a full-day workshop in Berlin for everybody who wants to learn about Kirby or who is already experienced in Kirby. This workshop in Berlin was the one that was sold out first … just saying. Right now Bastian and his team are working on the new version of Kirby and I am sure, there is a lot of stuff that you want to hear about in Munich …

… and even more

If you look at this wide variety of topics, I ask you: is that cool? That is beyond tellerrand and I am totally looking forward to January already. There are even three more people I have to announce, which I will do soon, but if the above is not worth already attending, I don’t know what you are waiting for.

There are only 56 days left until the first edition in Munich takes place and other than in Düsseldorf or Berlin, where I can fit 500 people, the venue in Munich only holds up to 400 people. 270+ tickets are already gone. So don’t wait too long and reserve your seat.

See you there!