Building a Better Web
June 11–12, 2018: Training
June 12–14, 2018: Tutorials & Conference
San Jose, CA
 
210 A/E
9:00am Applying design thinking to hiring: Designing a better hiring process for optimizing delight and diversity Crystal Yan (United States Digital Service)
9:50am When third parties stop being polite. . .and start getting real Nic Jansma (Akamai), Charles Vazac (Akamai)
11:00am Hacking web performance Max Firtman (ITMaster Professional Training)
3:35pm Tracking the performance of the web with HTTP Archive Paul Calvano (Akamai Technologies)
4:25pm Inclusive design: Putting humans back in focus Sarah Federman (Adobe)
210 B/F
9:00am What is WebAssembly good for? Sasha Aickin (Self-employed)
9:50am Just enough functional programming to be a danger to yourself and coworkers Kyle Shevlin (Formidable Labs)
11:00am Thinking PRPL Houssein Djirdeh (Rangle.io)
3:35pm Offline sync for progressive web apps Bradley Holt (IBM)
4:25pm Blockchain as a backend: How to utilize current cryptocurrencies in your applications Destry Saul (Unchained Capital)
210 C/G
9:00am Developers need to pay attention to licenses Brian Rinaldi (Progress)
9:50am A frontend developer's guide to GraphQL Peggy Rayzis (Meteor Development Group)
11:00am Embracing vulnerability by empowering everyone to own security annie lau (Trulia)
3:35pm Caring for your fellow developers Trent Willis (Netflix)
4:25pm Building software for blue-collar users Wade Minter (Custom Communications)
210 D/H
9:00am Creating a reusable React component library Cory House (Pluralsight | Cox Automotive)
9:50am Visual Studio Code can do that? Burke Holland (Microsoft)
11:00am The evolution of a Node.js service Gergely Németh (GoDaddy)
3:35pm My week in JavaScript hell Keerthana Krishnan (Two Dudes Photography)
4:25pm 10 KB or bust: The delicate power of webpack and Babel Brian Holt (Microsoft)
212 A/B
9:00am Help! I accidentally distributed my system! Rachel Myers (Google), Emily Nakashima (Honeycomb)
9:50am Full stack in a stackless world Thomas Bouldin (Google), Sarah Allen (Google)
11:00am .CSS { display: What? } Martine Dowden (Andromeda)
3:35pm How to build a real-time app without losing your soul Matthew Larson (FamilySearch), Ian James (FamilySearch)
4:25pm Serverless server-side rendering: Improving user experience with React and serverless functions Natalie Qabazard (Trulia)
211 C/D
9:00am Measuring what matters (sponsored by Akamai) Cliff Crocker (Akamai)
9:50am Discover the WebXR Device API (sponsored by Intel) Alexis Menard (Intel)
11:00am Chatbots are not just for play (sponsored by SAP) Meredith Hassett (SAP)
3:35pm Lightning Talks Kyle Simpson (Getify), Brian Douglas (GitHub), Kate Compton (Independent), Sam Richard (IBM)
Grand Ballroom
1:00pm Wednesday opening remarks Laurel Ruma (O'Reilly Media), Kyle Simpson (Getify), Tammy Everts (SpeedCurve)
1:10pm Fixing JavaScript Date: A journey from Minneapolis to Microsoft, TC39, and everywhere in between Maggie Pint (Microsoft)
1:25pm What's cooking in the AWS kitchen? Recipes for a better web (sponsored by Amazon) Cherie Wong (Amazon)
1:35pm The parallel future of the browser Lin Clark (Mozilla)
1:50pm It's spelled "accessibility," not "disability" Scott Davis (ThoughtWorks)
2:05pm The freedom to configure is the freedom to make a better world. Cory Doctorow (EFF)
2:25pm Question and answer session with Cory Doctorow Cory Doctorow (EFF)
2:40pm Closing remarks
6:30am The Fluent/Velocity 5K Fun Run/Walk | Room: Departure from front of the Convention Center on San Carlos St.
5:05pm Expo Hall Reception | Room: Hall 1,2,3
6:30pm Better Together Block Party (cosponsored by Oracle + Dyn, IBM, NS1, and O'Reilly) | Room: San Pedro Square Market
7:30am Morning coffee | Room: Grand Ballroom Foyer
8:15am Wednesday Speed Networking | Room: Grand Ballroom 220 Foyer
10:30am Morning break (Sponsored by Oracle+Dyn) | Room: Expo Hall
11:40am Lunch and Wednesday Topic Tables | Room: Expo Hall
11:40am Better Together Diversity Networking Lunch | Room: Almaden Ballroom (Hilton)
2:45pm Afternoon Break (Sponsored by Microsoft) | Room: Expo Hall
9:00am-9:40am (40m) People and teams Best practice, Case study
Applying design thinking to hiring: Designing a better hiring process for optimizing delight and diversity
Crystal Yan (United States Digital Service)
How do leading organizations hire effectively? Crystal Yan explains how she used behavioral science research insights and human-centered design principles to improve the candidate experience and shares best practices from leading technology corporations, startups, and consulting firms.
9:50am-10:30am (40m) Performance and UX Best practice, Technical, Web Pillars Track: Performance, Security, Accessibility
When third parties stop being polite. . .and start getting real
Nic Jansma (Akamai), Charles Vazac (Akamai)
Nic Jansma and Charles Vazac perform an honest audit of several popular third-party libraries to understand their true cost to your site, exploring loading patterns, SPOF avoidance, JavaScript parsing, long tasks, runtime overhead, polyfill headaches, security and privacy concerns, and more. They also share tools to help you decide if a library’s risks and unseen costs are worth it.
11:00am-11:40am (40m) Performance and UX Best practice, Technical, Web Pillars Track: Performance, Security, Accessibility
Hacking web performance
Max Firtman (ITMaster Professional Training)
After you understand how important web performance is and have applied basic techniques, what's next? Max Firtman covers extreme web performance techniques that will blow your mind, from new compression algorithms and new image formats to client hints and HTTP/2 push. Join in to learn how to hack web performance.
3:35pm-4:15pm (40m) Performance and UX Technical
Tracking the performance of the web with HTTP Archive
Paul Calvano (Akamai Technologies)
Have you ever thought about how your site’s performance compares to the web as a whole? Paul Calvano explores how the HTTP Archive works, how people are using this dataset, and some ways that Akamai has leveraged data within the HTTP Archive to help its customers.
4:25pm-5:05pm (40m) Accessibility Case study, High-level, Web Pillars Track: Performance, Security, Accessibility
Inclusive design: Putting humans back in focus
Sarah Federman (Adobe)
In a perfect world, every application would be usable by everyone. Unfortunately, it never seems to be that simple. Accessibility is vital to the future of the web, and we all have a part to play. Sarah Federman shares techniques for making accessibility a priority in your org through both top-down and grassroots efforts.
9:00am-9:40am (40m) Future JS and Functional Developer Experience Track: Tools, Platforms, and Techniques, Technical
What is WebAssembly good for?
Sasha Aickin (Self-employed)
WebAssembly has been hailed in some quarters as the next JavaScript, but the truth is much more complicated. Sasha Aickin outlines what WebAssembly is good for right now in today's shipping browsers. Through the lens of a project ported from JavaScript to WebAssembly, Sasha details when it is practical to use WebAssembly and when it is not.
9:50am-10:30am (40m) Future JS and Functional Developer Experience Track: Tools, Platforms, and Techniques, Hands-on, Technical
Just enough functional programming to be a danger to yourself and coworkers
Kyle Shevlin (Formidable Labs)
Functional programming is all the rage these days, but with lingo like "lambdas," "functors," and "monads," it can be intimidating to get started. Join Kyle Shevlin to learn just enough functional programming for you and your team to get started without getting lost in the vernacular.
11:00am-11:40am (40m) Mobile and Desktop Best practice, Developer Experience Track: Tools, Platforms, and Techniques, Technical
Thinking PRPL
Houssein Djirdeh (Rangle.io)
We’ve become accustomed to developing complex applications with powerful desktop and laptop machines. Unfortunately, this emphasizes how slow the mobile web is. Houssein Djirdeh offers an overview of the PRPL pattern, explaining what it is and how you can use it to build fast and reliable progressive single-page applications for users on any device.
3:35pm-4:15pm (40m) Author, Frameworks and Libraries High-level, Technical
Offline sync for progressive web apps
Bradley Holt (IBM)
Bradley Holt demonstrates how service workers, Apache CouchDB (an open source document database), Hoodie (an open source Node.js backend for offline first apps), and PouchDB (an open source JavaScript database that syncs) can be used to build progressive web apps using an offline-first approach in order to provide fast, zero-latency access to content and data stored directly on the device.
4:25pm-5:05pm (40m) Web services and APIs Best practice, Case study
Blockchain as a backend: How to utilize current cryptocurrencies in your applications
Destry Saul (Unchained Capital)
Accessing the data and logic stored in a blockchain is significantly different than accessing your own servers. Destry Saul walks you through APIs for the most popular blockchains, outlines dangers to watch out for, and explains which current applications make use of blockchains.
9:00am-9:40am (40m) Business of web Best practice, Beyond Code Track: The Business Side of the Web
Developers need to pay attention to licenses
Brian Rinaldi (Progress)
Applications are made up of code that comes from many sources. Understanding what licenses we're using and what they require can prevent opening our companies or ourselves up to potential liabilities. Brian Rinaldi offers an overview of the various types of licenses typically associated with the software and code you may use in a given project, helping you stay aware and navigate the complexities.
9:50am-10:30am (40m) Web services and APIs Developer Experience Track: Tools, Platforms, and Techniques, Hands-on, Technical
A frontend developer's guide to GraphQL
Peggy Rayzis (Meteor Development Group)
GraphQL is a new API technology that has exploded in popularity over the past year. But what's all the hype about? Peggy Rayzis details what GraphQL is and explains how integrating it into your application can solve many of the pain points frontend developers face when working with remote data.
11:00am-11:40am (40m) Security Best practice, High-level, Web Pillars Track: Performance, Security, Accessibility
Embracing vulnerability by empowering everyone to own security
annie lau (Trulia)
They say great software is secure software. But who should be responsible for ensuring and maintaining security excellence? Home and neighborhood resource Trulia says, "Everyone." Annie Lau explains how Trulia manages vulnerabilities through its bug bounty program and scales the responsibility of security across engineering, product, and business teams.
3:35pm-4:15pm (40m) People and teams Beyond Code Track: The Business Side of the Web, Case study
Caring for your fellow developers
Trent Willis (Netflix)
“Move fast and break things,” “Get shit done,” "Disrupt"—these are mantras of the tech and design industry. They praise speed and hard work but overlook a core element: people. Trent Willis explains how to proactively care for your teammates with the same passion you use when caring for your code.
4:25pm-5:05pm (40m) Business of web Beyond Code Track: The Business Side of the Web, Case study
Building software for blue-collar users
Wade Minter (Custom Communications)
It's easy to get attention in the tech community when you're building slick software to help high-income consumers do new things. But what if you're in North Carolina, building internal software to help people who install satellite dishes work more efficiently? Wade Minter explains how he switched his thinking to deliver great software to these users.
9:00am-9:40am (40m) Frameworks and Libraries Developer Experience Track: Tools, Platforms, and Techniques
Creating a reusable React component library
Cory House (Pluralsight | Cox Automotive)
Creating React components is easy. Designing and publishing truly reusable React components is hard. Cory House shares lessons learned from creating a library of reusable React components at Cox Automotive.
9:50am-10:30am (40m) Browsers and Frontend Tools Developer Experience Track: Tools, Platforms, and Techniques, Technical
Visual Studio Code can do that?
Burke Holland (Microsoft)
Visual Studio Code is catching fire with JavaScript developers because it can do a lot, from productivity tips to debugging Docker containers on the fly to hacking the editor itself. Join Burke Holland to explore the best features and extensions for VS Code that nobody ever bothered to tell you about.
11:00am-11:40am (40m) Web services and APIs Case study, Developer Experience Track: Tools, Platforms, and Techniques, Technical
The evolution of a Node.js service
Gergely Németh (GoDaddy)
Gergely Németh outlines the evolution of a Node.js application from a proof-of-concept implementation to a mature, prospering product that earns revenue and scales to millions of customers
3:35pm-4:15pm (40m) Frameworks and Libraries Best practice, Case study
My week in JavaScript hell
Keerthana Krishnan (Two Dudes Photography)
Is the large number of JavaScript libraries available making your life difficult? Keerthana Krishnan explains how she was overwhelmed by JavaScript and how she bounced back
4:25pm-5:05pm (40m) Browsers and Frontend Tools Best practice, Developer Experience Track: Tools, Platforms, and Techniques, Technical
10 KB or bust: The delicate power of webpack and Babel
Brian Holt (Microsoft)
Your app is bigger and slower than it needs to be. Brian Holt demonstrates how to squeeze more performance out of your code without rewriting it by tweaking webpack and Babel. These tools are immensely powerful, but it’s a delicate dance to get them to play nice. Join in to learn the tips and tricks you need to get there.
9:00am-9:40am (40m) Architecture and microservices Case study, Developer Experience Track: Tools, Platforms, and Techniques, Technical
Help! I accidentally distributed my system!
Rachel Myers (Google), Emily Nakashima (Honeycomb)
Specialization among engineers and increasing levels of abstraction have created a situation in which almost no one has a complete view of how data moves through an entire system, end to end. We’ve all become distributed systems engineers, intentionally or not. Rachel Myers and Emily Nakashima detail tools and skills we can use to get ourselves out of the corner we’ve boxed ourselves into.
9:50am-10:30am (40m) Architecture and microservices Developer Experience Track: Tools, Platforms, and Techniques, High-level, Technical
Full stack in a stackless world
Thomas Bouldin (Google), Sarah Allen (Google)
Modern backend architectures increasingly stitch together loosely coupled services through event-driven pipelines. Thomas Bouldin and Sarah Allen explain how “stackless” programming can free you to build applications faster that scale more smoothly.
11:00am-11:40am (40m) Web Foundations: CSS, HTML, JS, Node Developer Experience Track: Tools, Platforms, and Techniques, Technical
.CSS { display: What? }
Martine Dowden (Andromeda)
With over 40 possible values for the display property, it's no wonder that CSS can be tricky, especially for layouts. Martine Dowden offers an overview of the display property and demonstrates how to use it to lay out content.
3:35pm-4:15pm (40m) Web Foundations: CSS, HTML, JS, Node Hands-on, Technical
How to build a real-time app without losing your soul
Matthew Larson (FamilySearch), Ian James (FamilySearch)
Many popular services employ real-time data to engage users, but traditional web technologies like REST and Ajax were not designed for the real-time web. Matthew Larson and Ian James share an alternative approach to real-time data that is easier to understand and scales well using Redux and WebSockets and demonstrate these principles in action with a real-time multiplayer game.
4:25pm-5:05pm (40m) Future JS and Functional Developer Experience Track: Tools, Platforms, and Techniques, High-level, Technical
Serverless server-side rendering: Improving user experience with React and serverless functions
Natalie Qabazard (Trulia)
For years, developers have relied on browsers to render web pages client side, which often leaves users patiently waiting for web pages to load. This less-than-favorable experience can be changed by writing user interface components in React. Join Natalie Qabazard to explore the pros and cons of rendering a web page server side using React and a serverless resource.
9:00am-9:40am (40m) Sponsored
Measuring what matters (sponsored by Akamai)
Cliff Crocker (Akamai)
Cliff Crocker discusses best practices for measuring what matters and applying an understandable methodology that achieves what we are all after: happier users.
9:50am-10:30am (40m) Sponsored, Web Foundations: CSS, HTML, JS, Node Hands-on, Technical
Discover the WebXR Device API (sponsored by Intel)
Alexis Menard (Intel)
Alexis Menard offers an overview of the WebXR Device API (formerly known as WebVR 2.0) and explains how to build a VR experience on the web from scratch. You'll get familiar with VR concepts, learn how to use them with the WebXR Device API, and discover how to port your existing WebVR 1.1 experience if you already have one.
11:00am-11:40am (40m) Sponsored
Chatbots are not just for play (sponsored by SAP)
Meredith Hassett (SAP)
Chat is becoming more integrated in our day-to-day lives, but it can feel convoluted in the office. The growth in popularity and ease of use for conversational UI means it is no longer reserved just for the social user. Meredith Hassett explains how chatbot technology can increase productivity and simplify work streams in the office.
3:35pm-4:15pm (40m)
Lightning Talks
Kyle Simpson (Getify), Brian Douglas (GitHub), Kate Compton (Independent), Sam Richard (IBM)
Join in for three special short talks curated and moderated by program chair Kyle Simpson.
1:00pm-1:10pm (10m)
Wednesday opening remarks
Laurel Ruma (O'Reilly Media), Kyle Simpson (Getify), Tammy Everts (SpeedCurve)
Conference chairs Laurel Ruma, Kyle Simpson, and Tammy Everts open the first day of Fluent.
1:10pm-1:25pm (15m)
Fixing JavaScript Date: A journey from Minneapolis to Microsoft, TC39, and everywhere in between
Maggie Pint (Microsoft)
Maggie Pint explains how bad date support in JavaScript took one frontend developer (her) from making HR software in Minneapolis to working as an Azure SRE. It's a story of failures and heartbreaks but also of change, success, and the amazing power of the many people in the open source and standards community.
1:25pm-1:35pm (10m)
What's cooking in the AWS kitchen? Recipes for a better web (sponsored by Amazon)
Cherie Wong (Amazon)
As a web developer, you want to create beautiful, faster, safer experiences for your customers. Cherie Wong shares common developer pain points and recipes to solve them using AWS.
1:35pm-1:50pm (15m)
The parallel future of the browser
Lin Clark (Mozilla)
The browser needs to get faster. Applications are testing the limits of current browsers, especially on devices like smartphones. Lin Clark explains how the browser works today and what browser vendors need to do over the next few years to ensure their browsers (and the web itself) meet upcoming demands.
1:50pm-2:05pm (15m)
It's spelled "accessibility," not "disability"
Scott Davis (ThoughtWorks)
What if you could increase your website's SEO, improve your mobile web design, and get a head start on the coming conversational UI revolution through a renewed focus on accessibility? And what if you increased your user base by making it more accessible to disabled users? Scott Davis explains why accessibility should be just as important to you as a mobile design strategy was 10 years ago.
2:05pm-2:25pm (20m)
The freedom to configure is the freedom to make a better world.
Cory Doctorow (EFF)
Chances are you fell in love with technology the day you took some tool that didn't quite work for you and made it better—better suited to you and your idiosyncratic needs and uses. Then you shared your improvements and made other people's lives better too, and what sweeter feeling is there? Cory Doctorow explains why the right to configure is the signature right of the 21st century.
2:25pm-2:40pm (15m)
Question and answer session with Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow (EFF)
Have you ever wanted to ask Cory Doctorow his thoughts on the future of the web, privacy, net neutrality, and tech-lash? Don't miss this moderated Q&A session with Cory.
2:40pm-2:45pm (5m)
Closing remarks
Closing remarks
6:30am-7:30am (1h)
The Fluent/Velocity 5K Fun Run/Walk
Introducing the Fluent/Velocity 5K Fun Run/Walk! You don’t have to be a serious runner. We encourage you to go at your own pace and stop to take in views of San Jose.
5:05pm-6:30pm (1h 25m)
Expo Hall Reception
Join us for the Expo Hall Reception on Wednesday, June 13, following the afternoon sessions.
6:30pm-9:00pm (2h 30m)
Better Together Block Party (cosponsored by Oracle + Dyn, IBM, NS1, and O'Reilly)
Join us at the San Pedro Square Market to enjoy the best of local food, drink, and entertainment and have a chance to win amazing prizes. Attendees of both Fluent and Velocity are invited, so you'll have the opportunity to network with everyone.
7:30am-9:00am (1h 30m)
Break: Morning coffee
8:15am-8:45am (30m)
Wednesday Speed Networking
Jumpstart your networking at Fluent at Speed Networking in the morning. Bring your business cards and prepare a minute of patter about yourself, your projects, and your interests.
10:30am-11:00am (30m)
Break: Morning break (Sponsored by Oracle+Dyn)
11:40am-1:00pm (1h 20m)
Lunch and Wednesday Topic Tables
Join other attendees during lunch at Fluent to share ideas, talk about the issues of the day, and maybe solve a few. Not sure which topic to pick? Don’t worry—it's not a long-term commitment. Try two or three and settle on a different topic tomorrow.
11:40am-1:00pm (1h 20m)
Better Together Diversity Networking Lunch
If you’re looking to find like minds and make new professional connections, come to the diversity and inclusion networking lunch on Wednesday.
2:45pm-3:35pm (50m)
Break: Afternoon Break (Sponsored by Microsoft)