Talks & speakers

Workshops (Thursday, 22nd May)

Piotr Witek

Michał Łęcicki

About Piotr Witek

Piotr Paweł Witek is a software developer with a background in graphic animation and a passion for building intuitive, high-performance web applications. With over three years programming experience, he specializes in Ruby on Rails and Hotwire, crafting seamless, real-time user experiences with minimal JavaScript. Piotr thrives on meeting people and inspiring them to explore new technologies. You can often find him at conferences and meetups, sharing ideas, learning from others, and sparking enthusiasm for modern web development.

About Michał Łęcicki

Michał is a seasoned software developer with over a decade of programming experience. Having worked on projects ranging from small startups to large-scale enterprise applications, he has developed a sharp eye for detail, precision, and performance optimization.

An active speaker at Ruby meetups and a dedicated writer, Michał is passionate about sharing his knowledge and experience with the Ruby community.

Building a Live Kanban Board with Hotwire and Rails

We will build a fully functional Kanban board application with Rails and Hotwire. During the workshops, you will gain hands-on experience in using Hotwire: Turbo Drive and Frames, Turbo Streams with broadcasting, and Stimulus controllers fundamentals. More importantly, we will thoroughly explain the core concepts of Hotwire, giving you the knowledge and tools to build dynamic and modern applications with Rails.

The workshop session consists of short theoretical introductions with practical examples and tasks to implement. We will progressively improve the existing application by making it more dynamic and usable with Hotwire.

The workshop is ideal for those who have already heard about Hotwire, but didn’t have a chance to write a serious app with it! But if you know nothing - don’t worry, before each task, we will explain the theory. We promise to give you an inspiration to use the benefits of Hotwire whenever possible!

Kasper Timm Hansen

Kasper is a fractional Ruby & Rails consultant with a strong focus on leveling up the whole team. He was on the Rails core team for six years where he reviewed & merged over 1000 contributor PRs.

Riffing on Ruby

How’s your approach to software design doing? Do you get to feel creative? Do you get to use that creativity to build a shared understanding with your team and arrive at simpler code? You can with riffing! Riffing is a new approach that’s easy to pick up & can take you to the next level in your career.

When riffing we take full advantage of Ruby being a language, we use Ruby to speak and then program our mental model directly. We explore designs to get rapid feedback and then raise issues early. Riffing is really useful to derisk what we’re working on, ultimately leading to better communication and healthier codebases.

Talks (Friday, 23rd May)

Jasveen Sandral

Software Engineer with 4+ years of experience in full-stack development and recent contributor to Ruby core. Currently working in Japan, developing Ruby on Rails applications at Shinmei Industry Co., Ltd. and contributing to open source. Previously led Ruby development at TYPICA and has experience working across Japan, Denmark, and India. Speaker at multiple international conferences including PyCon Africa and Open Source Conference Japan. Recent contributor of the CSV::TSV implementation to Ruby’s standard library.

Contributing to Ruby Core: From Local Development to Global Impact

Follow the journey of implementing TSV support in Ruby’s standard library, from initial concept to merged code. Through this real-world case study, learn about the Ruby core contribution process, API design considerations, and collaboration with maintainers. Discover how small improvements to Ruby’s standard library can have a significant impact on developers worldwide, while gaining practical insights for your own contributions to Ruby core.

Ronan Limon Duparcmeur

Less of a Renaissance Developer than a Code Grognard, Ronan has been writing software for more than 25 years. Thankfully, most of them were spent in Ruby land, and that is the secret to his youthful enthusiasm and baffling immaturity.

When he’s not giving his poor coworkers lectures on the importance of making right and not just making it work, Ronan enjoys complaining about TailwindCSS or TypeScript on social media. And also playing tabletop RPGs. And heavy metal.

The Test Pyramid and the Temple of Love

Come learn everything you need to know to give your Rails app a test suite worthy of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, thanks to a 1992 hit song by an English gothic rock band.

Jess Sullivan

Jess brings a unique perspective to the tech world, transitioning from a decade-long career as an educator in both Canada and the UK to becoming a skilled Ruby engineer. Her journey from teaching to coding reflects her passion for continuous learning and adaptation.

When not immersed in code, Jess finds joy in hiking, playing saxophone, cultivating her garden, and spending time with her beloved Old English Sheepdog (her husband is pretty great too). Currently based in the UK, she makes an annual pilgrimage back to Canada to reconnect with family, friends, and maple syrup.

ActiveRecord Unveiled: Mastering Rails’ ORM

“ActiveRecord drives Rails’ seamless database interactions, but what really happens behind the scenes? In this talk, we’ll follow a developer’s journey to uncover how Rails’ ORM maps data between app and database, demystifying the key mechanisms that make Rails so powerful.”

Kyle d'Oliveira

Based in Vancouver, Canada, Kyle is a jack of all trades and a master of some; at least he thinks so. He works as a software developer readily turning abstract ideas into working pieces of software. He has been focused recently on new tools for developers and helping others excel in their career. When not developing, he enjoys amazing food and craft breweries of the west coast, as well as picking up really heavy objects just so they can be put back down.

More feedback! Quantity becomes quality

Can someone write a large quantity of high-quality code? Yes! The idea that speed sacrifices quality is a myth. The key lies in gathering ample feedback—both internal and external. Shifting focus to feedback quantity, while still prioritizing quality, enables consistent high-quality code. This talk explores supporting research and practical ways to gather feedback effectively.

Kinsey Durham Grace

Kinsey Durham Grace is an engineer on the Deploys Team at GitHub, where she helps build and improve tools that power reliable deployments at scale. She serves on the Board of Directors for Ruby Central, fostering the growth of the Ruby community, and leads GitHub’s Adacats, the Women and Non-binary Community of Belonging, championing inclusivity and connection.

Based in beautiful Colorado, Kinsey enjoys spending time in the mountains with her two young children and her adventurous pup, embracing all the outdoor adventures the Rockies have to offer.

Beyond Caching: Best Practices for Scaling your Rails Application

Scaling Rails apps goes far beyond caching! Discover proven techniques to handle millions of users with confidence. We’ll dive into optimizing data, databases, dependencies, gems, and monitoring. Walk away with practical insights to elevate your Rails app to the next level.

Rémy Hannequin

Rémy is senior developer at thoughtbot working from Paris. He loves Ruby and astronomy, so he created the gem Astronoby for calculating astronomical events. When the computer is off he likes fermenting stuff and play bass.

Modelling the Cosmos in Ruby: Applying OOP and Domain-Driven Design to Astronomical Concepts

Learn how to turn complex domains into elegant Ruby code! Using Astronoby (https://github.com/rhannequin/astronoby), a gem for astronomical calculations, this talk dives into applying Domain-Driven Design and OOP to model celestial phenomena. Discover practical techniques for tackling complexity, creating readable APIs, and building maintainable software. Whether you’re navigating scientific challenges or exploring new domains, this talk offers patterns for taking Ruby beyond its usual orbit.

Yara Debian

Yara is a software engineer specialising in Ruby on Rails, with a knack for crafting user-focused web applications. Passionate about clean code and mentorship, she bridges the gap between vision and development. Inspired by both technology and art, Yara brings a creative lens to solving complex problems.

The art of code: Finding Aesthetics in logic. 🎨

“What if writing code and creating art aren’t as different as we think? From the blank canvas to the final product, both artists and coders follow a journey of exploration and iteration. Join us as we uncover the surprising similarities between the worlds of painting and programming—how creativity, rules, and tools shape both crafts. Could the same principles that guide an artist also guide a developer?”