Velocity Conference Review (New York 2016)

Velocity is a technical conference focused on DevOps, web operations, performance, and the professionals that maintain and develop those services and applications. Velocity is organized by O’Reilly Media, who you may recognize from their books on engineering (with animals on the covers), videos, and other training materials. New York was the last North American stop on the Velocity Conference tour schedule.

The attendees at Velocity represented the diversity of the development and DevOps industry. I met everyone from software developers to system administrators to dedicated DevOps engineers. I even had the pleasure of meeting several local college and code school students who were there to learn and gain industry exposure.

Like with most conferences of this size, Velocity offered a multi-track session schedule with several topics and themes including:

• DevOps
• Financial systems
• Infrastructure reimagined
• Organizational optimization
• Performance for the people
• Sponsored sessions

Google, Facebook, Uber, Shopify, and other major players in the software industry were among the companies represented by the great line up O’Reilly brought together. Puppet, a Portland-based DevOps automation company, had a speaker present which made this Portland dweller feel right at home.

While there were many wonderful sessions at Velocity I definitely had a few favorites:

Final thoughts on Velocity Conference

Velocity definitely hit the mark when it comes to putting on a great technical conference. The diverse group of amazing speakers and engaging sponsors, went well with the downtown Manhattan venue location.

If you are involved with DevOps, web/application performance, or just want to see a conference done right I highly suggest making it to the next Velocity Conference. There is a wealth of information and networking available at these events that you shouldn’t miss!