#they live in downtown sf and both work in tech

[hellotherepaul]

Girl help

I asked my mom what to get her girlfriend for Christmas and she suggested lesbian fanart and some ships

Either drawing katradora or griddlehawk

[amershamsdigitalmarketing]

Upcoming Web Design Conferences (April 2020 – August 2020)

Upcoming Web Design Conferences (April 2020 – August 2020)

Jan Constantin

2020-03-24T10:00:40+01:002020-03-25T06:05:34+00:00

Please note that dates are subject to change due to COVID-19, so it would be best to check the websites for further information regarding their conference dates and schedules.

We’re putting our heart and soul into crafting personal, inclusive and valuable events for all of us to become better professionals. With online workshops, we aim to give you the same experience and access to experts as in an in-person workshop, without needing to leave your desk. So you can learn at your own pace, in your own time, and follow interactive exercises along the way.

Excited and ready for the adventure, but think your manager could need just a little bit more persuasion? Don’t worry — we’ve prepared a neat lil’ template: Letter For The Boss Template. Good luck!

Boost your skills online and learn practical, actionable insights from experts in the industry, live. With insightful takeaways, interactive exercises, access to experts, slides, recordings and a friendly Q&A.

Explore all workshops →

Now, enough for the plug! Let’s dive into our list for April to August:

April 2020

May 2020

June 2020

July 2020

August 2020

April 2020

ScanAgile 2020 “The presentations and workshops are suitable for developers, scrum masters, product owners, team leaders, agile coaches, project and program managers, management consultants as well as executives.”

When: April 1-2, 2020

Where: Helsinki, Finland

Frontcon 2020 “FrontCon is a two-day conference that focuses on front-end concepts and technologies. This year, there will be 23 speakers, 270+ attendees, and 4 workshops.”

When: April 1-3, 2020

Where: Riga, Latvia

DevConf Johannesburg 2020 “DevConf is a community driven, developer focused, one-day conference hosted annually. The aim of the conference is to provide software developers a buffet of tools, practices and principles applicable to tackling current and future challenges in the South African software development environment. It's an event where attendees can learn, network and be inspired regardless of their specific technology stack and programming language of choice.”

When: April 2, 2020

Where: Johannesburg, South Africa

GenerateJS 2020 “Generate is brought to you by leading design magazine brands net and Creative Bloq. At our latest conference, once again hosted at Rich Mix in Shoreditch, you’ll be able to attend awesome talks on all things JavaScript, including the latest libraries, most fashionable frameworks and more than a hint of vanilla JS. Not only that but you’ll also get to network with fellow devs, grill JS experts, check out great web tech and unwind with some of our Creative Bloq break activities. And even once the conference is at an end, we have more on offer: we’d love for you to join us for a beverage or two in the bar.”

When: April 2, 2020

Where: London, United Kingdom

MIDWEST PHP 2020 “Midwest PHP is the only conference to offer a full digital library, giving you access to even more sessions day or night! ”

When: April 2-4, 2020

Where: Mineapolis, MN, USA

vueday 2020 “VueDay the first international conference in Italy entirely about Vue.js. Vue is a progressive framework for building user interfaces. Vue is designed from the ground up to be incrementally adoptable. The core library is focused on the view layer only, and is easy to pick up and integrate with other libraries or existing projects.”

When: April 3, 2020

Where: Verona, Italy

UXinsight 2020 “UXinsight is an international event for UX research professionals and anyone interested in UX research. This years’ theme focusses on the creative part of UX research. UX research is a field born in academia, but most UX researchers work in the creative field functioning as a bridge between technology and people. In our increasingly fast and agile working environments we need to be even more creative to deliver solid research. Let’s celebrate creativity together!”

When: April 6-7, 2020

Where: Breda, Netherlands

The Lead Developer New York 2020 “The Lead Developer New York is a two-day conference packed full of inspirational and practical sessions from the world’s top technical leaders, focussed around three core themes: teams, tech and tools. Engineering leaders learn to nurture high performing teams, apply the best tech and tools for the job, and thrive as they meet the challenges of software engineering leadership.”

When: April 7-8, 2020

Where: New York, NY, USA

HolyJS 2020 Piter “HolyJS 2020 Piter will be the ninth in a row JavaScript conference held by JUG Ru Group. More than 1000 JS developers will be brought together to discuss the present and future of JavaScript community with the world's leading experts and watch dozens of frontend talks and much more. We'll dwell on both backend and desktop.”

When: April 10-11, 2020

Where: St Petersburg, Russia

ODSC East 2020 - Open Data Science Conference “Open Data Science will bring together the open source and data science communities to help foster the growth of open source software used in data science. The primary focus will be on the languages and tools that enable effective data analysis.”

When: April 13-17, 2020

Where: Boston, MA, USA

Ai x Summit “This is the most important Industry AI Event of the year, hear from fellow CxOs, executives, chief data scientists, and thought leaders. Learn how AI and Data Science techniques are transforming business and prepare your company for the next wave of innovation by learning about: Deep Learning, Real-time Prediction, New product development, Data Visualization, Machine Learning, AI Tools and frameworks, Case studies, Automation, Sentiment Analysis, Open source AI/Data Science, Best practices, Law, Ethics and Governance.”

When: April 14-17, 2020

Where: Boston, MA, USA

JS Kongress 2020 “The focus of JS Kongress on April 15-16 2020 is Scaling JS – Pushing the Limits: Massive Platforms, Data-Driven Architectures, and Modern APIs. The #DeepTrack is about all things JavaScript. YOU create the program!”

When: April 15-16, 2020

Where: Munich, Germany

5G Africa Forum - Next Digital Revolution in Africa “"Next Digital Revolution in Africa" 5G network is the next generation of mobile internet connectivity, offering faster speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones and other devices than ever before. It is the fifth generation of cellular mobile communications, which will ultimately replace 4G LTE to provide faster and more reliable service with lower latency. The conference will look at the progress that has been made to date and the challenges ahead for policy-makers and stakeholders. Key areas being covered include connectivity, future deployment and business model impact. It will look at what a 5G world might look like and where Africa sits at a global level as it seeks to deliver on making 5G a reality by 2020. The forum will offer the ideal space for networking with industry players; senior managers, decision-makers, and practitioners operating in the industries and making the most of banking technologies.”

When: April 15-16, 2020

Where: Johannesburg, South Africa

DragonPy “Python Best Practices for the modern Web and Data Scientists A Python conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, taking place on April 18 & 19, 2020. Followed by three days of sprints.”

When: April 18-19, 2020

Where: Ljubljana, Slovenia

SmashingConf San Francisco 2020 “Let’s rock’n’roll! For SmashingConf SF 2020, April 21–22, we’re 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.”

When: April 20-23, 2020

Where: San Francisco, CA, USA

Devopsdays Baltimore 2020 “DevOpsDays is a worldwide series of technical conferences covering topics of software development, IT infrastructure operations, and the intersection between them. DevOpsDays Baltimore 2020 is run by volunteers from the Baltimore area and will be hosted at the Columbus Center (iMET) in downtown Baltimore on April 21-22, 2020. The event features single-track agenda with a combination of talks (30 minute open format and ignite format) and self-organized open space content. More information can be found on our website. ”

When: April 21-22, 2020

Where: Baltimore, MD, USA

NDC Porto 2020 “NDC Porto 2020 is a 4 day event with workshops 21-22 April followed by a 2 day conference 23-24 April. From 21-24 April 2020, NDC Porto will offer a combination of talks, lightning talks and panels.”

When: April 21-24, 2020

Where: Porto, Portugal

UX Healthcare London 2020 “We live in a world of constant change. Technology is evolving more rapidly than anyone would have ever thought. In healthcare, this change is not embraced as much as in other industries. Most healthcare systems weren’t designed for this world. With UX Healthcare we aim to make a difference, because better design is needed in the healthcare industry. From clinicians, healthcare insurances to hospital equipment manufacturers - our goal is to help healthcare across the world to implement the best user experiences possible.”

When: April 22-24, 2020

Where: London, United Kingdom

Uphill Conf 2020 “Uphill Conf is a two days conference on top of Mount Gurten with awesome speakers and unique workshops. Learn about the latest trends in frontend web technologies in an inspiring, open environment. Meet and connect with our speakers and other like-minded, passionate developers.”

When: April 23-24, 2020

Where: Bern, Switzerland

HalfStack Charlotte 2020 “An authentic, high value experience for attendees and sponsors focused on UI-centric JavaScript and web development. The priority for HalfStack is the attendee experience, with great food, drinks, talks, swag, and community. Hosted by London's longest-lived JavaScript meetup group, HalfStack is coming to Charlotte for the first time. HalfStack is a UI-centric, one-day single track conference hosted in a relaxed environment. HalfStack carefully curates talks that inspire and inform the audience in a highly interactive and entertaining manner. An initimate feeling where each attendee has time to meet one another; maximum capacity for HalfStack Charlotte is 200 attendees.”

When: April 24, 2020

Where: Charlotte, NC, USA

beyond tellerrand // DÜSSELDORF 2020 “beyond tellerrand celebrates the 10th edition in Düsseldorf. Join for two days of conference with the renowned familiar atmosphere to attend inspiring and exciting talks plus full-day workshops and side events around those dates. Not to forget the many networking opportunities.”

When: April 27-29, 2020

Where: Düsseldorf, Germany

May 2020

UX Burlington 2020 “UX Burlington is an event tailored for UX professionals seeking to stay ahead of the curve and push their work to the next level. UX Burlington is not a 101 event—we’d say more like a 301. Attendees include designers, developers, content producers, researchers, digital strategists, and product and brand managers. Every year 200+ UX practitioners attend to hear and learn from experts like yourself. In addition to keynotes, the conference runs two parallel tracks for part of the day, one catering to developers and the other a more general track tailored to UX/UI designers, researchers, and marketers.”

When: May 1, 2020

Where: Burlington, VT, USA

Texas Linux Fest 2020 “Texas Linux Fest is a weekend event geared towards individual users, rather than an expensive multi-workday expo that might cater primarily to sponsored attendees. Whether you use free software and Linux at home, in your place of business, in your school or non-profit, or you are simply curious, Texas Linux Fest offers something for you.”

When: May 1-2, 2020

Where: Austin, TX, USA

Into The Box 2020 “Into The Box is a 2-day, 2-track event with speakers from around the world presenting on topics surrounding modern web and mobile technologies, development processes, software craftsmanship and infrastructure. We will be located in the Hyatt Place The Woodlands locate at 1909 Research Forest Drive, The Woodlands, Texas 77380. Into The Box also offers 1 full day of training workshops, 2 conference days with over 30+ sessions, breakfast, hot lunches, and our now famous Mariachi Party!”

When: May 7-8, 2020

Where: The Woodlands, TX, USA

HalfStack Tel Aviv 2020 “An authentic, high value experience for attendees and sponsors focused on UI-centric JavaScript and web development. The priority for HalfStack is the attendee experience, with great food, drinks, talks, swag, and community. Hosted by London's longest-lived JavaScript meetup group, HalfStack is coming to Tel Aviv for the first time. HalfStack is a UI-centric, one-day single track conference hosted in a relaxed environment at the Bascula Circus Theatre. HalfStack carefully curates talks that inspire and inform the audience in a highly interactive and entertaining manner. An initimate feeling where each attendee has time to meet one another; maximum capacity for HalfStack Tel Aviv is 300 attendees.”

When: May 11, 2020

Where: Tel Aviv, Israel

Web Rebels 2020 “Web Rebels is a non-profit community conference for anyone who loves developing applications and services using web technology. Two days, one track, 16 speakers.”

When: May 14-15, 2020

Where: Oslo, Norway

Dutch Clojure Days 2020 “The Annual International Gathering of Clojure Enthusiasts and Practitioners in the Netherlands! We welcome you to the 5th edition of our free and non-profit Clojure conference organised by the community, for the community with a full day of amazing talks in a friendly welcoming atmosphere.”

When: May 16, 2020

Where: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Voxxed Days Frontend Bucharest 2020 “This developer conference aims to bring together popular speakers, core developers of popular open source technologies and professionals willing to share their knowledge and experience on frontend development. With several tracks on different topics (JS, Angular, React, React Native, Web, Mobile, GraphQL, PWA, VueJS, HTML, CSS, Typescript, Frontend testing, UI/UX design, and so on) attendees can satisfy their curiosity and learn new skills while enjoying and having fun!”

When: May 19-20, 2020

Where: Bucharest, Romania

DevDay Faro 2020 “DEVDAY'20 is a deep tech festival for developers and tech enthusiasts. Save the dates on 2020/05/22-23 to join us in Faro/Portugal for talks, workshops and discussions. This year on May 22nd, we'll kick off the event with 5 all-day workshops on the latest concepts of software development. On May 23rd, we invite you to enjoy 10 selected talks on two stages all about coding and tech-related subjects.”

When: May 22-23, 2020

Where: Faro, Portugal

DigiMarCon Cruise 2020 - Digital Marketing Conference At Sea “Immerse yourself in topics like digital strategy, programmatic advertising, web experience management, usability / design, mobile marketing & retargeting, customer engagement, user acquisition, social media marketing, targeting & optimization, video marketing, data science & big data, web analytics & A/B testing, email marketing, content marketing, conversion rate optimization, search engine optimization, paid search marketing, geo-targeting, predictive analysis & attribution, growth hacking, conversion rate optimization, growth marketing tools, marketing & sales automation, sustainable growth strategies, product marketing & UX / UI and much, much more!”

When: May 23-28, 2020

Where: Baltimore, MD, USA

PGCon 2020 “PGCon is an annual conference for users and developers of PostgreSQL, a leading relational database, which just happens to be open source. PGCon is the place to meet, discuss, build relationships, learn valuable insights, and generally chat about the work you are doing with PostgreSQL. If you want to learn why so many people are moving to PostgreSQL, PGCon will be the place to find out why. Whether you are a casual user or you've been working with PostgreSQL for years, PGCon will have something for you.”

When: May 27-28, 2020

Where: Ottawa, Canada

June 2020

2020 AI & Innovation “Artificial Intelligence is based on the research of fundamental and applied sciences. Through the evolution of information and engineering, it has gradually penetrated and changed not only our lives but our work style, which has resulted in bringing new experiences and convenience. And yet we’re facing with an unprecedented challenge and a crisis of privacy. An agenda, such diversified and interdisciplinary, ACEAI and the 8th ISFAS sincerely invite all relevant professionals in both academic and the industry to present and to exchange. All relevant abstracts/full papers in regards to “Fundamental and Applied Sciences” and “Engineering and Information” are welcomed, especially in the fields of AI, 5G, IoT and Blockchain.”

When: June 1-4, 2020

Where: Taipei, Taiwan

Amsterdam JSNation Conference 2020 “Amsterdam JSNation is going to be the main happening of the JS scene in 2020. The conference unites library authors and core teams with fresh ideas, great people, and a summer Amsterdam in the background. We recognize JavaScript development as an art of engineering, and that's why the conference offers both a JS-driven art exhibition and audiovisual performances during the afterparty. After the event, we'll explore the well-known Amsterdam museums together, and later on, we'll gather for a JS hangout in the Vondelpark.”

When: June 3-5, 2020

Where: Amsterdam, Netherlands

NDC Oslo 2020 “From 8-12 June 2020, Oslo Spektrum will once again host NDC Oslo. NDC Oslo is a 5-day event with 2 days of pre-conference workshops and 3 days of conference. The conference will cover topics such as: NET Framework - Agile - C++ - Cloud - Database - Design - Devops - Embedded - Front-End Framework - Fun - Functional Programming - Gadgets - Internet of Things - Javascript - Microsoft - Misc Languages - Mobile - People - Programming Languages - Security - Techniques - Testing - Tools - UX – Web and more.”

When: June 8-12, 2020

Where: Oslo, Norway

SmashingConf Austin 2020 “The Smashing Cat is coming to Austin, Texas, y’all! Meet an inclusive, practical and friendly conference for front-end developers and designers who love their work. One track, two days, 14 speakers and 500 truly smashing attendees. But most importantly: a community that cares, shares and learns from each other.”

When: June 8-11, 2020

Where: Austin, TX, USA

RightsCon Costa Rica 2020 “Originally called the Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference, RightsCon rotated between San Francisco and another global city. Now, RightsCon is an annual event that rotates its location each year to new host cities around the world that are power centers for technology and human rights. In 2019, we hosted RightsCon in Tunis, Tunisia, and we look forward to gathering in San José, Costa Rica, in 2020.”

When: June 9-12, 2020

Where: San José, Costa Rica

Craft Conference 2020 “CRAFT is about software craftsmanship, which tools, methods, practices should be part of the toolbox of a modern developer and company, and it is a compass on new technologies, trends. You can learn from the best speakers and practitioners in our community.”

When: June 9-12, 2020

Where: Budapest, Hungary

Pixel Pioneers Bristol 2020 “A one-day conference of practical and inspiring design and front-end talks, featuring eight world-class speakers, preceded by a workshop day. Here's what you get for your conference ticket: - Eight practical sessions with actionable takeaways, - First dibs on limited tickets for workshops and side events, - Drinks and refreshments, - After-party with complimentary drinks.”

When: June 11-12, 2020

Where: Bristol, UK

Accessibility Club Summit 2020 “After last year's very first and hugely successful summit in Berlin we are giddy with excitement to announce our next summit for 2020! Again, the summit will be jointly run by multiple web accessibility and inclusive design related meetups from all over Europe, and again there will be a premiere: For the first time, the Accessibility Club will meet outside of Germany, this time welcoming you to Amsterdam! The summit will take place right after CSS Day 2020 and again feature a full-day barcamp a second day with community run workshops. There are still a lot of details to be figured out, but you should definitely save the date already!”

When: June 13-14, 2020

Where: Amsterdam, Netherlands

KubeCologne Conference 2020 “KubeCologne is about Cloud-Native Thinking, Learning Kubernetes and its ecosystem, networking and community love! Be part of the second KubeCologne Conference on June 17th in Mediapark Cologne, learn and love Kubernetes® and Cloud-Native Thinking! Be part of the second KubeCologne Conference on June 17th in Mediapark Cologne, learn and love Kubernetes® and Cloud-Native Thinking! Meet with experts and users alike to learn and share knowledge on your journey to enterprise-grade container platforms and CI/CD chains.”

When: June 17, 2020

Where: Cologne, Germany

Swiss PGDay 2020 “This day is all about PostgreSQL - the world's most advanced open source database. Take the opportunity to meet with other people interested in PostgreSQL in Switzerland. Beside the talks we offer the chance to network during the day and are pleased to invite you for a round of drinks after the meeting. The event is suitable for everybody, from first-time users to experts and from clerks to decision-makers. It is a two track conference, a complete track in English and one in German.”

When: June 18-19, 2020

Where: Rapperswil, Switzerland

JSCONF.BE 2020 “We’re looking forward to JSCONF.BE 2020 which will take place June 22-23, 2020 in Brussels. We plan to make June 23 a day packed with valuable and exciting content for the JavaScript community! This year there will be two themes: -Security -Reactive Frameworks/Serverless Architectures. Additionally, we’ll have a handful of break-out tracks for exciting niche topics such as AI/Machine Learning, Blockchain, Augmented Reality.”

When: June 22-23, 2020

Where: Brussels, Belgium

LeadDev Manager of Managers London 2020 “Lead Dev Managers of Managers is a new, intimate, one-day conference for those leading teams of teams and managing other managers (Senior Managers, Directors, Heads and VPs of Engineering, and CTOs). Hosted by Monzo CTO Meri Williams, the event is taking place on 23 June, the day before Lead Dev London (24 & 25 June). It will feature a blend of talk sessions and practical structured discussions; help you to become a better leader & manager, build a peer network, and enable your teams to be higher performing.”

When: June 23, 2020

Where: London, UK

OpenJS World 2020 “OpenJS Foundation’s annual event brings together the JavaScript and web ecosystem including Node.js, Electron, AMP and more. Learn and engage with leaders deploying innovative applications at massive scale.”

When: June 23-24, 2020

Where: Austin, TX, USA

enterJS 2020 “EnterJS opens its gates for the seventh time in 2020 and offers developers a comprehensive view of the JavaScript-based enterprise world. The focus is not only on the latest trends around the JavaScript programming language itself, but also on the frameworks and tools that are part of skillset of every JavaScript developer. Of course, the conference also takes a look at the latest technologies and frameworks. Always with the aim of being able to assess whether it is worth using them in your own team.”

When: June 23-26, 2020

Where: Darmstadt, Germany

The Perl Conference 2020 “The Perl Conference is a high-quality, inexpensive, technical Conference that celebrates the family of Perl programming languages. The beauty of The Perl Conference is that it remains accessible to everyone regardless of experience, yet it is still valuable to the most skilled programmers.”

When: June 23-27, 2020

Where: Houston, TX, USA

Lead Dev London 2020 “Join our community at the Lead Dev London, where technical leaders learn to nurture high performing teams, apply the best tech and tools for the job, and thrive as they meet the challenges of software engineering leadership.”

When: June 24-25, 2020

Where: London, United Kingdom

UX Healthcare Amsterdam 2020 “We live in a world of constant change. Technology is evolving more rapidly than anyone would have ever thought. In healthcare, this change is not embraced as much as in other industries. Most healthcare systems weren’t designed for this world. With UX Healthcare we aim to make a difference, because better design is needed in the healthcare industry. From clinicians, healthcare insurances to hospital equipment manufacturers - our goal is to help healthcare across the world to implement the best user experiences possible.”

When: June 24-26, 2020

Where: Amsterdam, Netherlands

ADDC - App Design & Development Conference “Single-track international conference for iOS & Android developers and UX/UI designers in Barcelona, Spain. ADDC aims to create an opportunity for designers and developers to meet, find new ways to work together and get inspired in an open, inclusive and collaborative space. Our talks are crafted to be valuable for both designers & developers.”

When: June 24-26, 2020

Where: Barcelona, Spain

July 2020

OdessaJS'2020 “Enjoy Odessa together with 500+ international participants and share your knowledge with the community. Welcome to submit your talk and get ready for 2 days of endless fun and be one of the 20+ speakers of the greatest summer Ukrainian JS gathering.”

When: July 4-5, 2020

Where: Odessa, Ukraine

NodeConf Colombia 2020 “NodeConf Colombia 2020 is the first international event focused on the entire Node.js ecosystem. It’s a non-profit event, where our attendees will be sharing in an environment of inclusion and respect, having access to relevant information through talks, workshops, and great experiences with the Colombian Node community.”

When: July 10-11, 2020

Where: Medellín, Colombia

O'Reilly Open Source Software Conference (OSCON) “OSCON: Ground Zero for the evolution of Open Source. For over 20 years, OSCON has been the focal point of the open source movement. The inception of OSCON came from an event focused on Perl and grew to cover the other scripting languages. It has since evolved into the destination for all things free and open. The event has also provided a platform for the launch of major initiatives such as Kubernetes 1.0 and OpenStack—both announced at OSCON. Today, OSCON continues to be the catalyst for innovation, bringing together large corporations and grass-roots communities to share insights and foster change. Open source helps technology to thrive, and OSCON continues on with the tradition of bringing you the latest technological advances and a path to successfully implement open source in your workflow.”

When: July 13-16, 2020

Where: Portland, OR, USA

CSSCAMP 2020 “One-day, one-track conference for developers and designers who work on the web. International conference dedicated to the developers, designers and engineers who work on the web and build the world’s most engaging user interfaces. Learn how to push the boundaries with the latest technologies, cutting edge techniques, and tools.”

When: July 15, 2020

Where: Barcelona, Spain

Algorithm Conference 2020 “Algorithms have found their way into practically every aspect of our lives. Wherever you look, howe’er you range, algorithms are hard to miss. Increasingly being deployed to guide you along. Algorithm Conference 2020 will bring you 3 days of high-level workshops and presentations that show how algorithms have been shaping and will continue to shape every aspect of our lives. Special consideration will be given to sessions that highlight innovative technical and commercial developments in big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies, their ethical and privacy implications, and how they impact and are impacted by public policies. Researchers from the academia, developers and technical managers from startups and established companies will be on hand to share insights on the current state of development in big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies, and their future trajectories. Those overseeing the rollout of these technologies on the management side and people involved in influencing and advising policy makers will also be on hand to share their insights.”

When: July 16-18, 2020

Where: Austin, TX, USA

DevopsDays Medellin 2020 “DevOpsDays is an international event of technical conferences on software development, IT infrastructure and operations and the intersection between them. This year this world reference conference on DevOps arrives in Medellin July 30 and 31 of 2020. DevOpsDays events present a combination of talks and self-organized open space content. Topics often include Pipelines Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI / CD), Test Automation, Security, Lean and Organizational Culture, among others.”

When: July 30-31, 2020

Where: Medellín, Colombia

August 2020

THAT Conference 2020 “Over four days, folks of diverse technology backgrounds and expertise levels gather to take advantage of multiple learning mediums to maximize one’s community and career advancements. An inclusive, multi-day event for anyone passionate about learning and sharing all things mobile, web, cloud, IoT, and technology. Engage in a wide range of software development topics with 150+ sessions, massive open spaces, and culture of creating and giving back. And there’s bacon, water slides, and, you know what? Bring the whole family.”

When: August 3-6, 2020

Where: Wisconsin Dells, WI, USA

UX And Digital Design Week 2020 “Create experiences that people will fall in love with. Get inspiration for your current projects and advice on how to build a design team of your dreams. Find out the secrets of what makes products successful and what mistakes companies made when they were building new services.”

When: August 10-14, 2020

Where: London, UK

International Travel Roadshow-Kuala Lumpur “International Travel Roadshowis a unique & well known travel roadshow which is a connects the world wide sellers (exhibitors) and Buyers (Travel agents / Tour Operators) from the local city. The Roadshow usually happens 1 day in each city to meet the hand picked outbound tour operators. ITR is not like any other travel exhibition just for the below reasons. 1Day - 1 City - 100 Buyers Pre-fix Appointment with Buyers Networking Lunch with Buyers Luxury - MICE - Business Travel Invitation to Potential Buyers Full Day Roadshow.”

When: August 13, 2020

Where: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

International Travel Roadshow-Singapore “International Travel Roadshowis a unique & well known travel roadshow which is a connects the world wide sellers (exhibitors) and Buyers (Travel agents / Tour Operators) from the local city. The Roadshow usually happens 1 day in each city to meet the hand picked outbound tour operators. ITR is not like any other travel exhibition just for the below reasons. 1Day - 1 City - 100 Buyers Pre-fix Appointment with Buyers Networking Lunch with Buyers Luxury - MICE - Business Travel Invitation to Potential Buyers Full Day Roadshow.”

When: August 14, 2020

Where: Singapore, Singapore

HalfStack NYC 2020 “An authentic, high value experience for attendees and sponsors focused on UI-centric JavaScript and web development. The priority for HalfStack is the attendee experience, with great food, drinks, talks, swag, and community. Hosted by London's longest-lived JavaScript meetup group, HalfStack is returning to New York for the second time. HalfStack is a UI-centric, one-day single track conference hosted in a relaxed environment. HalfStack carefully curates talks that inspire and inform the audience in a highly interactive and entertaining manner. An initimate feeling where each attendee has time to meet one another; maximum capacity for New York HalfStack is 270 attendees.”

When: August 14, 2020

Where: New York, NY, USA

International Travel Roadshow-Melbourne “ITR Australia ( Sydney & Melbourne ) Travel Roadshow is carefully designed to create a great platform for the suppliers around the world to meet the top notch travel buyers in Australia region. Buyers and Sellers love this roadshow for the following reasons. 2 Days - 2 Cities - 60 Buyers Pre-fix Appointment with Buyers Presentation Cocktail Networking Party Invitation to Potential Buyers Full Day Roadshow.”

When: August 18, 2020

Where: Melbourne, Australia

International Travel Roadshow-Sydney “ITR Australia ( Sydney & Melbourne ) Travel Roadshow is carefully designed to create a great platform for the suppliers around the world to meet the top notch travel buyers in Australia region. Buyers and Sellers love this roadshow for the following reasons. 2 Days - 2 Cities - 60 Buyers Pre-fix Appointment with Buyers Presentation Cocktail Networking Party Invitation to Potential Buyers Full Day Roadshow.”

When: August 21, 2020

Where: Sydney, Australia

Beyond Tellerrand Berlin 2020 “Established in 2014, beyond tellerrand is back for the 7th time in Berlin. Two days of conference with talks about design, technology and many opportunities to meet old and make new friends. Don’t miss out.”

When: August 24-27, 2020

Where: Berlin, Germany

“Codebreeze 2020 “Codebreeze is an unconference with very little structure. Actually, it’s not a conference at all. Codebreeze is a time and place for software craftspeople to meet. We would like to have like-minded people to gather in one place and have long conversations about our craft over a drink. And to practice our coding skills.”

When: August 31- September 7, 2020

Where: Turku, Finland

Where Are You Going?

If you’re planning to attend any of these events, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. What are you most excited about? What are you looking forward to learning and experiencing?

By the way, the Smashing team is constantly organizing a series of conferences and workshops! We’d love to welcome you there!

(vf, il)

[matthewlovesla1987-blog]

Why I like Los Angeles better than San Francisco:

I grew up in NYC and San Francisco as i said in a previous post . My family moved to San Francisco when i was 8. Having grown up there it was a great city at that time in my life as kid and I appreciated many things about the city. At that time San Francisco had not yet been overloaded with tech people and while it was never cheap and very desirable, it was much easier to make a living in this city than it is now for non professional workers. While i now live in the east bay , i still spend “ some” and some being the operative word time across the bay. San Francisco to me has lost a lot of its soul and character that once defined it from most other American cities. I find the new San Francisco less desirable because its mostly tech people, lawyers, doctors and startup people. Lots of Police Officers, firefighters, Teachers and other people in blue collar or working class jobs simply cannot afford to live there. Most of the city has been gentrified and downtown now looks like a bland combination of tall buildings you could see anywhere. Lots of old buildings have been torn down for newer apartments. The problem i find with San Francisco is its to stuffy and packed and is getting a major population increase, Market street feels more like 5th Avenue. I have found this city to be much less friendly than when i was growing up. It seems people don’t say hi to each other, on Muni and Bart people seem to have bad etiquette and have bad social skills. While this is not true of everyone in San Francisco, i have noticed more of this behavior there. I am not saying people in Los Angeles are perfect by any means but having grown up in sf i notice it more. I have a small group of friends, so I can’t say i have zero social life, but i have found making new friends and dating to be very hard here. As i said in a previous post i noticed more people being outgoing and friendly and especially talking to more women in a single day than i ever do in San Francisco. My experience is also culturally the smugness and " im better than you attitude" seems to be present among San Franciscans , and Anything having to do with Southern California seems to be held in negative regard by most San Franciscans as fake, superficial, no substance.When it comes to politics and the environment people in sf talk a good game but act otherwise.I am a liberal/ progressive and i generally agree with lots of what people in sf want to see. However for all the talk of how liberal Sf is seems fake because San Francisco has nailed trickle down economics to a tee. There are more and more homeless in San Francisco because landlords are throwing out tenants, Big business which is now silicon valley has been taking over downtown sf and most of the housing in the city is for the upper-upper middle class to the super wealthy. I am not saying that Los Angeles does not have its fair share of homeless problems as is evident downtown near 5th st and in parts of hollywood, but gentrification in Los Angeles seems to at least incorporate the feel of an area instead of remaking a neighborhood. I happen to like the weather more in Los Angeles. I like to utilize outdoor space and sit outdoors, drink iced tea outside in a polo shirt with shorts, like to exercise outside, go to a swimmable beach,and unfortunately most times of the year you cannot do many of these things in San Francisco. I am a film buff to and love movies, actors,actresses, i plan on being an extra in commercials. I like going to filming locations of some of my favorite tv shows and movies including, Beverly hills 90210, Melrose Place, Adam 12, Beverly Hills Cop and many others( i will post on filming locations in another post). While I agree there are many appealing things about sf, and Northern California may have more natural beauty, Los Angeles just has more to do and you probably could live years there before you check all of it out. I guess ultimately we end up where we have a calling and where we like for different reasons. And while I am thankful to my parents for a great life both in NYC and SF , that was a different point in my life and now as a 30 year old i want to explore the City Of Angels. The palm trees are also something i love and it makes me think of Los Angeles as paradise. From what i have heard Palm trees are not native to Los Angeles, but lots came to la after the olympics in the 20s.( I also will have another post in Palm trees). I am looking more and more forward to moving in September 2018.

[chateaumarmont-summer]

08/11/2019

I know it’s been some time and may I say, my life is incredibly different than when I last wrote on a tumblr. 

first of all, I got into grad school. I know I was in the midst of applying when I was writing in my last tumblr last but I’ve actually committed to a school and will be attending one in the fall. I leave for the University of Edinburgh in 17 days actually. 17 days. wow.

secondly, I’m currently sitting in my friend’s, Law, computer chair in his apartment in SF. I’ve been here for the last 7 days and will be leaving on Tuesday, August 13. my time here has been quite interesting in ways I am not quite sure I comprehend yet and that’s why I’m writing in you. I’ve been in SF since Monday, August 5. before this, I was at Lollapalooza 2019 in Chicago, IL with some amazing people: Lawrence (Law) Luk, Stephanie Cho, Kirstie Llanllio, and Ryan A. (don’t quite know his last name by memory but I assure you, we’re friends). Lolla, for one thing, was incredibly but that in itself warrants its own post, so stay tuned.

I decided to spend the summer before grad school with the people I care about. that meant coming to SF for an extended period of time to hang out with the boys who’ve oddly become some of the most important people in my life—at least right now. I think proper introductions are in order:

Joshua Anatalio: Joshua, “Josh”, is a software engineer at Apple. he’s what started this whole SF friendship in the first place. we met at Hotel Garuda in Seattle, November 2017, because we decided to both go that show by ourselves and met up as complete strangers. he lives on one of the main streets in SF proper and is dating a lovely gem named Caydie Tran. that didn’t always used to be the case though and the Josh I knew when we first met was very different than the Josh I’m friends with now. it’s been a long time coming but he’s in a good place now.

Lawrence Luk: Lawrence, but we call him “Law”, is a technical product manager at Uber. I met him through Josh Anatalio who is his best friend from when they were at UCSD for undergrad. Law is roommates with Josh’s girlfriend, Caydie. boy, was that a whole story on how that relationship came about and Law played a crucial role, I think. out of all the boys, I think it’s safe to say that Law and I are the closest. we’ve definitely spent the most time together but besides that, we take care of each other and support each other in ways I’m not sure many people do.

Tony Huang: Tony is a software engineer at NextDoor. he moved to SF from Boston last September 2018 and now lives deep in SF—Pacific Heights is the neighborhood. Tony was Josh’s roommate during one summer internship and that’s how he ended up in this friend group after moving here. (we really have Josh to thank for all of us coming together.) Tony is an interesting one. he does a lot of stuff that I otherwise shouldn’t (and typically don’t) agree nor stand for but, weirdly, I relate to his thought processes. he has a bit of a reputation amongst the others in this group but hey, he owns it and I respect that...maybe even attracted to it.

carrying on: I’ve been staying with Law in south SF, which is about 15-20 minutes away from what most people understand to be “SF proper”.

08/12/2019 [CONTINUATION]:

good morning! this is me continuing my story the next morning. well, it’s definitely 1112 on Monday, August 12. Law, Steph and I are all on our laptops doing various things. of course there’s Steph on a conference call ruling the world/stressing herself the fuck out. Law is sorta working, sorta not but hey, that’s tech for ya. here I am not really being an overly productive adult because I have no real responsibilities right now but I’m doing the best I can.

let me continue what I was saying last night: I’ve been staying with Law in south SF which is generally a 15-25 minute drive away from the main part of the city. I went with him into work for...3 days last week, which happen to be the only days he actually went into the office anyway. TECH, AMIRITE?! but I at least got to see his office which is really cool. on Thursday last week, I went in but Law had meetings pretty much all day and didn’t really want to leave me to my own devices (literally. I would have literally been on my computer by myself in the cafeteria.) and hung out with Tony instead.

so Tony works at NextDoor, like I mentioned earlier in the introduction section of this post. NextDoor just happens to be the building next to Uber downtown. they share an office with Twitter, except NextDoor really only operates one floor, so they’re mostly Twitter buildings. anyway, it was easy to meet Tony for lunch on Thursday because he works so close to Law’s building. we ended up getting Pho in a neighborhood called Tenderloin, which is apparently where a lot of homeless people are. the smell of the streets was quite.....lovely....yeah...but after that, we walked around a bit. we made it to Hayes Valley and sat at a park for a while just talking about a bunch of stuff. afterwards, we got boba from Boba Guys and he went back to work. it sounds like we didn’t spend a lot of time together, which would make sense given that it was a work day but we hung out for almost 3 hours. like, he literally left work for 3 hours in the middle of the day....tech, amirite?

disclaimer: I’m talking about Thursday because that’s when a lot of stuff started to happen. Thursday-Sunday were the most eventful because mostly people were at work/recovering from Lolla the week before. understandable, right?

[janzz]

day 3: its 3:47am on day 4 and i forgot to write my daily post

really really really trying hard to make this a habit (just for april)

so fail but lol

here’s my post for today

i went to a yoga class tonight in santa clara and it was the yogi’s first time and she was so good omg!

not quite as good as my fave instructor of all time (the bae lauren at moxie yoga in sf)

but yeah kimberly at corepower santa clara square might make me a regular!

(which honestly is super great because i went to class with norma and it was awful LOL)  (she played like hardcore edm at a chill class??) (to be fair it was also a level 2 class and i was struggling a little and kimberly’s class was a level 1....)

(oh i went to whole foods in the same plaza right after and ngl im starting to really enjoy just physically being in those fancy ass supermarkets.  i went to a new to me nob hill after orangetheory surprisingly also in santa clara ----theyre just nice and clean and beautiful.  however spending $45 to get way less stuff than a 99 ranch or something still feels way wrong.  i got bananas cashew milk chia seed refill 18 brown eggs (anthony likes the brown ones idk) natural deodorant (cause native has been sucking hard) ginger tofu mushrooms orange juice fancy sprouted bread shredded cheese actually ok when i list that all out its a decent amount for whole foods.  the stuff is just smaller yknow like the presliced white mushrooms were $1 for easily like 3 or so oz less)

anyway i find this funny because when i started dating anthony in 2015 he would go to nob hill markets and always claim it was his favorite market (because the chicken he would buy from there would never go bad etc).  i thought he was like idk rich af -- to be fair he went to stanford 2x and has his masters and is 2 years older so yeah he is definitely more privileged than me.  like i didnt have a preference for cage free brown eggs like i never had the money to spend the extra $1 or 2 on that shit when i was slaving at starbucks AND a second office job.

its really weird how money changes your life.  its 2019 and i finally hit the 100k 6 figure mark.  it’s honestly been a STRUGGLE to get here, but i’ve learned a lot along the way -- primarily that you HAVE to negotiate and generally just get paid more to improve your life.  anyway yeah money doesn’t solve problems but it generally reduces  your mental calories and makes things way more convenient.

before when i was poorer, i would have to go out of my way to make sure i was getting the cheapest shell gasoline in the area (still gotta have standards and not give into that arco bullshit).  i would never go into whole foods or places like that because my dollar had to stretch further.  whenever i would go out with friends before i’d have to be SUPER mindful of what i ordered and i would be EXTRA annoyed when you go out in a group and when splitting venmo people wouldnt pay the extra gratuity and i’d factor in me covering it because as a barista and server its bs when ppl dont tip well

now -- idgaf if i go out to eat a lot or splurge when im out w friends.  dropping $50-$100 randomly cause something is on clearance at lululemon is not a big deal.  im not anal about my boyfriend and i splitting everything exactly 5050 down the middle cause meh whatever i dont need to be given money back for like the minimal difference.  if whole foods is convenient for me to go to after a workout ill go in without batting an eyelash.  

it is weird tho being poor and then having money -- like ill go to lululemon but absolutely CANNOT buy anything full price.  i still like watching movies but 99% of the time go on discount days cause spending $20 when i could spend $9 feels wrong.  whenever i do basic things with my boyfriend, like going to the grocery store or mall, i’m most definitely the most cost conscious -- checking against the value per oz, whereas he just picks whatever and gives no thoughts to it (i think he makes like 240k a year thereabouts, definitely more than double but i dont know the specifics).  i drive a 2015 toyota corolla le he drives a nicer but still affordable more luxury sedan hyundai sonata souped up with seat warmers navigation and he’s installed a dash cam and stuff.  my car is definitely a commuter car that’s just one level up from the s basic model.  when i htink about buying a new car i dont know if i could buy a lexus but yet i sometimes think about getting a tesla instead of a prius

another weird one is getting mad at myself for leaving reusable grocery bags LITERALLY in the trunk and then having to pay the $0.10 per bag.  I’ve easily spent at least $15 on bags prob.  Before i would be kicking myself hard cause i’d need to pinch pennies.  another thing that ive noticed makes me feel “rich” is i can sustain my craft coffee/boba habit just fine and not give a fuck.  before i got more mindful of it i htink my my coffee boba budget was like $100 a month.  ive always loved craft coffee, but it has to be RIGHT if i was gonna spend $6.  when i was living w my parents in san diego going to a new coffee shop and driving up to encinitas or whatever was like THE trip. now i get philz off my mobile app whenever i head out of class or if im feeling like it and its not that special

but yeah, im not rich by any means but it was huge to go from like $16 an hour at my office job/$15.70?? w/ benefits I think that was my starbucks shift supervisor rate/annual salaries of 20k ish to $39k at a law firm in downtown sac (grossly underpaid but at least rent was only $300 at a family friends) back to the law firm job up to $70k.  there i got a raise at the same job from 70 to 80k and then 80k to 86.

THEN cause i was privileged enough to have been able to save money making more when i hated my job i just up and quit (i think i had like no more than 5k in savings at the time --it wouldve been more but i spent 3k on prk/lasik).  anyway yeah i was lucky af and got a new job in a month -- and the offer for this job was 100k base, 10k bonus, some amount of stock (i still suck at this stuff) and a stupid amount of perks like $1000 gym reimbursement and basically free health insurance -- if i annualize all my pay+perks, assuming i get my full bonus, its prob like 120k.

so i have like 5x ed my income in 4 years since graduating from college.

the crazy part is people that were more privileged than me STARTED at 100k as new grads, including 401ks and what not.  im lucky becuase i started mine back when i was 18 at starbucks.

income inequality and access to knowledge/resources has become something ive become more aware about and passionate about over time.  me and my boyfriend clashed a lot earlier i think because we literally were in different planes of our lives and income levels.  we’ve been together 3 years, but have known each other for 4.  we broke up for 1 year in between -- and yeah ngl had i never improved myself or actually reached my income/earning potential we likely would not have gotten back together.  additionally him supporting me when we got back together raised me out of not the poverty level but yeah we met and i made 39k.  i took the plunge and moved out to sf for myself and lets be real for him too and made 70k which was a huge jump.  and in a short 15 months or so i jumped again to 100k base.

im never gonna make as much as he does (men/women blah we can get into that) but yeah even having access to money adjacently is so powerful.  anthony never outright gave me money and im too much of a hardass independent person that ive NEVER borrowed money from him, never intend to.  i really vehemently despise the idea of free loading but because of him just being around yeah my life has been improved.  

when we met in 2015 in our young 20s we were in our have fun phase.  i was too poor to have gone to thiings like coachella or out to a concert.  he got me into music and made it easy for me to experience because he’d buy the ticket, drinks, pick me up and pay for sf parking.  i would likely get dinner ahead of time or something small and generally we would switch so if he got tickets one time i’d get them next.  but he ALWAYS paid for drinks and lets be real the occasional not drinks :P he had introduced me to music in such a way that i was willing to drop $800 or so on coachella + car camping + take pto days even when we were broken up 10ish months or whatever it was the first time we dated but if you think about it he likely dropped at least 1k on me during those 10 months without batting an eye lash.  i made 39k at the time working in downtown sacramento and he made 90k base (maybe 115k total comp) living in SF.

despite just basic things like me being immature for 23 -- a big reason i think we broke up at the time was the income level inequality.  it was both our first jobs out of school (first job out of stanford grad for him, he immediately got his masters out of undergrad).  i did a round of uc davis, community, uc davis.  

he told me he was breaking up with me because when we met i had originally wanted to be a lawyer and then didnt end up pursuing that path and he saw it as a lack of ambition/drive.  what he didnt see was general growing up and not having access to lawyers as i grew up, just me working at this really top tier A+ law firm and feeling out of place as an asian woman working with rich WASPs.  me wearing pencil skirts and having major impostor syndrome.  what he did end up seeing was an insecure version of myself in our relationship with me bending over backwards to make him happy.

when i moved to sf and made 70k it definitely was a huge ego boost to make that additional 30k, but to be real, here in sf and paying more rent than i was in sac and SD/just general living being expensive 70k wasnt that much.  what it did for my confidence though was priceless (i was an ea to a ceo at a tech startup).  i really grew into myself and was more confident in my abilities -- and honestly a lot of that was just getting older and knowing that i was good at things, bad at certain things and i wasnt going through my quarterlife/post grad crisis anymore.  

then those raises to 80k and 86k made me more ballsy.  these things were obvi practiced with anthony as i had a partner to discuss and practice with/an educated thought partner.  at this time anthony was making $150k base or so (after realizing he had been grossly underpaid as a PM for the 90k initial salary)

all of this set me up to basically make my position what it is now AND for it to be 100k.  tbh im a glorified low level coordinator at a big company.  i honest to goodness for the first three months probably worked a total of 2ish hours a day? this role should probably max out at 90k.  and by max out i mean this role likely shouldve started at 75k with incremental raises to get to 90 in like 3 years.  i STARTED at 100 and can likely if i play my cards right be promoted to a program manager in a year (or less).  that’ll prob bump me to a base of 120 or so if i’m aggressive.

i always shitted on sf when i moved here because i hate the tech bros, the elitist ppl, the vcs who think theyre out here changing the world but seriously being surrounded by people that went to ivy leagues or the UC’s that were better than mine have honestly, like my boyfriend, just uplifted my status.  something as small as casual lunch time conversation being more intellectual makes a huge difference for me re: how stimulated i feel and how much more energized ive become because of ppl around me.  i def still have impostor syndrome all the time but its been so much growth from 23 to 27.

30s should be great because ill be well into my career by then and making even more and closing the gap even more w my boyfriend.  its funny too cause hes 29 now AND FINALLY getting that postgrad quarter life crisis.  his privilege was able to offset him to have this crisis later on in life where he made more money and could make smarter choices.  privilege really is the thing that keeps on giving and im grateful to have started poor and really appreciate it.  as i make more money i also care more and more to give back.  if i ever do run for office in my 50s or whatever im gonna push for more access to education and arts.  i had an interest in this as an undergrad but couldnt pursue it because itd be a lifetime of poverty, but yeah who knows.

dang this went long but it is really interesting when i think about money and how much its effected me.  im lucky i was able to raise myself out of the level my immigrant parents brought me and my sister to.  them moving out of the philippines was the best thing that ever happened to me.  the second is them fronting the bill for my university education.  the privilege i have is extremely special and important and i want to honor their sacrifices because im sitting on a 100k because of decades of hard work and frugality on their ends.

im fucking lucky.

we gotta pass on the resources and uplift those around us if we are fortunate.  

...another rant altogether but i wish the leadership in the United States thought the same way. 

(end: 4:36am, why do i do this to myself)

[evanmueller]

June 28, 2017

Its pretty clear that if you're tall there are two seats superior to all others on the Caltrain. On the newer trains its on the middle level, the seat facing the stairs, next to the window. Although I must admit, I have not yet had the privilege to sit in this throne, during the ride, I sat in this seat for a picture when then train was at the last stop, just for your reference.

The other seat is one I have enjoyed several times; it’s the last seat in the back row on the 2nd level. This is the one facing the aisle so even if you're Usain Bolt you're gonna be able to stretch out those legs.

Anyway, I think most everybody on a public trans commute, including tall people, just want a seat where they can be left alone. It's a chance to listen to whatever, talk to whoever, work or sleep. So of course wearing headphones on the train is such a popular choice. Most of the time I'm sure this is an unconscious choice people make out of boredom or exhaustion, but wearing headphones is a choice to not interact with the other travelers. It's a signal to me that you are not interested in striking up a conversation. That's fine, I like that we can have that social understanding. But even though I really love listening to music, podcasts and audiobooks, even more than that I enjoy the chance to meet someone new and learn something from them.

So, I know, this makes me an oddball on the train. But every now and then, when my ears are open, I Iook away from the screen or set down what I was reading, make eye contact, say hello, and I meet someone.

Today I met Mukesh .

By the time the 8 am bullet train to SF reaches Sunnyvale, only its 3rd stop, there is never enough room for new passengers to sit. But today, because of someone who puked, there were a few open surrounding the chunks. Mukesh sat down next to me in the only seat left, not covered in puke. He looked at the filth and then at me and I had to explain I had not been witness to the spill but I was willing to put up with it being nearby if it meant I could sit. He understood of course, he was sitting even closer to it than I was. So for some reason we kept talking, he asked about what I do, and then he told me he's "like everybody else here….in tech." So I push back on that and the starts telling me about his job as a product manager.

Then my Dad called and I spoke with him for about 15 min before he said goodbye and I was back to a conversation with the stranger next to me. I kept asking questions and he kept answering. He taught me about what inbound marketing was, and how a product manager has to be a bridge between engineering, design, marketing and sales. He said product managers then have to find a way to please the customers wishes, the bosses wishes, and the teams'. He told me how he liked living in Chicago before moving here, and how the river moves through the downtown. He gave me advice. He said, don't try to change the world with your ideas. Just try to build something. Get started on execution, on creating something that works, no matter how tiny it seems at first. If does work it will probably grow into something else that you don't want to work on in a few years or someone will want to buy from you. Even if it fails, you will still have learned something.

As we both got up to get off in San Francisco, I told him my name, and he told me his. I didn't learn where he we works, get his email, or any other contact information. I just told him I'd say hello if I saw him again on the train. Maybe I will, maybe I won't but my morning was better because I met him. I suppose I am now a hypocrite, using my laptop to write this account on the way back to San Jose. To be honest I do feel a bit guilty about it. Is it weird that I feel guilty about cutting myself off from strangers?

[cleancutpage]

Downtown Indy Development Gains Traction

This post originally appeared on Marketplace Advertiser, Reonomy and is republished with permission. Find out how to syndicate your content with theBrokerList.

As the home of the renowned Indy 500 auto race, the Indianapolis market is no stranger to the sound of revving engines. But these days, talk of acceleration is increasingly focused on development occurring within the CBD.

At the start of 2018, Downtown Indy had more than 60 projects and $2.8 billion worth of investments in the pipeline through 2022, according to Downtown Indy Inc. The city is a classic example of urbanization fueling growth as both residents and employers look to locate Downtown.

Tech companies are leading the charge with tech sector jobs that have jumped by 66% over the past five years, according to the Indy Chamber. In fact, 29% of all tech jobs in Marion County are now located downtown. One of the most notable moves in the past two years is the decision by San Francisco-based Salesforce to locate its new Midwest regional headquarters in Indianapolis. The move brought 800 jobs, primarily in sales and software development.

Professional services also experienced a healthy expansion of 17% over that same period. Downtown is now home to 150,000 workers and an increasingly young population. The number of market rate apartments units downtown has doubled since 2010 with 28,000 residents and a forecast that the downtown population will reach 30,000 by 2020.

In 2017, Forbes listed Indianapolis as the 11th best city in the country for young professionals due in part to its low cost of living, starting salaries for young grads and low unemployment. The city also offers urban amenities that appeal to young urbanites, such as its BlueIndy car sharing service and 20-plus miles of urban bike paths.

Buyers Look for Opportunities

Indy also is on the short list of 20 cities still in the running to land Amazon’s North American HQ2. Even if the city isn’t successful in that bid, it is basking in the added national attention. Economic growth and the lure of higher yields compared to other metros has piqued interest from real estate investors and developers. According to Reonomy sales data, multifamily transactions in the Indianapolis metro surged to $1.8 billion in 2017, which was a big jump over the $1.3 billion in properties that traded the prior year. Investors have kept their foot on the gas in 2018 with an additional $1 billion in transactions that closed during the first half of the year.

However, investors are taking note of what could be some softening in multifamily fundamentals ahead due to robust development. Marcus & Millichap estimates that approximately 2,200 new units were delivered in 2017, which pushed vacancies above 6% and the metro is anticipating another 2,500 completions by the end of this year. One major project that opened earlier this spring is 360 Market Square. The 28-story tower includes 292 apartments and a new 42,000 sf Whole Foods.

Yet investors also are watching the long-term horizon with steady activity coming from people who are coming Downtown to live, work and play. According to Reonomy, office and retail investment sales combined totaled $2.7 billion last year, while sales have been more subdued in the first half with transaction volume just shy of $500 million.

Major Developments to Watch

CityWay 2.0:

Work is underway on the second phase of CityWay, which will add 402 apartments and 29,000 sf of office and retail space to the Delaware Street location. The first phase includes 250 apartments and a luxury hotel, and phase two is expected to be completed in late 2019.

Bottleworks District:

Plans are in the works to redevelop the former Coca-Cola bottling plant at the 800 block of Massachusetts Avenue. Wisconsin-based Hendricks Commercial Properties is working to transform the 12-acre site into a mixed-use property with preliminary plans that include apartments, a boutique hotel, retail and office space along with a cinema and food hall. Work on phase one began in Q2, which includes a 136-room hotel and 246,000 sf of commercial space

GM Site Sells:

The IndyStar reported in April that Ambrose Property Group had completed its acquisition of a 103-acre site near Downtown that was once home to a General Motors plant. The developer has said it plans to build a $550 million project that includes apartments, offices, retail and a hotel.

Spike in Hotel Development:

Currently, there are 11 hotel developments in the pipeline, including a new 316-room hotel under construction that will be dual branded as a Hyatt Place and Hyatt House. Located at the intersection of South Pennsylvania and East Georgia streets near the Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, the 15-story project is expected to be completed in mid-2019.

There are dozens of public and private projects underway and proposed throughout the city that run the spectrum from very large mixed-use developments to smaller scale infill projects. For example, a new St’artUp 317 program is aimed at encouraging pop-up shops to fill some of the empty storefronts in Downtown and other urban neighborhoods. Combined, those various public and private initiatives across the city are translating to investment opportunities across a wide variety of sectors and price points for real estate investors.

Reonomy offers real-time access to detailed property data that business owners, investors and commercial real estate professionals need in today’s competitive marketplace. Try Reonomy National for free today.

RSS Feed provided by theBrokerList Blog - Are you on theBrokerList for commercial real estate (cre)? and Downtown Indy Development Gains Traction was written by Reonomy.

Downtown Indy Development Gains Traction published first on https://greatlivinghomespage.tumblr.com/

[rebeccahpedersen]

Is The I.T. Sector Going To Drive Real Estate Growth In Toronto?

TorontoRealtyBlog

Have you ever been to San Francisco?

I have.  In 1989 when I was 9-years-old.

We had a house in Park City, Utah growing up, and used to take road trips every summer.  In 1989, we went through Nevada, and down the coast of California.  Reno, Nevada was merely a rest-stop for us, and we ended up in San Francisco for a few nights.

My dad had been there in the summer of 1969, and told me that one of the things that stuck out the most in his memory was “The Human Jukebox.”  San Francisco is home to a slew of street performers and buskers, and he told me there was one guy who had a cardboard box, painted like a jukebox, and you could put in $2, and pick a song, and he’d stick one of many instruments out through the makeshift door, and play the song.

I didn’t make anything of it at the time, but low and behold, on the very first night, down by Fisherman’s Wharf, there was that same street vendor; The Human Jukebox, still busking for dollars, after two decades.

Hang on, let me see if my mother can dig up a photo…

…ah, here:

Thanks to Mom, and the readily-available Fleming Family Photo Archive, plus her impressive knowledge of how to work a scanner and crop a JPG at 70-years-old!

I suppose in 2018, the Human Jukebox seems pretty lame.  Today’s kids would ask, “Where do I plug in my USB?”  I suppose the jokes are endless, and I probably sound like an old man for even trying.

But in 1989, the fact that this guy was still there, on the same street corner, with the same gimmick, and probably with more-or-less the same booth, was absolutely mind-blowing to my father, who had been right there, twenty years earlier.

Not much had changed in twenty years, it seemed.  And that was the theme as we toured around, and my Dad pointed out some of the same restaurants he had been to in the late-60’s, or some of the places he got into trouble when he was a young 20-something.

The lack of change was astonishing.  So I was told.

And since then, San Francisco and the surrounding area has done nothing but change.

That’s what I’m being told now.

A client of mine works in tech, and he started going out to San Francisco about six years ago for business.  This was when we first met, and he bought his downtown Toronto condo.  Over the last six years, he’s told me at least two or three times how “Toronto could end up just like San Francisco,” if the city would get “behind” technology, as he explained.

Now I will admit, this is not my field, or my area of expertise.

But I listened to his theories, just as I listen to the Manhattanites joke about our “cheap” downtown real estate, or the London-Englanders talk about how Toronto is a “cute city” and is a version of London from the 1960’s.

While I can accurately claim that I was downloading MP3’s on Napster, which is now merely a name studied in text books about the technology boom in the late-1990’s, the only thing I know about emerging tech is what I hear from my clients.

And over the last few years, the conversation about Toronto being “the next tech hub” has started to get louder.

But first let me show you what happened to real estate prices in San Francisco, as the tech boom went full throttle.

It’s tough to say exactly when the tech-boom started, and when Silicon Valley became the place to be.  I might say it was 1995, when giants like Amazon got their start.  That’s also the first time I ever used the internet.

The median home price in San Francisco in 1995 was $225,000:

Yes, I know, I’d rather look at the average, but over a long enough time period, and with enough data, they’re somewhat comparable.

This is the only chart I could find that went back into the 1990’s, and actually into the 70’s which is kind of cool.

But that’s a bit far back for most of us.  Yeah, I missed out on being a 70’s baby by eight months…

Now if you want to see where prices are today, then here’s an April, 2018 update:

That’s $1,610,000.

And looking back at the $225,000 median from 1995, that would also represent a 706% increase in value in that time.

How does this compare to Toronto?

The average home price in Toronto in 1995 was $203,150.

The average home price for the entire year 2017, was $822,681.  But if we want to compare to San Francisco as per the chart above, which looked at the average in April, then we’d be looking at a slightly lower number of $804,584.

That’s a 296% increase in value.  Not bad!

But not the 706% increase that San Francisco had.

The market bears out there are probably shaking their heads already, thinking, “He’s going to shine a positive light on Toronto by comparing it to San Francisco?”  But as I said, I’m just looking at one particular theory out there, from a client who lives part-time in San Francisco, who’s been telling me to make this comparison for years.

And here’s the article he sent me in the summer that spawned this blog post:

“San Francisco Home Prices Grew The Fastest Ever In The First Half Of 2018 As The Tech Boom Shows No Signs Of Slowing”

From the article:

The average price of a house bought in San Francisco rose by $205,000 in the first half of 2018, the largest six-month increase in history, according to MLS data compiled by local real estate agency Paragon.

The average house in the city limits now costs $1.62 million. Condo prices also rose by $71,000, which is a significantly slower pace of change than in past years, but still comes in at a startling $1.21 million.

This is a direct outgrowth of the current tech boom in Silicon Valley, which shows no signs of slowing down.

It’s worth recalling that a lot of people in Silicon Valley were bracing for a slowdown in 2015. Venture investors like Bill Gurley were predicting that long-running start-ups would have to raise rounds at lower valuations because their last rounds came with restrictive conditions for future investors but they weren’t ready to go public yet. Start-ups cracked down on expenses. Apple’s share price actually dropped during the year, as investors grew concerned about slowing iPhone sales and the prospect of a general downturn. The next year, Silicon Valley stalwarts Intel and Cisco both laid off several thousand employees apiece.

Indeed, housing prices in SF actually slowed their growth in 2015 and 2016, before starting to rocket up again last year.

Toronto is not going to be the next Silicon Valley.

But I have to think that Toronto turned a major corner when Google (or Alphabet) announced that Sidewalk Labs would be coming to Toronto’s waterfront.

I remember back when Blackberry was the biggest name in Canada, and it seemed that Waterloo, Ontario would be Canada’s hub for innovation, technology, and all things intelligent in the future.  But it seems as though Toronto is slowly developing as the front-runner for Canada’s tech-hub, and it could end up being one of the largest hubs in the world.

On Saturday, the Huffington Post published an article that basically stole all my thunder:

“Toronto’s Tech Boom Will Keep Real Estate Frenzy Going: Forecast”

I have a lengthy queue of blog ideas; some are written as soon the idea is logged, and some languish on paper for weeks or months.  Well, the Huffington Post basically wrote the story for me!  Read it if you have time, it’s fantastic.

The article notes that between 2012 and 2017, Toronto added 82,000 jobs in the tech industry, which was more than any other city in all of North America, according to CB Richard Ellis.

CBRE provided this graphic as well to show how Toronto has moved up the ladder among tech giants:

As I’ve said, tech is not my field, and I don’t follow the industry much.  I’m not a gadget-head, I don’t care for the latest/newest/brightest consumer products, and half the jobs people are doing out there right now, I haven’t even heard of.

But I read the headlines.

And everywhere you look, it’s tech.

When it’s not tech, it’s sort-of tech.

Like this, which was in the news on Tuesday:

“Spaces Plans Its Largest Co-Working Sites In Toronto, Vancouver”

Spaces is a co-working environment that provides on-the-spot, or short-term desks, offices, conference rooms, and meeting spaces for entrepreneurs, small business owners, or anybody that needs the space, but can’t afford it, or can’t make use of it, full-time.  It’s like Uber for office buildings.

Some will argue that the presence of Spaces in Toronto’s downtown core will eliminate the need for large office buildings, but I disagree.  I think Spaces and other co-work environments like them will supplement office buildings, not replace them.  If anything, Spaces is necessitated by the city’s inability to build commercial space fast enough.

Commercial real estate, for what it’s worth, is booming in Toronto.

“Investors Lift Canadian Commercial Real Estate To New Heights”

Commercial transactions in Canada last year smashed the previous record by 38%.

Toronto accounted for a third of all transactions in Canada.

The pension funds, investment trusts, and huge private money wouldn’t be buying Toronto’s office towers if they didn’t think the city would be running low on space in the future.

And all the while, the people who work in tech, will have to live somewhere.

My client from San Fran has been telling me this for years.  He’s the single-most bullish person I have ever met when it comes to Toronto real estate, and he only owns his primary residence, so he’s not some over-extended investor cheerleading the market out of blind will.

That’s only one voice, but I can’t deny all the other chatter.

Time will tell.

In the meantime, perhaps we can jump into the ongoing debate over whether or not Sidewalk Labs is going to allow Google to take over our souls?

True story.  Google it…

The post Is The I.T. Sector Going To Drive Real Estate Growth In Toronto? appeared first on Toronto Realty Blog.

Originated from https://ift.tt/2xUoCRE

[swipestream]

An Excerpt from QUANTUM MORTIS: A MAN DISRUPTED

The independent planet of Rhysalan provides Sanctuary to 1,462 governments-in-exile. It is the responsibility of the Xenocriminology and Alien Relations department of the Military Crimes Investigation Division to keep a firm leash on the hundreds of thousands of xenos residing on-planet. Assassinations, revolutions, civil wars, and attempted planetary genocides are all in a day’s work for Chief Warrant Officer Graven Tower, MCID-XAR.

In addition to a missile-armed aerovar, his trusty Sphinx CPB-18, and MCID’s extremely liberal policies concerning collateral damage and civilian casualties, Chief Tower is assisted by his extreme xenophobia as well as a military-grade augmented machine intelligence that believes it has found God. So when the disintegrated remnants of the heir apparent of an alien royal house are discovered on the streets of Trans Paradis, the question is not so much whether the killers will eventually be found, but if it is the criminals or the crime investigators who will contribute more to the final body count.

QUANTUM MORTIS is the action-packed Mil-SF mystery series from Vox Day, author of the epic fantasy series Arts of Dark and Light. Written with Steve Rzasa, QUANTUM MORTIS: A Man Disrupted is the first novel in the series featuring Graven Tower, MCID.

*     *     *      *      *

Murder is the unlawful killing of a sentient corporeal being rated higher than 9 on the Takeno-Turing scale, with malice aforethought. Every murder perpetrated by radiation, genetic manipulation, or any other kind of willful, deliberate, malicious, and premeditated killing; or committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, any revolution, assassination, murder, kidnapping, treason, espionage, sabotage; or perpetrated as part of a pattern or practice of assault or torture, is murder in the first degree and is strictly prohibited without the written consent of an appropriate authority. Any other murder is murder in the second degree. —09 RCJ § 1111: Murder

“Chief Tower? Chief Graven Tower? Is that you?”

He could hear the incredulity in the detector’s voice as she addressed him and grinned to himself as he stood up from where he’d been attempting to examine some of the possible sight lines that Baby was displaying for him.

“None other.” He pretended not to know who it was. “Wait, I know that voice. Hildy, is that you?”

“None other. Now get your grubby mitts off my murder scene! I’m right over you.”

Tower craned his head upward. Sure enough, a black-and-white TPPD aerovar was descending slowly with its nose pointing north, having come from the opposite direction. “You got your zoom on if you can see my hands from up there.”

“Your augment sent me the uplink through Victor when I asked why there was a soldier boy crashing the scene.”

“So the kids are playing well together? Isn’t that nice. Get on down here and join the party. I think you’re going to like this one.”

“Not a jumper?”

“Not a jumper,” he confirmed. “Definitely not a jumper.”

“Well, where is the body? I don’t see a body. You didn’t do anything with my body, did you, Chief?”

Tower shook his head, and with some difficulty, managed to stifle the first three responses that sprang into his mind. Was she flirting with him? He was tempted to respond in kind, and he knew how unlikely it was that anyone downtown or at base was listening in, but regardless, they were being recorded and it was only two months since the last base-wide series of sexual harassment lectures.

He shuddered involuntarily. No woman, not even the lovely Detector Hildreth, was worth the interminable weeks of re-education that would follow an on-duty comment deemed improper by Bio Resources. The suspicious bureaucrats of BR were always on the alert, they liked nothing better than to get their hands on an officer, and they could always be relied upon to put the worst possible interpretation on even the most innocent remark.

“Not guilty, Detector.” He cursed himself for his cowardice and glanced into a window that was just clean enough to let him see his reflection. Thanks to the tac-jacket, he looked dangerous, maybe even dashing. Digging into his pocket, he found a breath-enhancement pill and popped it into his mouth. “Tower out.”

The signal clicked off. Tower swore it was an actual sound, but the techs told him he was over-imaginative. A moment later, the whine of the grav-plates on Detector Hildreth’s aerovar increased in pitch as she, or more likely, her augment parked it on the street, nose to nose with Tower’s own vehicle. Lacking the armor, the anti-personnel rockets, the Meteor air-to-air missiles, the 15mm gun ports under the stub-wing slots on either side, and the pair of Degroet Tactical M165-20 cannons in the nose, her black-and-white vehicle looked sleek and stylishly feminine in comparison with his more heavily armed, dark-grey machine.

“Well, Chief Tower, it seems we meet again. What brings MCID to this humble civilian crime scene?” Derin Hildreth, Hildy to her friends, colleagues, and one-time professional role-play team members, was a little shorter than Tower. She was pretty, slender, and athletic, and wore a thicker, sleeveless version of his tactical jacket. A standard department GHK slug-thrower rested in a brown leather holster that was slung low over her grey pants, and a yellow-triggered shocker that looked like a toy was attached to her belt on her right hip. Underneath the tactical vest she was wearing a white collared shirt. She had a small black satchel slung over one shoulder, and was using both hands to twist her medium-length blond hair back into a looped ponytail as she walked toward him.

“Would you believe an inter-subsector war looms on the horizon and solving this crime may help us stop it and save tens of millions of lives?”

“Not even a little bit,” she said with a grin. Then the amusement vanished from her face as she stared at the dark smear on the ground. “Oh, no. That’s from a military grade disintegrator. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it! Don’t tell me you guys have something that can pick up the discharge!”

Wow, she was quick. She was wrong, but she was quick.

“If we did, you know I can’t tell you.” Tower spread his hands. “And, just so you know, we usually refer to them as disruptors.”

She narrowed her eyes, which he couldn’t help notice were an attractively bright shade of green and glanced at his armored var. “Do you have it in there? Chief, if you have evidence that would help me ID the weapon, I would truly appreciate it. I really would.”

“She’s just shameless, isn’t she?” Baby practically hissed as Hildy patted his arm and started to slide past him. “What are you doing, Tower? Change the subject!”

She was right. He had to distract the detector and fast. Hildy was already making her way toward the driver-side door and he couldn’t remember if he’d locked it or not. Then she froze and cocked her head to one side. She was listening to her augment, he realized. Then she turned around to face him.

“Victor says there is a ninety-seven percent possibility that the vic was killed by a disintegrator given the chemical composition of the latent energy particles. Or rather, a disruptor, I should say.”

Tower tried to nod in a knowing manner, hoping that Hildy wouldn’t press him further about his nonexistent device.

Did you do that? he subvocalized, knowing that Baby could hear him.

“Yeah, I cycled it through the TPPD comm-int; her Victor has no idea where it came from. Those civilian intelligences are cretins.” That’s my girl.

He glanced up and realized that Hildy had her hands on her hips and was asking him something.

“Did I smell anything when we got here? No, I didn’t, but I’ve seen that sort of thing before.” He indicated the crude body-shaped smear. “The Keleboshi had a few vehicle-mounted disruptors. They burned through too much energy to be relied upon in a firefight, and their power sources were too big to carry around without a gravsuit, but for a one-shot kill, a micro-disruptor is hard to beat if you can get close enough to your target.”

“You’re a combat vet?” She looked up at him with a speculative look on her face.

“I saw a bit of drama here and there. Among other things, I was with the security detail on Basattria.”

“Wow,” she said. Eleven years later, even civilians still remembered what went down at the consulate on that godforsaken planet. “Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time! I didn’t know there were any survivors.”

“A few of us got out. Not enough.” He shrugged and firmly kept his thoughts away from the one individual in particular who hadn’t. “The point is, we know what the weapon was, probably, but we don’t know why or even who, yet. And Baby tells me that based on what the witness says he didn’t see, the killer may have been cloaked.”

“Cloaked? That doesn’t sound like a run-of-the-mill mugger. Neither does a disruptor.” She took him by surprise when she raised her eyebrows and grinned hopefully. “I thought I heard a ‘we’ in there, Chief Tower. Would MCID be willing to assist on this one instead of taking over the investigation?”

“Oh, for the love of Our Father, Tower, are you really going to hold her hand on this one?” Shut up, Baby. We could be dealing with pros here, maybe even spec-ops. It’s legitimate, you know TPPD isn’t equipped to handle spooks or soldiers. Just make the request.

He shrugged and feigned indifference. “We’ll see about that. Let’s find out who our vic was first.”

An Excerpt from QUANTUM MORTIS: A MAN DISRUPTED published first on http://ift.tt/2zdiasi

[fatcityftl-blog]

PRESS RELEASE: Fort Lauderdale Commission Approval

Ft. Lauderdale Commissioners Unanimously Approve 1.3m SF Mixed-Use Project in the heart of the Transit Oriented Development & Regional Activity Center Districts 300 N. Andrews Avenue, currently dubbed FATcity, kicks off the planning stage of an amenity rich community centerpiece that will be a job creation engine within Ft. Lauderdale’s Downtown Urban Core

July 12, 2017 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – The Traina Companies, a privately held New York and Delray Beach-based dynamic group of holdings in the real estate development, construction and hospitality industries, unanimously received the final zoning approval necessary from Ft. Lauderdale’s City Commissioners for its 1,351,160 square feet of mixed-use new construction, dubbed FATcity (Florida Arts and Technology), located at 300 N. Andrews Avenue in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 

This announcement moves FATcity from a proposed to a planned development pivotal to the city. A true Transit Oriented Development (TOD) mixed-use project, FATcity is situated in the City Center (RAC-CC) Special Zoning District and connects the Central Business and Arts Districts through pedestrian-oriented walkable streets, access to Brightline’s High-Speed Rail station within two blocks of the property, and a Wave Streetcar stop on-site.   Fronting an entire city block along the east side of Andrews Avenue between NE 3rd and 4th Streets, FATcity is an assemblage of five contiguous parcels of land totaling 2.69-acres and will be comprised of two, 30-story towers featuring 270,000 square feet of office, retail and a potential for hospitality; 612 residential units; and 1,327 covered parking spaces. “Today’s announcement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of state and local leaders, along with the Greater Ft. Lauderdale Alliance, who together have to positioned Ft. Lauderdale to emerge as the next tech hub to rival Austin and The Triangle in North Carolina – while also attracting other great companies in various industries," said Joseph Traina, Jr., Principal, The Traina Companies. “The quality of life, cost of living, no personal state income taxes, transportation modules, skilled workforce, and access to hundreds of thousands of students from local universities can rival, if not surpass, those of large-scale tech hubs like San Francisco and Silicon Valley.”   This development marks the first new Class A office space developed in Broward’s Ft. Lauderdale submarket in more than a decade. As such, FATcity’s office component is designed to exceed today’s workplace needs, boasting large, open floorplates ideal for co-working, collaboration and networking, open-air retail spaces, and advanced high-speed technology. Additionally, to complement its proximity to local universities, The Traina Companies seeks to create a platform where employers can meet, train, and hire the next generation of the skilled workforce – this will be accomplished by providing internships, continuing education, and fulfilling the need for an incubator for the area to connect and collaborate under one roof. As an amenity rich, job creation engine that will spotlight and enhance the cultural, educational, and lifestyle aspects of the region, FATcity will become the Gateway to Ft. Lauderdale. Employers and employees, residents, lifestyle retailers and consumers, as well as leisure and business travelers, will complement each other and the overall essence of the project.   “With our business roots deep in New York and Delray, we have seen first-hand how Ft. Lauderdale has become to Miami what Brooklyn is to Manhattan,” continued Traina. “The urban planners and commissioners of Ft. Lauderdale were wise beyond measure to create the RAC-CC zoning for the downtown area which has spurred development on a scale never before seen in Ft. Lauderdale.”  

### About The Traina Companies The Traina Companies is a privately held dynamic group of holdings in the real estate development, construction, hospitality and technology industries. With their main offices in New York City, NY and Delray Beach, FL, The Traina Companies core business is in real estate investment, development and property management. Other owned/controlled businesses include a construction management firm that specializes in healthcare and high-security buildings; technology companies in both the leisure travel and business travel sectors; and hotel/hospitality assets among other holdings. The firm was founded and is directed by Joseph R. Traina, a real estate investor and developer with more than 30 years experience in the Greater New York market, and the former President of Lazard Development Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the investment bank, Lazard Freres & Co. For more information, please visit www.trainaco.com.

[ronaldmrashid]

The Best Way To Profit From Snapchat’s IPO

Snap Inc. finally went public at $17 and is now worth around $31 billion after a meteoric 45% rise in its first day of trading. With ~1,900 employees almost liquid, funny money capital will inevitably rain down on the Southern California ecosystem!

What’s even more exciting is that Snap Inc. was able to sell stock to the public at a trailing 55X revenue multiple with no profits compared to a 14.5X multiple for Facebook and a 4.5X revenue multiple for Twitter today. In other words, investors either really believe in the growth projections for Snap Inc., and/or the scarcity of big internet/tech deals is forcing investors to pay a premium.

Since most of us do not work at Snap Inc., don’t have spouses who work at Snap Inc., nor were we investors in Snap Inc., we won’t benefit directly from their IPO. However, most of us are logical thinkers who can make observations of how to benefit when the 150-day lock-up period is over and capital is recycled into the community.

The most obvious beneficiary of IPO riches is real estate. We’ve all learned firsthand or from story books how paper multi-millionaires lost everything during the 2000 dotcom crash because they couldn’t sell quickly enough or they didn’t buy hard assets. At least once a week while I was working, the guy who made me a breakfast croissant reminded me how he was once worth $3 million.

Staying wealthy for longer is all about turning funny money into real assets. Money will also flow into cars, fine art, entertainment, and other luxury goods as well. But real estate is where the common person can expect to benefit the most. 

Real Estate Beneficiaries Of Snap IPO

Besides Venice Beach being the biggest beneficiary of the IPO given that’s where Snap Inc. is headquartered, Marina Del Ray, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, and Mar Vista should all benefit as well. Once these markets get sufficiently tight, the benefits continue to fan out across the city.

Folks who hold real estate in these areas should stay put and watch their net worth grow so long as there is no great economic crash. Folks who are waiting to buy should start aggressively hunting for their perfect property in the fringes now before the lock-up period expires in Q3 2017.

If you can find a good deal that cash flows positively after a 20% downpayment, and you plan to own the property for the next 10+ years, then you’re probably going to do OK despite the large property price rally since ~2012. Google and Facebook have moved in, turning industrial lots into campuses in nearby Playa del Rey.

What’s very interesting is that according to Zillow, Venice Beach property is only expected to go up by 0.7% over the next 12 months due to plenty of inventory and a 95% surge in the median home price since 2012 ($815K to $1.585M). In other words, the market is COLD in part because many of the locals have already bought up Venice Beach property in anticipation of a Snap Inc. IPO and a recovering economy. However, the Zillow forecast is before the real-time explosion in value we see in Snap Inc’s shares today, and perhaps now there’s an opportunity to “snap up” properties at a discount before prices march higher again.

Zillow forecasts a slow market for Venice Beach. Opportunity?

For investors who don’t live in Los Angeles, the next best way to profit is to scan for real estate crowdfunding deals in the LA area. I’m still bullish on the heartland, but the Snap IPO could very well be the catalyst for another frenzy in coastal real estate markets.

Due to the strength of the Snap IPO, I’m pretty sure my thesis of buying SF Bay Area real estate during the winter of 2017/2018 ahead of the Airbnb and Uber IPOs will become mainstream now. For SF buyers, we’re experiencing a perfect moment where prices on the high end and in the condo market have softened about 5% – 10% since early 2016 due to a large influx of new condo supply. Weakness will probably last until mid-2018, giving us more time to save up, until either one goes public.

Airbnb generated about $1.7B in revenue in 2016 and is expected to grow revenue to $2.8B for 2017. Airbnb is currently raising a new round of funding based on a ~$30-33B valuation. In other words, its revenue multiple is only 10 – 11X compared to Snap’s 55X revenue multiple. Given a rising tide lifts all boats, I’m sure Airbnb’s valuation just ticked up at least 10%. If you assign Snap’s 55X revenue multiple to Airbnb’s 2016 revenue, Airbnb would be valued at a whopping $93.5B! Not gonna happen due to different growth metrics, but it’s fun to extrapolate.

SF Bay Area prices surged post-FB’s IPO.

Meanwhile, Uber is even larger, with $5.5B in revenue in 2016 and perhaps $7B+ revenue for 2017. Uber is currently valued at roughly $60 – $66B, or ~10 – 12X trailing revenue. Snap’s IPO probably neutralized all of Uber’s recent negative press with regards to valuations. For fun, if we apply Snap’s 55X revenue multiple to Uber’s revenue, you get a market capitalization of $385B, equal to another Facebook.

Bay Area property went ballistic after the Google and Facebook IPOs, but so has most coastal city property since 2012 due to a recovering economy. Southern California property will likely continue to stay strong post-Snap’s IPO. With ~10,000 new millionaires looking for a home after Airbnb and Uber’s IPO, the Bay Area will likely reignite since less than 1% of the housing stock trades at any given moment. The key is to buy ahead of the liquidity events because although the market discounts in advance, it never fully discounts the true value until the event actually happens. For example, even after a proposed company buyout, there is still a spread between the offer price and the trading price.

For those of you who don’t live in LA or SF, that’s OK. Real estate crowdfunding can at least help you get closer to the frenzy. Just looking at RealtyShare’s platform, here are a couple deals in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

San Francisco Example

RealtyShares San Francisco Investment Example

Talk about depressing photography for its featured image! This property is located in Cole Valley, a desirable neighborhood within walking distance to the UCSF campus and a 15-minute subway ride to downtown. I’m surprised by the low $5K minimum and short 12-month term paying a healthy 10.5% interest. But perhaps by the time they’re done rehabbing the place, it’ll be just in time to benefit from a big IPO.

This is a typical two-unit San Francisco property I wanted to buy back in 2003 for under a million bucks. The idea was to live in one unit and rent out the other for five years until I saved up enough money. Then I’d rent out both units, buy a larger two unit building, live in one unit, and repeat until amassing at least six rental units generating $250,000 in gross rent while retiring by age 40 in Hawaii! Oh well. My current life will have to do.

A 14-minute commute from 333 Parnassus Ave to RealtyShares office. Not bad.

I’m intimately familiar with this neighborhood because I live close by and just checked out an amazing rehab several streets down last weekend that is currently pending (picture below). The developer basically did what the current sponsor for the Parnassus property wants to do, and that’s buy a two-unit building, rehab it and sell each unit for a profit.

Check out the comp below. $2,095,000 is for the top unit with a cottage in the rear. The bottom unit is asking $1.79M. Given the unit went into contract after two weeks on the market, it’ll likely sell for more than asking. Once this post is published, I’m off to spend two hours this Sunday looking for more clues as to what’s going on with the property market!

Comp to 333 Parnassus. So much nicer photography.

Los Angeles Example

RealtyShares LA Investment Example

Here’s another short-duration investment of 12 months with an 11% annual interest and a higher $15,000 minimum. Unfortunately, 3124 Rowena Avenue is about a 35-minute drive away from fabulous Venice Beach.

I highly doubt a Snapchat millionaire is going to want to live in this place. But perhaps a forward-thinking Snapchat millionaire might be looking for multi-family rental properties in LA that generate 10%+ annual gross rents to ensure her fortune lasts longer than a fashion trend.

For 13 years, I invested ~80% of every annual bonus into real estate to diversify away from a highly cyclical industry whose profitability was always under attack. I knew from month one that I wouldn’t last much more than 10 years in the business. By the time I couldn’t take working anymore, I found comfort knowing my real estate investments would help keep me afloat due to rental income and appreciation.

3124 Rowena is a 33-minute drive to fabulous Venice Beach… if you’re lucky

Look In Your Own Backyard

Let’s say you have no interest trying to gain exposure to boomtowns through real estate crowdfunding. You might just have a real estate investment opportunity right where you are.

I’d like everybody to do some research on whether there are any impending IPOs from private companies in your city. If there are, please share so we can all profit! You may likely see the same positive effects on your local real estate market as we’ve seen here in SF and LA.

In summary, the success of Snap Inc should:

Embolden more private companies, especially in tech/internet to go public

Raise current valuations of private companies in the same category

Increase investor demand for private companies similar in size and type

Increase the number of people investing in private equity who normally would not

Increase hiring by private companies who now have more funding

Create a larger startup and investor ecosystem in Southern California

Create FOMO in other cities who wonder why can’t they also start their own ecosystem

Embolden more individuals to become entrepreneurs

Create international copycats

Increase the rents and property prices of surrounding areas

Finally, some of you may be wondering whether I’m willing to buy SNAP at a 55X+ revenue multiple? Hell no! And you better believe every single investor and employee is looking to cash out as much of their pre-IPO shares as possible without sounding alarm bells to latecomers.

I want to see at least a quarter of public performance before making any investment decision. Snap Inc. may become the next Facebook or it may become the next Twitter. Who knows. What I do know is that Snap Inc. has $3.4B more on its balance sheet to spend on growth. I’d much rather try and earn a 10% return selling picks and shovels rather than mining for gold.

Related: Why Is US Property So Cheap Compared To The Rest Of The World?

Readers, what are some other ways to profit from the Snap Inc. IPO? Anybody from Venice Beach or the surrounding area want to provide some local color? Where do you think SNAP stock goes from here? Please point out any flaws in my investment thesis and challenge me! I want to thank a personal finance consulting client of mine who inspired me to write this post because he actually lives in Venice Beach and asked about my thoughts on this subject again. 

from http://www.financialsamurai.com/the-best-way-to-profit-from-snapchats-ipo/