Preparing for a Career in AI

Tuesday, May 7, 2024 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

This event is a panel discussion on the topic of 'Preparing for a Career in AI'. The panel will feature local cross-functional leaders in the AI space, who will share their perspectives and insights on how to build a successful career in the field of artificial intelligence. Attendees can expect to learn about the skills, knowledge, and experiences that are essential for pursuing a career in AI.

• 
  Jairobe McPherson

  Cloud AI/ML Engineer, Google

• 
  Cecelia Martinez

  Developer Advocate, Ionic

• 
  Jerome Hardaway

  Software Engineer, Microsoft

June Bytes & Bites

Friday, June 7, 2024 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Join us at Bytes & Bites, our monthly tech networking lunch! Discuss tech, work, and more over lunch at The Collective Food Hall @ Coda in Midtown, right across from Georgia Tech. Grab your lunch at one of six unique spots to eat and drink, then come hangout with us. Everyone participating in the REFACTR.TECH conference, events and Slack/Discord communities are required to agree to the following code of conduct. Organizers will enforce this code throughout the event.

It's Dangerous To Go Alone: Lesson From The Tech Wilderness

Friday, October 27, 2023 3:30 PM - 3:50 PM

When you start your journey in "Legend of Zelda", one of the earlier lines says to you "It's dangerous to go alone, take this". Working in tech can feel like playing Zelda, one moment you're going through your onboarding and the next you're walking into the wilderness that is the industry. With over a decade of experience in the tech industry, I've gathered a few gems that can help guide folks who are early in their career that I wished I had at the start. We'll look at 7 valuable lessons from myself and some special guests that can make your tech journey less dangerous than Zelda.

• 
  Mike Hartington

  Director of Developer Relations, Ionic

Personal Operating Manuals

Friday, October 27, 2023 3:50 PM - 4:00 PM

Personal Operating Manuals helps your teammates understand you better. They provide a quick guide to how you approach work, what you value, how you are best communicated with, and what folks misunderstand about you. In this session, I will speak about how teams that share their POMs work better together. Then I will use my personal POM to illustrate how to create one.

• 
  Jana Hart

  Senior Engineering Manager, Clever

You-Market Fit

Friday, October 27, 2023 4:00 PM - 4:30 PM

“What makes you a good fit for this role?” Do you dread this question? Maybe you have a hard time connecting your skills with a specific job description, or you may even be pursuing roles that aren’t a good fit in the first place. Product-market fit means finding a suitable market and building a product that meets the needs of that market. When product-market fit is done right, you don’t have to waste time and resources selling your product. Instead, the market organically sees the value you provide and is ready to buy.  If you've ever struggled to identify and define the unique value you can provide to potential employers, this talk will cover how to apply the concepts of product-market fit to your own career growth. Whether you are currently looking for a role or planning your next career move, you’ll learn how to ensure your target market, product (that’s you!), and how you position yourself are all in alignment for success.

• 
  Cecelia Martinez

  Developer Advocate, Ionic

Python vs Hip Hop. How Devs Can Remix Community, Culture and Code

Friday, October 27, 2023 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM

In 1994 - "The south had something to say" according to Andre 3000, and two of the greatest rap albums ever were released out of New York City. We also saw the evolution of major programming languages like PHP, CSS, and Python. The modern era of developer has lived in a world where Hip Hop culture went from being considered niche and dangerous to being the definition of popular culture. In that same time we've seen the Python Programming language become a standard bearer for non-traditional developers across many industries. But the development landscape has more in common and still much to learn from the music genre. This talk shares insights that developer communities in large can learn from the raise of modern hip hop culture.

• 
  Jay Miller

  Senior Cloud Advocate - Python, Microsoft

The Business Case for Human Decency

Friday, October 27, 2023 11:30 AM - 11:50 AM

Parental leave. Medical leave. Remote, hybrid, or on-site work. Employees who are burnt out, or dealing with mental health crises. These situations might seem like human interest issues, but they are business issues at their core. How leaders handle these things has a serious long-term impact on their teams as much as the individual, and ultimately, on the company. Join me to learn how you, as a leader, can make the best choices to both be a moral, ethical human, and a company asset. Not yet in leadership? I will also share how you, as an individual contributor can advocate for yourself, and assist your leaders in making choices that treat you ethically and are also a win for the business. When everyone is ethical, everyone wins!

• 
  Valarie Regas

  Developer Advocate

Heated: An Honest Conversation on Early/Mid Career Burnout

Friday, October 27, 2023 11:50 AM - 12:00 PM

I will speak about early/mid career burnout, signs to look out for, and tips for managing and preventing burnout for individuals, companies, and employee resource groups.

• 
  Allison Higgins

  Software Architect , University System of Georgia

Straight No Chaser Advice Office Hours

Friday, October 27, 2023 12:00 PM - 12:20 PM

Since developing the Profit Without Oppression Economic Theory, the most formable challenge I continually face is the lack of real-world experience folx have with engaging in uncomfortable conversations. Far too many professional relationship and engagements falter and/or fail because folx practice avoidance, ex. passive aggression, deflection, being untruthful, over compensating, professional violence, retaliation, etc. by default. A world that reflects the supremacy, coercion, discrimination, and exploitation free future that we seek, requires us to reckon with many uncomfortable, internal and external, truths...this work must be done or we're just wasting our time while building a future of trauma; harm, and pain. In this session, I will give her advice for navigating uncomfortable and important workplace conversations that impact your professional and personal life.

• 
  Kim Crayton

  CEO, Kim Crayton LLC

From Data to Destiny: Empowering Change Through Technology and Community

Friday, October 27, 2023 9:05 AM - 9:35 AM

Description coming soon!

• 
  Teneika Askew

  Group Product Director, Data Science & Analytics Enablement, US Navy

Ethics in AI

Friday, October 27, 2023 1:15 PM - 2:05 PM

Moderated and curated by Noble Ackerson, this keynote panel brings together AI and data experts from across the industry to have the conversation we need around building a foundation of ethics in AI.

• 
  Noble Ackerson

  CTO, American Board of Design and Research

• 
  Sneha Subramanian

  Director, Data Science, Salesloft

• 
  Kelly Vaughn

  Director of Engineering, Spot AI

• 
  Tara Walker

  Principal Software Engineer, Microsoft

• 
  Martin Rojas

  UI Architect , PlayOnSports

Career Stories: Mekka Okereke, moderated by Erich Lee

Friday, October 27, 2023 4:40 PM - 5:10 PM

Have you ever wondered how some of tech's most well-known creators, builders, and leaders became the powerhouses they are today? Hear their stories and lessons learned in our new series, Career Stories. In our live, first edition of Career Stories, join us for a fireside chat with, Mekka Okereke, as he shares the journey to building some of the most productive, impactful and inclusive teams at Google, shaking tables along the way.

• 
  Mekka Okereke

  Senior Director of Engineering, Google Play Apps, Google

• 
  Erich S. Lee

  Founder & Entrepreneur, Well Water Capital

Movie.Tech: Deadpool & Wolverine

Friday, July 26, 2024 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Join us for our first MOVIE.TECH! We're catching the opening night of 'Deadpool & Wolverine' starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman (exact time TBA). Once tickets are available, we'll notify you to purchase yours. After the movie, we may head to a nearby bar for drinks—stay tuned for updates! IPIC Atlanta in Colony Square, Midtown. IPIC offers chef-driven cuisine, lounge, bar spaces, and custom-designed Pod seating. Less than a mile from Piedmont Park. Everyone participating in the REFACTR.TECH conference, events and Discord/Slack community—including, but not limited to attendees, speakers, sponsors and volunteers at REFACTR.TECH, are required to agree to the following code of conduct. Organizers will enforce this code throughout the event.

Build the Next Generation of Web Apps With Angular

Friday, October 27, 2023 9:45 AM - 10:05 AM

The web is changing and Angular is changing to meet developers needs of the modern developer. But how is Angular changing? What features are available to help you build the next generation of Angular web apps? Come to this session to learn how Angular is evolving to enable developers to build dynamic web applications across the web stack. Whether you are new to Angular or a seasoned Angular developer what I'm going to share will leave you excited about the future of web development with the platform. You'll find out why there has never been a better time to develop web apps with Angular.

• 
  Mark Thompson

  Sr. Developer Relations Engineer, Google

The Joy of Typescript

Friday, October 27, 2023 10:05 AM - 10:25 AM

Joy isn't probably the first word you would use to describe TS but what if I could change your perspective on it? We'll dabble in some basics but overall I want to share some techniques and helpful patterns that have helped me enjoy the process and how handy it has become for me for building multiple internal services at my company. Together we can embrace the challenge.

• 
  Adrianna Valdivia

  Senior UI Engineer, Salesloft

Time Travel Debuggers

Friday, October 27, 2023 10:25 AM - 10:45 AM

Debugging has always been one of the most challenging and time-consuming tasks in software development. A sad fact is most programmers don't use a debugger, and opt to use log statements instead. This is a sign that the available debuggers aren't meeting the task. The concept of time travel debuggers has been around for many years. In this talk, I'd like to: - share with you my obsession with creating such a debugger - how time traveling works - show demos of 3 different time-traveling debuggers - show you the tip of the iceberg of the enormous research literature on this subject

• 
  Toby Ho

  Developer Experience Engineer, ReplIt

Unleashing the Power of the chatGPT API: A Developer's Guide to Building Your Own AI

Friday, October 27, 2023 2:15 PM - 2:45 PM

Join us in exploring the transformative potential of the chatGPT API in the 2023 AI landscape. This session will guide you through building an AI-powered application, discussing practical use cases like natural language processing and virtual assistants. Gain insights on integrating chatGPT seamlessly into your projects, delve into machine learning basics, and understand the nuances of model fine-tuning. We'll also address the ethical considerations in AI, ensuring responsible application development. With hands-on demos and real-world examples, you can confidently harness chatGPT's capabilities for innovative and impactful AI solutions. Don't miss this chance to elevate your development journey.

• 
  Martin Rojas

  UI Architect , PlayOnSports

Demystifying code through testing

Friday, October 27, 2023 2:45 PM - 3:15 PM

It can be daunting jumping into an established code base that you have no context or experience with. One of the easiest ways to familiarize yourself with code that is new to you is through its test infrastructure. But what if you are tasked with introducing tests when none exist? Or maybe tests do exist but they are finicky or the code is indecipherable? Join my session to learn how you can begin navigating such situations in any code base or language and begin setting the tone for your team when it comes to good code and testing practices.

• 
  Cecili Poole

  Senior Software Engineer, Netflix