Shopware Community UnConference 2023 Recap: Celebrating Community and Creativity

It was an incredible experience to take part in the second annual Shopware Unconference in Cologne.

The Shopware UnConference 2023 or just #scuc was an exciting event for developers, agencies and the community in general for two days full of peer-to-peer knowledge sharing about Shopware and the future of ecommerce. So at first, a big shoutout to Firegento e.V. for organizing this incredible event.

We took time to engage with others over talks on new technologies, detailed sessions on relevant trends impacting today's works or just good chits-chats :)

What is an Unconference?

Unconferences offer something different from traditional conferences. With no predetermined topics or speakers, participants get to decide what's discussed and how it's done. It could be anything from frontend development for beginners to backend programming for the more experienced or even something completely off-topic like cave diving.

Additionally, there's plenty of coffee and breaks for the attendants to mingle during different discussion sessions. But the most exciting part of an unconference is the conversations! This is, what makes it such a great format, as all like minded people had the chance to discuss their ideas in a relaxed way. I am eager to see this kind of conference in other industries in the future!

Highlights from the keynote speakers, panels and workshops.

Each participant received a form where you could name your topic which then could be upvoted by putting Stickers (Klebchen!) on it. Here are some I attended or were important to me including the two ones I also had to honor to talk about. The full topic is available at https://scuc.blue/.

1. NixOs/Devenv - Composable dev environment anywhere: How to compose a developer friendly environment easily. This was a hot topic among the developer community. Read more about it here or here. Or just clone the existing repository from Kellerkinder GmbH .
2. Frontends on Stereoids with Nitro 🚀: I did not had the chance to attend that but had some discussions with Shopware about the future of Shopware Frontends and how Nitro can be used to solve some technical issues we face right now, like caching, API handling, etc.
3. Make SW6 API simple again: This was an important topic for me as in my opinion the current API makes it difficult to onboard new developers. We might see some improvements for the documentation in the future :) Thanks Viktor Khliupko Ben Marks for taking it serious!
4. AMA on being a woman in tech (+inclusion) 👩 💻🌟: It was an incredible important topic to talk about as woman in IT are still not there where they should be. Most attendees are still men, so it is was a great opportunity for me to get and share relevant insights about where women are right now in IT. I also got some feedback about my current application process - big shoutout for this one Ramona Schwering !
5. Quantum Computing 🔬: Basically a mathematical introduction to Qubits and an explanation of the Grover's Algorithm in quantum computing. Honestly I could not follow everything but key takeaways during dinner later on was that quantum computing will not replace classical computing in the future as it completely tackle different problems. Check out https://machs.space for more interesting articles from Max, who was the presenter. Great mind!
6. Warum jeder ausbilden sollte 🎓: This was also my topic about why it is important as a company to offer vocational training (Ausbildung). Thanks for all attendees on Sunday afternoon.
7. What makes a modern e-commerce developer 💻: Uwe Kleinmann shared his thoughts about what kind of skills are required to be a good developer today. Hint: It is not only about technical skills. There were some parallels to the planned session from Wouter Dieters about his idea of the "E-Commerce Maturity Model - How to have happy customers" which takes some inspiration from the BCG-Growth-Share-Matrix and is a very promising approach to solve e-commerce business requirements in the future.

Reflections on how this event showcased community and collaboration

The Shopware Unconference in Cologne was a place for people to come together and share ideas. A commitment to the community organized and executed by the community. Or in the words of Ben Marks

A community with this level of commitment and connection is a resilient force for good!

Shopware made a huge step forward by including strong community workers in their strategy and this is absolutely going in the right direction as we can now see community events everywhere. Personal note: We will also organize another three Meetups in Munich ;)

Together, we are the voice of the community and we need to continue to inspire and support other tech professionals. Only when we are willing to lend an ear, offer help, and build meaningful relations, we will create something greater together.

Final Words!

Firegento’s effort in organizing the Shopware Unconference was nothing short of extraordinary! Kudos to Firegento and bravo on creating such an enjoyable event!

10/10 Klebchen