Welcome to {dev.talk}

{dev.talk} (pronounced "dev dot talk") is a community-driven monthly meetup bringing together software engineers and tech professionals in the Bournemouth and Dorset area.

Free to attend and run by community volunteers, we create an inclusive space where developers of all experience levels can learn, share knowledge, and connect.

Each meetup features sessions from community members (mostly of a technical nature), with time for networking and discussions between talks. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, you'll find a welcoming environment to explore new ideas and "geek out" with fellow tech enthusiasts.

To extend our reach beyond the in-person events, all sessions (with speaker permission) are recorded and shared on our YouTube Channel, creating an accessible resource for the wider developer community.

Our mission is simple: build a thriving, supportive tech community in Dorset where everyone can grow professionally while making meaningful connections.

Come and Join Us

Event Details

Please Note: That all {dev.talk} events will be photographed and recorded. If you do not wish to be included in a photo or video, please make the organisers aware.

Tickets

If you would like to come to one of our friendly events, see our ticket site for free tickets.

What Does a Typical Event Look Like?

Focus: Software engineering topics
Location: In or around Bournemouth, UK
Attendees: Expecting 40-60 participants

A typical 2-hour session will look like this:

Arrival and Networking (15-20 minutes)
Attendees check in, grab refreshments, and mingle with others in a relaxed setting.
Welcome and Introduction (5-10 minutes)
The host provides a warm welcome, shares announcements, and introduces the speakers and agenda.
First Speaker + Q&A (25-30 minutes)
The first speaker delivers a talk on a tech topic, followed by a brief audience Q&A.
Break and Networking (10-15 minutes)
A short intermission to recharge, discuss the first talk, and connect with attendees.
Second Speaker + Q&A (25-30 minutes)
The second speaker presents their session, followed by another interactive Q&A.
Wrap-Up and Closing (5-10 minutes)
The event concludes with thanks to speakers, attendees, and sponsors, along with reminders about upcoming events.
Post-Event Networking (Time dependant)
Attendees can stick around to chat, exchange ideas, and build deeper connections.

Why attend?

Learn: Discover something new from experienced professionals and peers.
Teach: Share your knowledge and insights (even if you're not a speaker).
Engage: Connect with experts who might help you solve current challenges.
Build Relationships: Form meaningful connections within the tech community.
Boost Confidence: Gain self-assurance by networking and sharing your ideas.
Express Yourself: Share your views, thoughts, and passions in a supportive space.
Diversity of Thought: Gain fresh perspectives from a variety of individuals.
Break Barriers: Interact with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
Discover Venues: Explore local spaces you might not have known about before.
Meet New People: Expand your personal and professional network.
Find Opportunities: Connect with new prospects and opportunities in your area.
Knowledge Sharing: Tap into the software engineering expertise within our community.
Networking: Engage with peers who share your technical interests and ideas.
Community: {dev.talk} is created by and for the community-come and be part of it. Everyone is welcome.

Who should attend?

Software Engineers
Web Developers
Systems Designers
Technical Leads
Engineering Managers
Software Architects
DevOps Engineers
QA Engineers
Cyber security experts
Data Engineers
BI Analysts
Students
Graduates
Anyone with a deep interest in the technical workings of software and systems

Recruiters: Note that {dev.talk} events are for everyone, but this is not an event for recruiting. This is a friendly welcoming place and attendees should not feel pressured to use your services. Any recruiter who attends and is seen to break this rule, will be asked to leave immediately.

Attendee Feedback

If you attended a previous event, then please tell us about your experience using our Attendee Feedback Form (Takes 1 min)

Come and Speak

See our Speaker information

Volunteering

Do you want to get involved?

We always need people to:

Welcome and check-in attendees
Help setup and pack down afterwards
Tech support for the speakers
Take photos
Help film the event
Maintain the website
Help find speakers

If this is something you are interested in doing, then please Contact us

Code of Conduct

We have a code of conduct that will be strictly adhered to. We want to be welcoming to everyone no matter who they are, what skill level they have or where they come from.

Upcoming sessions

Level Up Your DevEx: Unit Test Complex E2E Flows + Integration Testing with Aspire & OTEL - Andrew Poole

This session is in two parts:

1) How to get the maximum mileage from a minimal number of tests - end-to-end component tests

2) Using .Net Aspire for next level devex and easy integration tests asserting against OTEL trace data

Part 1 Introduces, explains and demonstrates an approach to automated testing which covers as much of the surface area of your codebase as possible.Imagine a unit test where the 'unit' is actually multiple executables! A single test can cover the whole happy path flow of a complex piece of orchestration, from API handlers, service bus handlers, database calls etc all in-memory, fast and with a nice fluent developer experience!Because everything including the Program.cs and startup code are covered we can spot configuration and IoC issues which are hard to test with more traditional methods. I include a method of mocking and asserting against Azure Service Bus

Part 2 discusses the usual issues with integration tests and how they expose the issues with running an app locally. It then presents .Net Aspire as the answer to lots of these issues, It covers the process of adding .Net Aspire to a solution and showcases its features, adding additional OTEL telemetry to track interesting events, including persisting and rehydrating telemetry across any 'process airgaps' and the creation of integration tests covering end-to-end flows using Open Telemetry trace data for assertions.

The aim of both parts of this talk is to have a repo which when pulled down onto a fresh machine, builds first time, component tests pass first time, then having run the script and the app, the the integration tests pass first time, after which you can push F5 and have it all run with almost no time or effort!
Nix for Reproducible Developer Environments (15 mins) - Oliver Pauffley

The quickest and most painful way of getting developers on the same dependencies
Building my blog: A journey of discovery (45 mins) - Mark Oliver

In this session, I will explain the journey of discovery of building my fully interactive Blog website and the engine behind it, using free cloud technologies such as Azure Static Web Apps, Github Actions and Blazor WebAssembly.
Why is there a shark in my Wire - An introduction to Wireshark (25 mins) - Mark Oliver

A short introduction to the network protocol analyser tool Wireshark, and why it can be helpful for software engineers. I will show the basics of running the tool, the benefits of knowing this tool for all software developers, and then cover some real life examples of where it has been used to aid development of production systems.

Previous sessions

See our Previous Sessions

Upcoming events

September 24th 2025: {dev.talk} - The one where we learn to Level Up Our DevEx
October 22nd 2025: {dev.talk} - The one happening in October
November 26th 2025: {dev.talk} - The one with our Birthday
December 2025: NO EVENT - Go and spend it with a loved one.

Previous events

August 27th 2025: {dev.talk} - The one happening in August
July 23rd 2025: {dev.talk} - The one with the conference come down
June 25th 2025: {dev.talk} - The one where we connect before re:connect
May 21st 2025: {dev.talk} - The one where Open Source AI tries to break into Tech
April 23rd 2025: {dev.talk} - The one where we will see you at BU
March 26th 2025: {dev.talk} - The one with Creatives & Coders at Cottonwood - Watch - Photos
February 26th 2025: {dev.talk} - The one where we forged friendships at the FOUNDRY - Watch - Photos
January 30th 2025: {dev.talk} - The one where we deployed our first PATCH - Watch - Photos
November 27th 2024: {dev.talk} - the one where we got started - Watch - Photos

Other local tech based events

See a list of other Local events

Supporters

{dev.talk} could not happen without support:

re:connect - A huge supporter. They help source the event spaces for the meetup, provide the subscription to the ticketing system, and provide the most important thing of all - moral support!
JustPickOneUK supports us by allowing the use of their video cameras and microphones to record the sessions.
Institute of Directors supported us by providing the first meetup venue (Nov 2024).
Patch (Bournemouth) supported us by providing a meetup venue (Jan 2025).
Barclays Eagle Labs (Poole) supported us by providing a meetup venue (Feb 2025).
Sessionize supported us by providing Call For Speakers Community access.
Meyrick Estates supported us by providing a meetup venue (Mar 2025).
"We are pleased to facilitate {dev.talk} at the Cottonwood Hotel and hope that the event is a great success. We are very keen to work with the local community to facilitate and trial new events as we begin an exciting journey to foster new collaborations, business and creative activity to the East Cliff. For enquiries to stage your event at the venue please contact: andrew@ajemeryconsulting.com"
Bournemouth University supported us by providing multiple meetup venues.

Venues

In order to run the {dev.talk} sessions, we need a free space to host the attendees and speakers. Our recent events are bringing about 50 attendees each time, so getting a space that fits them all is tricky. If you know of a venue that may be able to host us for free ({dev.talk} is run by volunteers and does not use sponsors), then please Contact us

Venue Requirements

It needs to be able to:

Large enough to seat around 50 attendees
Be within 15 miles of Bournemouth
Have a large screen (Projector or TV bigger than 65 inches) capable of showing Powerpoint presentations that all seated attendees can read easily.
Seating for all attendees in the style of a classroom / lecture theatre (i.e. good view of the screen)
A space in order for all attendees to network
We are looking for a monthly commitment, but a one-off offer of a space is helpful too
Be accessible for those with disabilities
Be accessible on a weekday evening from 6:30pm to 9:30pm
Parking nearby
WiFi available to attendees
Allows food and drink to be consumed (Soft drinks / Biscuits / Crisps)
Allows filming of the event and venue

Benefits to the Venue

Hosting a FREE {dev.talk} event provides your company/venue with the following benefits:

Showcase your venue to all attendees in a positive light.
Recognition in the organiser slides at every event held at your venue.
A permanent link on our website (see Supporters).
Mentions on the Eventbrite ticket page.
Shout-outs on our Bluesky social media account.
Inclusion in event recordings published on our YouTube channel.
Recognition in event-related discussions on our Discord server.
Mentions on our LinkedIn page.
We'll actively promote and evangelize your venue, highlighting its unique features.
Boosted word-of-mouth promotion from the local tech community.

Additionally, your venue will be recognized as a key supporter of the local tech community, playing a vital role in its growth and development.

YouTube

View past sessions on our YouTube Channel

Comments from Attendees

Here are some comments about our past events:

"The energy of the younger tech scene and the wealth of knowledge and advice from experienced people in the industry was well worth going for." Read in full
"Had an amazing time at {dev.talk} at Cottonwood in Bournemouth! Met a diverse group of software engineers, tech enthusiasts, and creatives. Excited to see more game designers join this vibrant community soon!" Read in full
"As always it was nice to catchup with some familiar faces, as well as meeting some new ones. I've really enjoyed getting to know more of the local tech scene over the past few months." Read in full
"I think it's really great we get to have something like this in Bournemouth for people like us to network and meet some great people, and for free as well it's very kind of him considering the amount of time and effort it takes to organise events like these so thank you very much 😁" Read in full
"I really enjoyed my first networking experience and I am looking forward to the next!" Read in full
"Onwards to the next one!" Read in full
"Last night felt like a nostalgic throwback to my Computer Science days at University backbenching with the geeks, delivering presentations, and throwing around technical jargon." Read in full
"Really enjoyed attending this event this evening. ... Thanks Mark and team for facilitating a great event" Read in full
"Was a great way to get involved in the local community and meet some lovely new people. 10/10 will be doing it again" Read in full

Who are we?

{dev.talk} was created by Mark Oliver in 2024. He saw that Bournemouth was lacking a software engineering based meetup despite being a Tech Hub on the South Coast of the UK, and as Wilton Knight once said "one person can make a difference", so Mark decided to create the meetup, and the community around it.