What I Learned from a Day at BigDataLDN (and Why You Should Go)
The Free Event That Could Transform Your Data Career
The event is free. I’m stating that from the get-go. Free for anyone with an email address and any sort of interest in data.
Say “free,” put the words “Big” and “Data” together, slap “London” on it — bada bing, bada boom — the people will come.
If you work in data (or want to), live in London (or close enough to get there), then this conference is a rare no-brainer. You have no excuse not to attend.
The benefits of going far outweigh the cons.
Where else can you meet industry leaders, watch them speak, chat with some powerhouses in the data world, and hang out with fellow data enthusiasts? I can’t think of any — certainly not free ones. There are probably loads of conferences like this, but usually, either you or your company will have to drop a bucket of cash to make it happen.
The only cost to you is time. I chuckle to myself when I hear people in the queue complaining, like they sold their house to get a ticket and aren’t getting their “money’s worth” — it’s free, folks.
Being free means you’re in for it. Free means you’re at the mercy of the event. Free means you will pay the price (one way or another). Either by dropping £12 for a sandwich and a coffee, or by running the gauntlet of salespeople trying to shove AI down your throat at every chance they get.
That’s the fun of it, I guess. End of the day, you signed up for it, and now you must pay your fee. That fee is your time. You need to decide how much your time is worth.
For me, it was well worth my time. I only hit day one — I have a job and kids, folks — but I made the most of it.
Highlights From DAY 1
Here are a few notes I jotted down on my lonely train ride back home after day one:
Huge drive for the foundations and fundamentals of good data practices — things like data management, accessibility, and plain old understanding of the challenges we face in the trenches day in and day out.
Getting my Fundamentals of Data Engineering book signed by Joe Reis.
Some (not all) vendors are actually trying to solve real problems, instead of trying to be the Swiss army knife of all things data and AI.
The talk Don’t Let Your Pipeline Die at BI: Understanding Analytics As Code by Ryan Dolley, which reminds people that to build innovative analytics products, you need to blend BI and data pipelines into a reactive, composable system.
I enjoyed the AI-themed talks more than I thought I would. Oscar Mendez’s talk From Data Chaos to Intelligence: The Moment Data Management Changed Forever with Generative AI totally aligned with the idea that we’ve overrated what GenAI can do currently and underrated what it will do in the near future. Watch this space.
Meeting Xinran Waibel from Data Engineering Things and seeing her talk with Shachar Meir, Secrets for Building a Successful Career in Data Engineering — really useful and practical advice for anyone starting out in Data Engineering.
Taking in some wisdom from Joe Reis. His talk Mixed Model Arts: The Convergence of Data Modeling Across Apps, Analytics, and AI was a dose of reality that the industry clearly needs.
Meeting some of the vendors of products I actually use in some shape or form every day. Conversations around data strategy, AI, and analytics.
Nobody talks about cost — it’s like the giant elephant in the room that everyone avoids. Sure, all these things are great, but how much?
AI Was Everywhere (Surprise, Surprise)
If you didn’t have AI slapped on your products (whether it’s good or bad), you may as well shut up shop. It was funny to see how some powerhouse data companies now all seem to be AI companies. I guess this is how the 60s felt with the U.S. and Russia racing to the moon. By the end of the day, it became a bit of a game for me to snap pictures of the word AI as I wandered around.
Checkout BigDataLDN’s YouTube channel all the 2024 talks are there for you to watch
Top Tips if You Attend BigDataLDN (or Any Event)
Plan ahead — This means doing your research rather than “winging it.” If you wing it, you’ll walk around like a zombie in a complete daze, much like your first time visiting a circus. So, remember — just like in life, a conference is no different: you can’t do it all. Pick the talks you must see and make sure you attend them. These should be your anchor points for the day, and then work around them.
Make friends — Yeah, this part is tough, even if you’re an introvert. But the good thing is you’re surrounded by salespeople — the most extroverted people on the planet. Walk up to any booth, and they’ll get you talking, meeting, and sharing interesting things. You just need to take that first step. BigDataLDN has a lot of queuing to get into talks, which is a great place to strike up conversations. Put yourself out there and ask how someone’s day is going. Connect with people on LinkedIn.
Make notes — The number of people I see watching talks without taking notes is insane. There’s no way you can absorb everything. Jot down notes as you go. I’ve found this so useful, and looking back, it’s great for driving home points or referencing resources or links that get mentioned.
There you have it
It was a good day out and a nice change of pace to hang out with a warehouse full of like-minded people.
I believe most of the talks were recorded, so look out for them online when they become available. I plan to update this post with links to the talks when they drop, so do keep an eye out. If you ever find yourself in London during BigDataLDN week, make sure to stop by the event — you won’t be disappointed.
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