Why I Go To Chain React

I'll start this off by saying that I realize nobody has asked me this question. Probs not even a lot of people who care but I want to talk about it anyway because I really enjoyed going for the past 3yrs and I've always left with something to try in my native apps or within teams I'm on.

What is Chain React?

TLDR: A bunch of Mobile Nerds/lovers/overlords/ect coming together to talk about changes to industry to look out for or to help at whatever stage of your app journey that your in.

Chain React is the biggest React Native conference in the US. People from beginners to experts get together and talk about cool tricks, patterns, common practices, what's new, ect in React Native. It's always in Portland, OR and always ran by the Infinite Red team. I have no clue how I found out about this conference but I really enjoy going to it even if I'm not in mobile development day-to-day anymore.

I don't talk much at the conference but I do enjoy learning little tips and tricks that I can pass on to others. The really fun part for me is leaving with an idea that was pitched for the RN community but that I can also use in the native mobile space. Last year my big take away was feedback forms in apps so you don't always have to depend on the play store. This year I learned a bit more about sentry. I've always been a bit skeptical of them but after hearing a few of their talks and seeing some cool stuff like session replay I'm "all in".

If your not in mobile why go?

I'm not attending Google I/O or Apple Developer. For me this is pretty similar. These people are also actively keeping up with native mobile standards (whether they admit it or not) and that makes it a lot easier for me to maintain a clear picture of the landscape in mobile.

Should other native devs go?

I say yes but you do what you want with your money. I'm not saying it's a cheap conference, BUT I am saying for me it is worth the cost.

Side note: I got caught in the after effects of the crowd strike thing after the conference. It was not fun and possibly the worst flying experience I've ever had.