I’m Bapusaheb Patil, a Mentor here at Codementor, and I’m excited to share my experience at Google I/O 2019!
Before we get to the actual day, let’s go back to the day I realized I’d be going to Mountain View, CA to attend the most popular developer conference.
Why did Google invite me?
Sometime in February, while I was making coffee at work, I got a Gmail notification titled ‘Google I/O 2019 Invitation’.
I opened it, and found that this was, you guessed it, an invitation to Google I/O 2019! But what’s more is that it was a fully-sponsored trip by Google. I was sponsored by Google because I am a Google Certified Associate Android Developer, and they wanted me to share how my career turned out after I got certified.
I was asked if I was available the week of May 5, with the 3-day event from May 7-9. There is no power in the world that could've made me reject the invitation to Google I/O, so naturally, I agreed.
Day Zero: The day before the event
I travelled from India to San Francisco on May 6. According to the agenda, I had a Welcome Party at one the Google Campus in Mountain View. So I rushed all the way from Sunnyvale to Mountain View immediately after checking in to my hotel.
When I got there, William Florance, Head of Developers Training at Google, was talking about the certification and how it helped developers all over the globe to better their careers. There were developers from India, Indonesia, Africa, and a few Googlers at the party.
I was invited on stage to talk about how the certification helped shape my career. Right after I got certified by Google, I got a great full-time Android job. My public speaking profile, mentoring and writing for Codementor also acted as huge boost for my candidature. I was able to achieve so much while I was still a 20-year-old undergrad.
I also got to meet some really fantastic people and hear amazing stories of how the Google certification helped them. I also met some DSC leads and other people who had been doing a lot of helpful work in the Android community.
Day One: The first day of Google I/O 2019!
Google offers free shuttle rides for I/O attendees from certain pick-up points to the venue, Shoreline Amphitheatre.
When we got there, the registration area where attendees can collect their I/O badges was the first thing I saw. If you didn't have an I/O badge, you couldn't enter the venue. We also had to go through the standard security check before entering the venue.
The first thing I did was this:
It was almost time for the keynote where Sundar Pichai was scheduled to give his talk. It was just mind-blowing how big the theatre actually was. It was a dream come true for me to be in that theatre, and I had goosebumps all over.
The event started off with an AI DJ playing some music along with a real, human DJ, which was something none of us expected.
Then, Sundar Pichai walked on stage to deliver his keynote! There was a huge round of applause for the Google CEO, who introduced what’s new from Google this year, including new ways that AI could detect cancer, the new Pixel 3a phone, and more.
When he finished, the Developer Keynote took place. This was a talk by some of the top Googlers on what’s new for Developers.
After both these keynotes, it was time to attend sessions. However, I decided not to.
“Why?”, you ask?
Because the sessions would be recorded and uploaded to YouTube. I wanted to explore things at I/O that wouldn’t be available elsewhere. This included:
- Sandboxes
- Codelabs
- Meeting popular Googlers that I follow on Twitter, LinkedIn & GitHub, and asking them for a selfie
- Exploring other parts of the venue
- Hunting down swags
- And maybe, if I had the time, quickly stepping out of the venue to explore the Google campus and going to the Google Merchandise Store!
It was the best decision I could have made at the time.
What is a Sandbox?
A Sandbox, at Google I/O, is a big tent where they demo things that are new this year. Developers can directly interact with the Googlers who work on these things and ask questions.
ML + AI Sandbox
I started my Sandbox journey with the ML + AI Sandbox. I had fun talking to the Googlers there about what's new in TensorFlow & ML Kit. One UX researcher was interested in how I used the ML Kit in my final year undergrad project. After a quick feedback session, she gave me a limited edition Android figurine for being part of her UX research!
Android Sandbox
Next stop, and this is a favorite one: Android Sandbox!
Being a huge fan of Android Wear watches, I was delighted to check out the new watches!
I also got to meet my two Android ecosystem role models: Hadi Hariri and Chris Banes.
Flutter Onsite Interview
I was walking toward the Flutter Sandbox when I ran into Martin Aguinis, the Marketing Lead for Flutter at Google! I shared how much I loved Flutter and the Flutter YouTube channel, and he asked if I’d be okay if he did a quick interview with me about Flutter. You can check out the interview here.
Flutter Sandbox
I've been a crazy fan of Flutter since it was in the alpha stages. The Flutter Sandbox was top of my to-visit list, and I even got to meet my Flutter role models there!
It was also fun visiting the Google Android Lawn Statues and Google Merchandise Store!
I was also invited to an exclusive Flutter I/O party at one of the Google buildings. It was super fun to meet people who work on Flutter at Google.
Day Two: The fun continues.
My interview in the Google Certification Lounge
The very first thing on my agenda was my interview at the Google Certification Lounge. I was invited to talk about my experience and how my career turned out after the certification. They had a camera crew as John Souchak, the Global Developer Certification Program Manager at Google, interviewed me. Note: this video should be public in about a week or so, we'll share the link when it's up.
Accessibility + Material Design Sandbox
After that, I checked out a few sessions and a few sandboxes, one of which was the Accessibility + Material Design Sandbox. I’m a huge fan of Material Design, so I loved walking into this one!
‘Beyond Mobile’ Flutter Session
One session I really wanted to attend was the ‘Beyond Mobile’ session, by Emily Shack and Emily Fortuna. They talked about building Flutter apps for web, desktop, and mobile, which was a super-helpful session for Flutter fanatics.
To wrap up the day, Flaming Lips worked with Google's AI to put on an amazing live performance! I was also invited to the India Community Dinner to meet other Indian I/O attendees.
Day Three: The last day of Google I/O!
Google I/O Day Three was the shortest as the conference was ending at 04:30PM.
Codelabs
I started off my day by attending a few Codelabs. They were pretty cool, and I learnt a couple of new things in Payment SDKs.
Office Hours, App Reviews, and Chrome Sandbox
Inside Office Hours, there were Googlers reviewing apps for I/O attendees. There was another section, Chrome Sandbox, that reviewed websites. The Googlers in gave me a detailed breakdown of my website and how I could improve it. They were also nice enough to give a few UX suggestions.
Android Auto Demo
There was a really cool demo of what’s new in Android Auto, Google’s solution for smart cars, at Google I/O.
They have now made significant improvements to the user experience inside Android Auto cars, allowing users to perform tasks while driving a car much more easier than before!
Wrapping things up…
Going to Google I/O was probably the best experience of my life. It’s what every developer dreams of.
I got to network with Googlers and many other interesting people at the conference. I hope to go again next year, and make the most of the opportunities, like the ones I had this year.
While I didn’t know the exact reason as to why I was selected among all the other certified developers, I was probably sponsored to go to I/O because of my profile, online presence, and contributions to the community.
Having said that, I want to conclude by saying that if you work hard enough towards your dream, and help others around you in the process, things will fall into place just fine.
Feel free to connect with me, you can find all my socials on my website here: bapspatil.com
