beyond tellerrand: One of my favourite web development and design conferences

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People often ask me for recommendations for front-end development conferences. Picking my Top 3 would be challenging, but I know that beyond tellerrand in Germany is one of them.

Audience in the capitol theatre.
Location in Düsseldorf

Web developers love the beyond tellerrand conference (BTConf), although the event isn't a typical web dev conf. The organizer, Marc Thiele, a lovely and special person, has a strong web dev background and affiliation. That's why many talks at his events are about HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Still, there are always just as many or even more talks about typography, calligraphy, graphic design, creativity, leadership, and so much more. Last year, I saw a guy explain for 45 minutes how he tried to turn himself into a goat temporarily.

A bunch of goats on a steep meadow and a guy in a helment and an exoskeleton on all four interacting with a goat.
Source: NPR / Princeton Architectural Press

Recharging Batteries

I don't attend beyond tellerrand to learn technical things I can implement in my projects afterward. Although I have to say that I always learn something because the dev talks are usually excellent. I go there for inspiration, for the conversations between talks, for the friendly atmosphere, to broaden my horizon, and most importantly, to recharge mentally. Attending a conference is exhausting: traveling, lots of walking around, listening to presentations, lack of sleep, etc. Still, BTConf somehow manages to recharge my batteries every time I'm there.

Me standing and smilie in front of a poster made for my talk Selfie of Daniel Wentsch, me and Oliver Schöndorfer in front of a bar that uses the Lobster font in their logo

Speaking at beyond tellerrand

In 2022, I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at BT in Düsseldorf. The experience as a speaker at Marc's event is unique as well and not comparable to many other conferences I attended as a speaker. Also, the feedback I received from the audience was overwhelming. Everyone's just so lovely there.

Here's the recording of my talk „Lost in Translation”.

beyond tellerrand in 2024

This year, there will be two conferences: one in May in Düsseldorf and another in November in Berlin. Tickets are still available for both. Believe me when I tell you that at BTConf the line-up doesn't matter, but if you look at the website you'll see that Marc has invited amazing speakers once again. Amongst others, Laura Kalbag, Oliver Schöndorfer, and Stefan Sargmeister in Düsseldorf. Miriam Suzanne, Sophie Koonin, and Hidde de Vries in Berlin. Oh, and I am speaking in Berlin, too, by the way. Make sure to say Hi! if you're there, as well. :)

If you want to attend a conference this year, consider beyond tellerrand. You won't regret it!