Modern Frontends: A shitshow

Well, what can I say. It is good to be back on common ground, and by common ground I mean the United States. My time in London has passed and as much as I do like going to London and being with friends, the event I spoke at last week was an all out shitshow.

First Things First

Let’s rewind to June. I heard about this conference in London, Modern Frontends Live! through a couple of my friends who were accepted to speak. I looked at the already accepted speakers and thought “damn, this is a list of amazing people, wtf?!?“. I expressed on Twitter that I wanted to speak and someone that runs the Twitter account for the conf told me to submit in sessionize.

Within a couple hours my talk was accepted, no questions asked. I thought to myself, “damn, that is dope. I’m going back to London.” Little did I know what would ensue in the next coming months leading up to the day before my flight to London.

Days Before the Flight

I was contacted by someone behind the Twitter account saying that my workshop was cancelled due to minimial signups. I was invited to do a 4 hour workshop and a 55 minute talk. I was super bummed that no one would want to sign up for an accessibility workshop, but hey, maybe the attendees signed up for other workshops from bigger name speakers, I am not a big name.

It was during this time that I heard more speakers had their workshops cancelled OR speakers backed out because sales were very low. Tbh, I wasn’t even paying attention to prices. £600 is a RIDICULOUS amount to charge for a half day workshop, hell, even a full day workshop. Too much money.