The sixth edition of VLC Tech Fest was held on June 14 at Las Naves, Valencia’s Innovation Center. This event is also known as “The MeetUp of Meetups” because it serves as a meeting point for various communities in the technology sector that utilize the Meetup platform to promote themselves.
The first edition took place in 2018. After a lull during the pandemic years, they have regained their previous rhythm. It is organized by volunteers, and every year, the organizing team is dissolved at the end of the event and reorganized for the next edition, as Jorge Mora, one of the organizers, whose interview is featured in the video accompanying this review, tells us.
This year, under the slogan “Discover, connect and share,” twenty-five communities gathered. Among them, WordPress Valencia, Devscola, Drupal Valencia, Hackerspace Valencia, Python Valencia, Valencia Software Crafters, DevOps Valencia, Valencia Jug, Valencia.rb, HackNight, AWS User Group, Cloud Native Valencia, Valencia Codes, Geoinquietos Valencia, GDG Valencia, PyLadies Valencia, Valencia JS, Ministry of Testing, PHP Valencia, GNU/Linux Valencia, QA Breakfast, Restarters, Tech Connect, Women Techmakers Valencia, and Awakatech.
Everything started at 9 am. Attendees could access the event with free admission. A breakfast with horchata and pastries was offered. The choice of the venue was a success, as Las Naves, a space of the City Council of Valencia, is spacious and cozy. In addition, it has several rooms to offer simultaneous talks and a patio very appropriate for networking, even in winter, given the good weather in Valencia.
The day was structured in four tracks with presentations and workshops by twenty-four speakers. The topics of the talks were mainly technical, some of them:
Code automation with Ruby and OpenFGA, design tools for developers, such as Figma Dev Mode, deepening in the first commit of Git from a software design perspective, virtual reality, and AI for education in people with ASD. In addition, talks on digital accessibility, web performance, cybersecurity, frontend security, and testing with AI. Hands-on workshops included 3D modeling with FreeCAD, electronic soldering for small makers, and accessibility evaluation.
I found it very interesting, a panel outside the technical spectrum: Algorithms, visas and talent: The migrant’s journey. Moderated by Julieta Zalduendo, with three guests who talked about their journey as migrants in the tech sector from the perspective of being a woman, racialized, and neurodivergent, each told their story and shared their opinions honestly and directly. The result? A journey through the reality of professional people struggling to be in the sector where they feel they belong despite bureaucracy, bias, lack of support networks, new languages, and expiring visas.
Alternating between learning and networking, the time went by very fast, and The Meetup of Meetups came to an end with a nice beerworking where we were able to continue connecting, making stories, and laughing. When will the next one be? No dates yet, but they will be back.
I invite you to watch the following video I created with material from that day. In it, you can see the atmosphere of the event, as well as an interview with Jorge Mora, one of the organizers, Sara Martinez, a speaker, and one of the attending communities, WordPress Valencia, to which I am very proud to belong. We took advantage of the interview to announce that the WordPress Tech Congress | WordCamp Valencia 2025 will take place on November 8-9, 2025.
