302: Temporary Redirect: DevFest WI 2026

MK and I just got back from DevFest Wisconsin 2026 in Madison, and I wanted to take a moment to recap our experience. I think these “notes from the road” style posts are likely to become a new occasional blog feature.

Our brand new Rootwork shirts and business cards packed, we left out on Tuesday afternoon, headed not for Madison directly, but our hotel room, about 45 minutes from the conference site at University of Wisconsin. Due to a competing, much larger corporate conference happening that week, as well as Forward Fest 2026, of which DevFest was a part, hotel rooms near campus were completely booked up. As we checked into our room in nearby-ish Janesville, we were delighted to realize we’d stumbled into booking an extended stay hotel, and had at our disposal a full-size fridge, working stovetop, and microwave: a luxury we don’t usually have on the road.

While we’ve established ourselves over the past couple of years, Rootwork is still a young enough company that getting a company credit card has been a new (and, frankly, delightful) experience. MK and I are still giddy at the idea that we can order a delicious, maybe even slightly luxurious, meal, then gleefully—and legally!—write it up as a business expense.

This time… was a little different.

Our hotel was in the same parking lot as the local Hy-Vee, a grocery chain with a surprisingly extensive assortment of premade and frozen foods. So instead of filet mignon or escargot, we ended up heating up and snacking on frozen burritos and taco-flavored cheese curds back in our hotel room.

While hilarious, this low-key approach to dinner actually ended up having a grounding effect the night before the conference, and made me feel relaxed and prepared. Despite being on the road, it felt almost like just another night at home.

The next morning, we headed to UW–Madison for DevFest. I had never been to UW–Madison before, and MK had last been some 18 years ago, so it was, for all intents and purposes, a new experience for both of us.

Check-in for the conference was quick and easy, and, to my surprise, the incredibly kind and welcoming organizers recognized me from the photo I had submitted for their website and ushered me in.

The talks covered a wonderful variety of topics, while circling around the official themes of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, as well as an emerging unofficial theme of accessibility.

I learned a ton from speakers of all careers and backgrounds: linguists, UI and UX students studying at UW–Madison, accessibility professionals at GitHub, and too many more to list.

There was also a really invigorating roundtable about the ethical and accessible use of AI that caused a palpable energy in the room. It was really gratifying to be speaking with technologists in a thoughtful way about this topic without sliding either toward fearmongering, or snake oil and hype; AI is a polarizing topic, so to simply be allowed to consider the possibilities as well as the ramifications caused by the use of this emerging technology is, in my opinion, a rare and special opportunity.

Now, usually, I wouldn’t waste digital ink talking about a conference lunch break. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Terrace, the Union’s outdoor seating area for its cafeteria.

UW–Madison sits on the city's isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona, and the Union's Terrace opens directly onto the shore of Lake Mendota. While while snacking and talking to colleagues about everything from the abysmal job market to productivity hacks to memes, I found myself staring out at the sun reflecting off the water and appreciating just how far we were from the windowless conference rooms and convention-center carpeting that so often define this kind of event.

I was scheduled as the last speaker of the program and, due to some small delays stacking up over the course of the day, I ended up with a bit of a tight time slot and had a few hiccups with my slides.

That said, I’m happy to report that my first live talk since before the pandemic, Talking Without Speaking: New Approaches in Sharing Technical Knowledge, went extremely well. My jokes landed (yay!), and more importantly, I could see my most emphasized points about rethinking the idea of the traditional tech talk resonating with the audience.

Unfortunately, my live presentation was not recorded. But I intend to have both my slides and a prerecorded version of the talk up within the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

Afterward, I was buzzing with energy and ended up having meaningful conversations with a variety of attendees. Both MK & I spoke to potential clients, made connections regarding possible mentorship opportunities, and even had one person say that one day they would like to work with and/or for Rootwork Labs one day, which caught us completely off guard in the best possible way.

More importantly, we left with ideas about new ways that we can approach UI/UX, productivity, accessibility, the use of LLMs in workflows, and much more; all of those deserve their own blog posts rather than being unpacked here.

After saying goodbye to our new friends and colleagues, we headed back to downtown Janesville, the main street of which was much cuter than we expected, lined with antique shops, boutiques, a game store, a crêperie, and other small businesses that made us wish we'd had a little more time (and energy) to wander.

Tired after a long day of presenting and networking, we were in search of something simple: maybe a beer and sandwich.

What we found was much more exciting than that.

Enter drafthouse, an adorable gastropub on the garden level of what appeared to be a bank building.

In addition to a cozy atmosphere and a great drink selection, we stumbled on a little slice of culinary inspiration. The Cowboy Candy flatbread was a fresh, flatbread-style pizza, with toppings including candied blueberries and jalapeños, mint, and feta cheese. It was completely different from anything I’d tried before, and also completely delicious. As someone who’s lived in major food cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, all I can say is: well done, Janesville. As soon as we’re in the area again—maybe DevFest WI 2027?—we’ll be back.

Driving home, we were exhausted, but also energized, with a successful talk behind us, new relationships being built, and considerably more new Rootwork ideas than we left Chicago with.