Recap

The day before the main event, the byte5 team invited their guests to participate in the hackathon and BBQ on the company’s premises. Especially the European guests with long journeys arrived on this day. While coding was done during the day, the focus of the evening was on the grill.

A special highlight was the reception of Søren Spelling Lund, the founder of Ucommerce, who was chauffeured from the airport to the pre-party in an authentic Knight Rider.

In contrast to the first umbOktoberfest last year, which with 17 participants was limited to the hard core of the German Umbraco scene, this year’s event clearly exceeded all expectations: 43 participants and speakers, not only from Germany, but also from Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland can testify to the great potential of Umbraco in German-speaking countries. Mission accomplished!

The participants expected a stylish hotel in the trendy Sachsenhausen district, which was completely branded on Umbraco: The Hotel Cult.

There were 13 sessions and workshops at this iconic venue, including an introductory keynote. The sessions revolved around Umbraco, on the one hand, and this year’s motto “Kick-Ass E-Commerce with .NET and Umbraco”. This was interesting to both Umbraco vetereans as well as newbies and people interested in e-commerce, who were able to get to know Umbraco in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. The three major e-commerce providers in the Umbraco environment had their say and presented their products.

True to the motto “Kick-Ass E-Commerce”, additional topics such as conversion optimisation, legal pitfalls in the operation of web shops and emotional commerce were discussed in very well received talks.

Mircrosoft already actively supported the event in the preparation phase for the umbOktoberfest. Sponsoring and marketing activities have promoted and enriched the event, for which we would like to thank you very much.

“Evangelist” Peter Kirchner was also present and highlighted the basics of Windows Azure and thus also thematically accompanied the current development of Umbraco.

And after all the sessions and talks, what came next? The Umbraco community is known for its somewhat different festivals – and of course this also applies to the umbOktoberfest.

After a meet and greet with “Umbraco Belle” in front of the hotel, the historic Ebbelwei-Express went on its ride through Frankfurt. The notorious pop singer Franz Saarschleifer performed his version of the Umbraco song on board and entertained the Umbraco crowd as well as the rest of the city.

With umbOktoberfest 2013, another step has been taken for the distribution of Umbraco in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Now it’s time to take the fun and excitement of the umbOctoberfest with you, get involved in local user groups, follow byte5’s example by actively supporting the community.

Talks on the implementation of local Umbraco community groups have already been held. The UUGD is available as a contact person. Any initiative in this direction is welcome and encouraged.

This question is answered quickly! The date for the umbOktoberfest 2014 has already been set: On 29 August 2014 the third edition will take place, again in Frankfurt. Super early bird tickets are already on sale.

Topics, location and speakers are of course not decided on at the moment, but one thing is certain: It will be legendary again.

We are looking forward to receiving suggestions for topics and speakers.

The UUGD and the byte5 team would like to thank all speakers, sponsors, helpers and participants!

Flickr gallery with more photos of umbOktoberfest

byte5 YouTube channel with videos and session recordings