Defvest, as we all know, is short for "DEVELOPERS FESTIVAL". An annual festival for developers to sit together a discuss new technologies and share experiences ranging from how to get started on new tools and technologies and how to become better developers (World-class developers as Unicodeveloper will say).

And today is the 5th day in October, Devfest Warri paid host to almost 200 developers, enthusiasts, and speakers from around the nation. The host Mr. Charles ........ did a good job bringing amazing speakers like the amazing tech evangelist Unicodeveloper, Mr. Celestine an ex-engineering manager Paystack and proud full-time stay home husband😊, Mercy Ikpe software developer and Agbodoroba Tejiri a graphics designer and a host of others I didn't get to list out....... And as always these speakers gave us enough heat to go back home and be world-class developers.

I saw the flyers for this event about two weeks ago, after I must've have planned that I would be moving to Port Harcourt. But then I decided to stay the extra days. I moved my pieces of baggage and hit the road from Ezhionum in Ukwuani LGA, Nigeria to Warri, Delta State

And guess wah?...... I don't regret that single decision! I made a new friend "Mercy Ikpe" one of the few ladies in tech I've admired on Twitter.

The event was scheduled to run from 9 am-5pm at the Manuex place, Jakpa road, Warri Delta State. But as always it rains in Warri every day. Just as I dressed up to hit the road, the rain started pouring for the second time. I just relaxed and waited for it to reduce it's force and bamn! immediately I noticed it reduced, I left my buddy's apartment and hit the road, I got to the venue at about few minutes to 10 am. Location wasn't difficult to find, I had Google map, and for a google guide, I surely knew how to use my maps well.

I did registrations and walked into the hall, and I sure was impressed by everything starting from the designs and the ambiance the hall carried To ice the already baked cake, everyone had this fine smile, which was not just welcoming but also engaging.

Events proper kicked off at about 12noon, due to the rain slowed movements. And that time was enough for me to network and say hello to some folks from twitter. Topics ranged from starting out as a developer and eventually making it to a world-class level and being a success story.

Mr. Celestine advised everyone in the room to develop a culture of helping at least one person rise from beginner to Pro. As that will foster growth and improvement in our local ecosystem. There was a panel session, where Unicodeveloper talked about "Packaging" as his secret to being a world-class figure in the tech space. And Mercy adviced more women come into tech and join communities like "Women TechMakers" And even GDG's to encourage and gain support.

It was a great day full of awesome conversations, broad smiles, and networking for me.

In all, I had awesome conversations, had tasty snacks and the popular Jollof 😎and learned that to grow, it's important to :

• Join communities /Following like minds on social media.
• Volunteering.
• Writing and maybe even speaking.
• And finally "Packaging".

And I wrapped off the day, by having a long talk with Mercy Ikpe on encouraging more women to come into tech and finding ways to keep them in tech and break out. We discussed collaborating and supporting more females in the future.