The best talks were not the most technical. If fact, the talks that left the biggest impression were often only tangentially related to programming. The most important thing is to build empathy and excitement with your audience, and then give them a few take aways they they can easily remember and put into action.

Software development and testing is a repeating cycle of creative and analytical modes of thinking. In practicing TDD for example, we must use a creative mode of thinking to write good tests, and implement them using a more analytical thought process.

Security is not easy, but it's also not optional. Like insurance, software security requires small on going payments, in the form of updates and maintenance, but these payments protect us against what could be devastating events in the future.

One of the hardest parts of running an open source project (even a popular one) is getting people to contribute. Surprisingly, most of the work done on projects with thousands of users usually comes from only a very small core of developers. The good news is that this means interest in contributing is highly appreciated by these teams. You also shouldn’t feel intimidated if you can’t contribute code, because reporting bugs and helping write documentation are just as important.

Women were pioneers in programming, and we would not be where we are today without their many contributions. Unfortunately, they have also been alienated from the programming world over the course of the last half century. There seems to be a lot of positive development in getting this valuable resource back into our community, but it's going to take active support and encouragement at all levels.

It's imperative that we support and encourage diversity in the programming community, or we risk missing out on a diversity of ideas.

Running electricity through your brain may or may not improve your memory retention, but it certainly makes for a memorable presentation.

Programming is a tool for teaching people to be self learners, which is why it is imperative that we teach it in our schools at an early age. Programming teaches the fundamental skills of breaking problems down into manageable pieces, then solving them through analytical and creative thinking. Programming also quickly teaches the art of querying data from outside sources, which is essential for solving problems quickly and efficiently, programming related or not.

A little friendliness goes a long way, and beer is an excellent conversation starter. One the standout characteristics of ROAs was the extreme friendliness that was immediately apparent. Any attempt at introducing yourself during the conference will likely lead into an awesome conversation. Of course as with any tech event, there is a tendency to hide in a computer screen or smart phone instead of engaging with people, fortunately the beer line has a tendency of sorting this out.