Fluttercon USA 2024: Key Insights and Learnings

Fluttercon USA 2024 marked the first and largest Fluttercon event in the United States, bringing together key figures from the community, industry leaders, and top developers. The event buzzed with energy as passionate Flutter enthusiasts gathered to network and showcase the latest innovations. The event welcomed strong teams and professionals like Google, Betterment, Eric Seidel, among others, who added immense value to the event with their expertise and insights into the future of Flutter. With influential speakers, engaging sessions, and a vibrant atmosphere, Fluttercon USA 2024 reaffirmed its position as a must-attend event for anyone in the Flutter community. 

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VGV’s commitment to the Flutter community

The Very Good Ventures (VGV) team was thrilled to have a strong presence at Fluttercon USA, with a diverse team representing Engineering, HR & People, Business Development & Sales, and Product and Program teams.
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This time, VGV was focused on reaffirming its commitment to the Flutter community: As a primary call to action, David DeRemer, Founder & CEO at Very Good Ventures, proposed to begin a more productive dialogue to set objectives for the community to undertake in order to further Flutter's influence in his keynote “Flutter's Future: A Call For Community-Driven Commercial Roadmap.” David emphasized the need for a collaborative approach to shape Flutter’s economic growth and announced that VGV has open-sourced its Flutter Commercial Roadmap for 2024-2025 to inspire community discussion and collaboration. You can watch the full keynote recording here.

Another exciting news was sharing VGV’s new Very Good Engineering website, which aims to empower Engineering teams with knowledge and tools to succeed. VGV has been and will continue to support the community through open-source contributions, forums, and comprehensive resources. 

Additionally, several VGV team members had the chance to take the stage and share their expertise on various Flutter topics, focusing on the latest developments in Flutter and Dart: 

David DeRemer and Sam Moore, VP of Architecture at Betterment, shared the story of Betterment's successful transition to Flutter using the add-to-app approach in the “Successful Flutter Re-Platforming — The Path For Betterment” session.

They covered the entire journey, from building a business case and validating Flutter to executing a detailed plan and navigating a cultural shift. 
‍Watch the full session recording here.
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Jorge Coca, VGV's Head of Engineering, dove into optimizing Flutter and Dart performance. He emphasized the importance of mastering DevTools to transform underperforming apps into top-tier experiences, highlighting that effective performance tuning is crucial for maintaining reputation and releasing with confidence.
Watch the full session recording here.

Kyle Finlinson, Senior Engineer at VGV, provided a deep dive into the implications of using Flutter with WebAssembly (Wasm). He explained how Wasm could revolutionize software creation and consumption and shared actionable insights for Flutter developers to get started.
Watch the full session recording here.
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Marcus Twichel, Engineering Lead at VGV, demonstrated how Dart Frog and HTMX can simplify web development, allowing Flutter developers to build interactive websites without complex JavaScript frameworks. He illustrated how these tools make creating modern web solutions both easy and efficient.
Watch the full session recording here.

Tom Arra and Stefan Hodges-Kluck, Director of Product Development & Engineer at VGV respectively,  explored the integration of full-stack Dart with AWS services. They demonstrated how combining Dart and Dart Frog with AWS Amplify accelerates development, offering speed and flexibility for building robust full-stack applications.
Watch the full session recording here.

Last but not least, Samantha O'Brien and Marcus Twichel, Engineers at VGV, showcased how incorporating SwiftUI into Flutter apps can enhance user experiences across the Apple ecosystem. They demonstrated ways to extend app functionality beyond the main interface, utilizing features like Siri and Apple Watch to create more dynamic interactions.
Watch the full session recording here.

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If you want to learn more about the sessions and keynotes at Fluttercon USA, stay tuned for the Fluttercon session recordings and related topic content coming soon!

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Some impressions from the team‍

The VGV team returned from the event with a wealth of ideas and insights. Here are some of their key takeaways:
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“It was amazing to see so much passion for Flutter right here in the USA. We met so many people using Flutter to build up their businesses, from food and beverage, and e-commerce. We also got to have great conversations with people building new startups centered around making Flutter development easier, like Shorebird, FlutterFlow, Serverpod, and Celest. It was great to exchange ideas with all these people and inject new ideas into the community.” - Marcus Twichel.

"With this being the first big Flutter-focused event since 2020, it was the first time a lot of attendees got a chance to talk face to face with people that we have been working with over the past number of years. That combined with the energy and enthusiasm that we saw as people were attending the sessions really encourages me that our community is still growing and I’m happy that I was able to be a small part of that overall. Can’t wait for the next event to see some new faces and companies get involved.” - Tom Arra

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“So many people are working on so many interesting things! It was great to meet some of them in person and be inspired to dig into building the future.” - Kyle Finlinson

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“Attending my first Fluttercon was an absolute whirlwind, but what stood out the most wasn't the tech itself - it was the incredible sense of community. Everywhere I looked, people were connecting, sharing their passion for Flutter, and supporting each other. From the lively hallway conversations to the mirrored, kaleidoscopic talks, it was clear that Fluttercon was about more than just code; it was a gathering of like-minded individuals who believe in the power of collaboration. It's a community that celebrates innovation, encourages experimentation, and most importantly, attempts to foster a sense of belonging. Fluttercon reinforced my belief that building great software is about more than skill; it's about coming together, sharing a common passion, and lifting each other up.” - Jared Olmsted
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“It was impressive to see the breadth of attendees from large companies using Flutter (e.g., Headspace, SoFi, Comcast, Amica, Nestle, etc.) at Fluttercon NYC. Meeting them illustrated the reach of the community as well as the importance of these types of events to bringing more people and companies into the community to engage with each other.” - David DeRemer

Stay tuned for more ‍

We plan to share more Fluttercon USA 2024 content, including sessions and keynote recordings, blogs and webinars about key topics discussed. To stay in the loop, sign up for our monthly newsletter and never miss out on updates like these and more about Flutter & Engineering!