From YouTube streaming to California live!
Google I/O 19: The Experience
Google I/O is where everything started. Way back 2015, I became curious what this event is about. I waited around midnight just to stream live and feel the excitement. What hooked me is the project called, Project Ara.
Tweet, tweet, tweet!
Months later, I saw Dan Makoski’s twitter, followed him and he followed back. Dan is one of the brains of Project Ara. He was nice and entertained my silly questions about the project then later agreed to have a Hangouts meeting with me! The meeting was for me to ask anything about the project — and so I did!
Extended through the years…
Yes, since 2015 I wanted to go to California to meet amazing minds and creators of out of the box projects. After 4 years of volunteering, I became the community head of Google Developer Group Philippines and was given the opportunity to attend Google I/O in California!
Step 1. Step 2. Let’s tango!
I processed my visa, tickets, bought all I need and flew to San Francisco. When I opened my eyes, I saw the most stunning, mouth dropping, sunrise I’ve seen.
Excitement thrilled me as this sunrise welcomed me. Events were all lined up for me, and just days away, I’m going to Google I/O live! I hopped off the plane and the fun began!
From a vision…
To being part.
Now, what’s really happening behind the live stream?
First off, food! I/O accommodated us with foods everywhere. They have muffins, healthy cereals, milk, coffee, yes, it’s raining food — healthy foods for main courses, chips for snacks, popcorn, cookie dough(!!!), sodas, beers, wines and water everywhere!
While waiting for the event to start, an Artificial Intelligence DJ partnered with a human DJ entertained everyone by showing off their skills. People are partying as early as 8am. Flags from different countries are waving wanted to be caught by the camera looking around.
Keep making magic.
Luckily, our friend got us the best possible seats in time for keynote. We were literally 5 rows away from Sundar Pichai! Amazing products were announced during the keynote. One is the future of Google Lens, wherein, you just got to point your camera on menus, then bestsellers will be highlighted, once tapped, it will show you what it looks like! Perfect for travelling!
A Live Caption to be launched soon on our android phones! Luckily, we were able to witness this during the whole event, they put a monitor, and everything said on stage were captioned, yes, every word.
They also launched Pixel 3A, besides its cheap price, what highlights it most is the AR+Google Maps installed. Instead of staring at the blue dot, point your camera up, and you’ll see directions right on your phone!
There are many awesome things announced to be mentioned. Checkout the highlight of Keynote here brought to you by The Verge.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/7/18531198/google-io-summary-keynote-news-highlights-recap-2019
Building a more helpful Google for everyone!
Outside the main stage, there are sandboxes where the attendees can explore. The sandboxes cater different topics and provide experts that attendees can ask about — Firebase, Web, Flutter, AI+ML, Experiments, Android Car, etc.
The sandboxes will not just show you things, but they’ll let you experience and be amazed of what technology can do. At the doors of sandboxes, there’s a feedback machine where you can tap your id, and you’ll automatically receive everything about the sandbox you tapped in. So no need to worry about taking note of everything, Google has your back!
There’s more!
Aside from sandboxes, there are parallel sessions happening to different stages. And as a former Firebase speaker, I joined in a Firebase session. And there you go, Todd Kerpelman — the one who taught me Firebase through his YouTube sessions.
There is also a comedy show where it went full house! A “tattoo parlor” with artists! And the next thing you know, you are doing a skit with them, shouting and acting that you are getting a real one.
There are so many things that you can do inside Google I/O for 3 full days! Finally, to cap the event off, a night of party, beers and wines with a band singing on stage, a.k.a. concert, was thrown.
Conclusion
I/O is more than just an event. It’s a perfect mixture of fun, socialization, learning, discovering and experiencing. Luckily for me, I made friends and met different people around the globe who share the same insights, visions, interests and jet lags!