Codegarden 2019 Recap — H5YR

I attended Umbraco’s Codegarden again in 2019, and it was at least as memorable as the year before.

Codegarden is a festival for people who care about Umbraco and the community around it. It’s equal parts professional learning and shared experience.

Umbraco 8 in the real world

Since Umbraco had launched version 8 earlier that year, it was naturally one of the main themes.

The codebase had been cleaned up significantly, and benchmarks suggested better performance.

There were also improvements to editor workflows — including translation flows and what Umbraco called “infinite editing.”

A question many teams asked was: “Should we move to v8 now?”

Callum Whyte gave a helpful talk on the differences between version 7 and 8 — and what it actually takes to get there.

The practical answer: you can’t simply upgrade from 7 to 8. You migrate.

There are tools and paths, but it’s a project — and you need a clear reason to justify the effort.

Emma Burstow spoke about learning and collaboration in teams.

One of the most memorable references was what she called “The Underpants Gnome Syndrome” (a South Park reference):

Teams share a goal, but have no clear vision for how to get there.

It’s funny, and uncomfortably common.

A phrase that came up multiple times (and one I catch myself using too often) is:

“It’s just…”

But it rarely is “just.”

For the person who knows the answer, it’s easy. For the person doing the work, the phrase can undermine effort and confidence.

Empathy matters — especially in technical environments.

Carole Rennie Logan delivered a strong session on empathy and inclusion in the tech industry.

The industry still has challenges (including gender balance), but she framed empathy and inclusion as practical tools — not abstract ideals.

Accessibility also showed up as a major theme in the Umbraco ecosystem.

Small choices can change whether a solution is usable for everyone — contrast, semantics, keyboard navigation, and so on.

Tiffany Prosser talked about accessibility improvements and the broader push to make Umbraco CMS itself more accessible over time.

Codegarden is three days packed with experts and practitioners.

But what makes it different is how generous the community is with knowledge, feedback, and time.

And then there’s Bingo.

It’s chaotic. It’s weird. The prizes are ridiculous. And it’s a shared tradition you don’t really find at most conferences.

In 2018 I skipped the Open Space sessions. In 2019 I joined.

At first it can feel unusual — but once you participate, it’s one of the best formats: anyone can propose a topic, and everyone can contribute.

And it’s completely fine to leave and join another session if you’re not getting value.

That mindset of shared learning is one of the best parts of Codegarden.

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