Sessions Attended
First held in 2006, Minnebar is an annual (un)conference hosted in Minneapolis. As part of the global BarCamp movement, it features participant-led sessions with a loose, flexible structure. It's considered the longest-running and largest BarCamp in the world. Open to all, Minnebar attracts technologists, entrepreneurs, and innovators to share knowledge, network, and explore emerging tech trends.
📌
1. Unlocking Productivity: The Power of AI Tools in the Workplace
Speaker: Senthil Kumaran
A deep dive into over 50 AI tools and emerging trends like Agentic AI and Ghibli AI. Focused on enhancing productivity in the workplace through real-world applications, this session explored how smart AI agents are already transforming industries.
2. AI Told You So: The $1M Business I Actually Built Using ChatGPT
Speaker: [Name Not Provided]
A case study on building Combat Candy, a creatine gummy business using ChatGPT for everything—from market research to packaging, store design, and even raising $500K in capital. A bold proof of concept on the real-world power of generative AI.
3. Mastering Event Deduplication in Real-Time Architectures
Speaker: Mark Soule
Practical techniques for handling duplicate messages in systems using Kafka, Pub/Sub, and Flink. Covered event IDs, idempotent operations, and exactly-once semantics. Essential knowledge for anyone working with real-time data systems.
4.Think AI Code Editors Are Your Friends? Think Again!
Speaker: AbdulRahman AlFayad
A philosophical and practical look into the dependency on AI code editors. Encouraged critical thinking about tool usage, skill erosion, and when to rely on or reject automation in software engineering.
5. Advanced Fiddler Techniques
Speaker: Robert Boedigheimer
Explored the untapped capabilities of Fiddler beyond basic traffic inspection. Covered breakpoints, the AutoResponder, request manipulation, and extensions for better debugging and analysis.
6. Can LLMs Reason? Challenges, Breakthroughs, and Future Directions
Speaker: [Name Not Provided]
Examined the reasoning limits of large language models and recent innovations like OpenAI's o1/o3 and Google's Gemini-2.5. The talk advocated hybrid human-AI systems to augment reasoning in fields like software and science.
7. Navigating AI's Impact on Job Search & Hiring
Speaker: Paul DeBettignies
Focused on how AI is affecting job searches, networking, and recruiting in tech. Covered current hiring trends in the Midwest, predictions, and tactical LinkedIn profile improvements.
