This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Emily Xiong
Today I went to the Google Cloud Group DevFest 2025, and to be very honest, this might be one of the most CHAOTIC conferences I’ve ever attended.
Tickets were only around $40 per person, which is definitely on the cheaper side for conferences, and I understand that running an event is hard. Things happen. Hiccups are normal.
But this conference had every type of hiccup. I think I saw the entire bingo card.
Chaos Outside the Venue
The event took place at the Sheraton in downtown Toronto. Before we even got inside, there were pro-Palestine protesters outside, handing flyers to attendees. That already set a pretty tense mood.
Then, less than five minutes into the first talk, an attendee — who was also part of the protest — stood up and loudly accused Google of committing genocide. The opening keynote was interrupted almost immediately.
It was unfortunate, and it definitely derailed the flow.
Chaos Inside the Venue
Once the talks resumed, the technical issues started:
- Projectors not working
- Audio glitches
- Video not loading
- Microphones cutting out
- Laptops running out of battery
It truly felt like every few minutes something went wrong.
And I’ve been to a lot of AI and dev events in Toronto — this was the highest number of hiccups I’ve seen in one day.
The Content: More Inspiration Than Developer
Since this event is called DevFest, I expected more technical content — something more “nitty-gritty” about developer tools or developer experience. I use Gemini CLI daily to vibe-code, so I already know the power of these tools.
But most talks felt more like inspirational speeches geared toward the general public, not developers. There weren’t many real demos or deep dives. And one talk suddenly pivoted into blockchain, showing a slide that said “AI + Blockchain + Cloud”, but without explaining any real practical use case. It honestly felt like buzzword soup.
A Lot of Students and Job Hunters
Another thing I noticed: the crowd was filled with students and job seekers.
Which makes sense — tickets were cheap, and the job market in tech is rough right now.
I was job hunting earlier this year, and I know how hard it is in this economy. Everyone is hustling, trying to network, trying to catch opportunities wherever they can. So I really felt for them.
But it also made the event feel less like a hardcore developer conference and more like a general-interest community event — more inspirational, less technical.
Final Thoughts
Overall, DevFest 2025 ended up being an interesting experience, but not in the way I expected. Between the protests, interruptions, technical problems, and the high-level content, it didn’t feel very developer-focused.
Am I glad I went?
Yes — it was definitely memorable.
Would I go again next year?
Probably not.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Emily Xiong