My First Conference at DevQuest

In 2023 I discovered the Python library Streamlit which allowed creating web applications in a simple and fast way. I immediately found the tool particularly useful and easy to learn, and it then helped me on many school, professional or personal projects. By continuing to use it, I also realized that relatively few people knew this library which seemed to me nevertheless adequate for many use cases.

In March 2025, DevQuest, a reference event for developers in Niort, and which I had participated in 2024 as a volunteer, opened its Tremplin, a support program for beginner speakers who wish to present a conference for the first time. So with the idea of wanting to share the Streamlit tool with a wider audience, I decided to take the plunge and propose a Streamlit talk for the DevQuest Tremplin, which would be accepted and mark the beginning of the preparation of my first conference.

DevQuest 2024, where I was a volunteer

The Tremplin program began in early April, and I was then accompanied by my coach Rafik Ferroukh who helped me for 1 month to build my talk and prepare me to present it. After discussing the subject of my conference, we worked together on the first step which was the title and abstract of the conference. This is a crucial step because the abstract is what will make people want, or not, to come listen to the conference. But it’s also what will define the content of the conference itself, so we spent time building this abstract well, which was as follows:

The growing importance of data makes it a determining factor for the success of your projects... but who has never struggled to quickly test an idea without having to build an entire technical environment, to make a data report interactive, or to explain how data could integrate into the project.

This is where Streamlit comes in, a Python framework allowing you to create web interfaces in just a few lines using graphical components such as chart elements, different types of media, all types of inputs... Particularly useful and appropriate for exploiting data-related issues, Streamlit can also be used for many other use cases.

During this presentation, we will see through a concrete case how to get started with Streamlit and create a simple and efficient interface, and thus you will know how this tool has the potential to help you materialize many POCs or experimentation supports that can open the way to new applications.

Once the abstract was validated and having a clear idea of the overall structure of the conference, I was able to work on the content of the presentation. I was then able to propose to Rafik a first draft of the slides that would serve as support for my conference, and I also explained to him the demonstration I had in mind and that I wanted to do during the presentation to show the tool in action, to demonstrate its simplicity of use and effectiveness.

This demonstration is the main element of my 20-minute conference since it takes about 12 minutes, it’s the concrete moment where the audience discovers the library, the rest of the presentation being an introduction to understand in what context, what problem the library fits into, and also a mention of the tool’s limits by evoking possible alternatives, all to finish on a TakeAway allowing to summarize the purpose of my conference in a single slide.

After working on this demonstration and the slides, two training sessions with two other Tremplin speakers were organized in late April and early May, to prepare for the DevQuest evening taking place in mid-May. This evening was an opportunity for the 6 novice Tremplin speakers to present our conferences in front of a volunteer audience, who would vote for the two favorite conferences that would go present their talk during the two days of DevQuest.

Finally, after several rehearsals and refinements, the Tremplin evening took place. During my presentation I wasn’t particularly stressed, I was especially happy to be able to present and share a library that I appreciated. The hardest part was especially to start the conference without a hitch, but once launched, everything went naturally and during the demonstration, which can be a difficult and perilous exercise, I was particularly at ease and in my element. Once all the presentations were finished, the audience voted and I had the joy of learning that my conference was one of the two selected for DevQuest!

The 6 Tremplin speakers during the evening

DevQuest taking place on June 5 and 6, I had time to rehearse my conference a few times, and when the day came I was on stage to present my first conference. This time again I wasn’t particularly stressed, I was especially happy to be there and to be able to share my presentation on Streamlit. I don’t really know how many people were present (because the spotlights were slightly blinding me), but everything went very well and the audience, as during the Tremplin, appreciated my conference and the quality of the demonstration.

Excerpt from my presentation at DevQuest 2025

My conference then had the desired effect, since several people discovered Streamlit and now wanted to use it! I also received many very positive feedback, which encourages me to continue sharing my knowledge through conferences but not only. DevQuest and the Tremplin were very good experiences during which I learned and progressed a lot, but also met many interesting people with whom I was able to exchange.

I particularly thank Rafik for his valuable help in building the presentation, as well as Julien Topçu for organizing the Tremplin and his relevant advice. Finally, I warmly thank the entire DevQuest team for organizing this event, which was again this year a great success.

The conference replay is available on YouTube and the slides are available on Google Slides