VUnit User Conference 2023

When I deliver VUnit presentations at conferences, I prefer presenting them once and then I wait until I have substantial new?content to?share. However, when noteworthy updates or developments arise, my enthusiasm often leads me to present them promptly online. Consequently, I don't deliver many conference?presentations.

I still enjoy conferences though. They offer a valuable opportunity for me to connect with a diverse audience. I meet those who are curious about the?tool, newcomers who have taken the first steps and are exploring the next, and seasoned users with years of experience and innovative ideas about the future of VUnit.

Given that the primary value lies in hearing what the users have to share, perhaps it's time to reverse the roles. What if we placed the core VUnit team in the audience and allowed the users to take the stage and share their insights? This is exactly what we do at FPGAworld, where the organizers generously allocate a dedicated VUnit track in the main hall. While user presentations do surface at other conferences, this event has formalized the idea of putting the VUnit users in the spotlight.

Last year was the first edition of our "VUnit User Conference" and this year we continued with the same concept. In comparison to previous year, I observed an increase in the presence of attendees who were already actively using VUnit. During one of our sessions, a show of hands from the audience unveiled an even split between those currently using VUnit and those who are in the process of exploring its?potential. Given the wide-ranging levels of experience among our audience, we try to have our presenter lineup in the same range. However, for obvious reasons all presenters have some experience and I think we should aim for another slot next year where we also have a crash course in VUnit for those who only heard about the tool.

New for this year is that we also recorded the presentations. In the upcoming posts I will share my personal reflections on the presentations as well as those recordings.