## The Talk

I remember right where I was, walking the scorching June streets of Sevilla,
when I got the Twitter DM from Justin, organizer of the blockbuster debut Render
ATL conference in 2021, asking me if I'd be a speaker _11 months in the future_,
in June 2022. Having experienced extreme FOMO on Twitter during the 2021
conference, I was delighted to say yes! I'd never done a conference in the
Motherland before.

Usually, I have to propose a conference topic and get approved. At this point in
my career, it's rare to get a "come and speak about whatever!" Invitation, so I
decided to use it to talk about a thing that I'm passionate about, but not yet
really known for: the app that I'm building at work:
[Centered](https://centered.app/erik).

I've long been fascinated by psychology; both of my parents studied psychology
before going into computers, and I majored in computers and minord in psych in
college, so working on an app based on psychology theories is perfect for me.

## The Talk

<video>nyxI1RsF49c</video>

## Photos


<img
 src="/images/renderatl-2022-2.jpg"
 alt="High-Rise Selfie"
 width={4032}
 height={3024}
/>

<caption>
 Speaker and Sponsor Brunch was hosted on the umpteenth floor of a downtown high-rise
</caption>



<img
 src="/images/renderatl-2022-3.jpg"
 alt="Cocktail Ken"
 width={3024}
 height={4032}
/>

<caption>
 Some sort of spicy volcanic cocktail across from the inimatable <a href="https://twitter.com/ken_wheeler">Ken Wheeler</a>, one of the conference speakers I was most looking forward to finally meeting.
</caption>



<img
 src="/images/renderatl-2022-4.jpg"
 alt="Atlanta Sunset"
 width={2500}
 height={1669}
/>

<caption>
 Atlanta Sunset
</caption>



<img
 src="/images/renderatl-2022-5.jpg"
 alt="Ken, Ben, and Jay"
 width={4032}
 height={3024}
/>

<caption>
 Close runners up to Ken on my want-to-meet list were <a href="https://twitter.com/BenLesh">Ben Lesh</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/_jayphelps">Jay Phelps</a>. We were instant friends.
</caption>



<img
 src="/images/renderatl-2022-6.jpg"
 alt="Outdoor Stage"
 width={4032}
 height={3024}
/>

<caption>
 The outdoor stage seemed like a good idea, but we were in Atlanta in June, and it was hot! No one could stand to be in the grassy area, so everyone was very far from the stage.
</caption>



<img
 src="/images/renderatl-2022-7.jpg"
 alt="Bar Smores with Joe and Facundo"
 width={4032}
 height={3024}
/>

<caption>
 New friends made: <a href="https://twitter.com/jsjoeio">Joe Previte</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/facundozurdo">Facundo Giuliani</a>. Also: Bar Smores!!!
</caption>



<img
 src="/images/renderatl-2022-8.jpg"
 alt="Selfie with Fardeem"
 width={4032}
 height={3024}
/>

<caption>
 Also at the conference was my colleague at Centered, <a href="https://twitter.com/FardeemM">Fardeem Munir</a>, whom I had met in person once before.
</caption>



<img
 src="/images/renderatl-2022-9.jpg"
 alt="Smash Burgers"
 width={4032}
 height={3024}
/>

<caption>
 My new Polish friends, <a href="https://twitter.com/aleksandrasays">Aleksandra</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hasparus">Piotr</a>, their boss, <a href="https://twitter.com/flybayer">Brandon</a>, and some other people that agreed to have a shot of Polish vodka. These three are dear to my heart because they are fans of my <a href="https://erikras.com/blog/final-form-announcement">Final Form</a> library. 😍
</caption>

Centered

Posted in Centered