Looking Back on 2024: The Growth of our Dev Community and the Remarkable Results of the Tech Conferences Throughout the Year.

Over the last years, our IT&C community has shown growing interest in DevTalks and our other projects, pushing us to create bigger events to keep up. In 2024, we organized 12 tech events that continue to shape our company, attendees, partners, and speakers, reminding us that connectivity is at the heart of our events.

So here is the rundown of what we did this year, and the calendar for the 2025 events! 

DevTalks Bucharest is the largest expo-conference in Romania and it celebrated its 11th edition on the 29th-30th of May, at Romexpo. It is dedicated to software developers, industry professionals, and tech newbies, for which the 14 different content stages were focused on current community interests, including AI&Machine Learning, Java, Web&Mobile, and Cybersecurity. These stages were hosted by 160 international and local speakers, who prompted insightful technical keynotes and Q&A sessions for the attendees. 

The expo area was supported by over 70 partners and exhibitors, being the place where the 7000 attendees had a chance to meet the companies and enter many contests to win big prizes, like PlayStations, and get goodie bags from everyone.  

In terms of our social media accounts, as a result of our team’s communication efforts, more than 450 people mentioned DevTalks on the media channels. 

What was new at the IT conference DevTalks 2024? 

We support women in IT, games, engineering, and leadership roles since 2014, so this year we created from scratch the Women in Tech stage, where they had a chance to learn new things from strong role models, like Lucy Chow, Magda Miu, and Andreea Oana, whose keynotes and panels held immense power. The success of this stage motivated us to start the Empower Tech conference, dedicated to the resilient women in the industry and the men who encourage them. 

All eyes on the new captivating areas at the DevTalks tech conference. 

• Roundtables Area where the workshops hosted over the two event days with industry experts represented a more hands-on approach to keynote subjects, diving into specific information and dynamic work 
• Grow Your Idea Area was powered by four partners who spent time helping people turn their ideas into reality. The start-ups present shared insights about product developing, financing, investing, and more 

Next year, we’re aiming for even more tech related keynotes and contests, and we’re already working on bringing top speakers and partners on the 4th-5th of June 2025. 

In 2024, our biggest conference, DevTalks Romania, reached the heart of Transylvania, gathering 2,600 IT professionals. DevTalks Cluj-Napoca is our second largest hub and one of the most awaited events this year on September 26th, at CREIC. On this developers’ playground, you can find three stages, with keynotes from over 30 international and local speakers, and 20+ expo booths, promising quality content and networking opportunities. 

We had the support of 11 amazing partners in making this edition possible, MassMutual Romania, Google, IDS Consulting, Cognizant Romania, HTEC, Tremend, Flow Traders, Orange, Siemens, BMW, and TechWorks Romania, as well as the involvement of 13 community partners, 7 production partners, and over 24 media partners. They worked closely with the Catalyst Solutions team, and metrics wise, between January and September 2024, we reached 126,459 visits on the DevTalks Cluj-Napoca website. 

But this edition was so much more than an IT&C conference. It also hosted two special areas that the participants really enjoyed: 

• StartUp Alley, where entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts exchanged ideas and connected throughout the event 
• TechEdu, the dedicated space for future programmers, engineers, and IT passionate kids who had a lot of fun playing with legos, “programming”, and learning from our four partners 

What was new? 

For the first time at DevTalks Cluj-Napoca 2024, we had brought the Roundtables, based on the idea of "Silent Party", a reccuring concept implemented at DevTalks Bucharest. There, participants were able to attend dynamic workshops with industry professionals like Radu Vunvulea, Nikhil Barthwal, and Radovan Baćović, whose sessions were fully booked. 

On September 25th 2025, we’ll be back in Cluj-Napoca, with more innovative activities and interesting stage keynotes. 

This year at DevCon the premium tech conference, on November 6th and 7th, 2500 developers and IT enthusiasts came together to attend the 60 sessions on our Java, Web&Mobile, Cybersecurity, Data, AI&ML, DevOps, and QA&Testing Cons. Over 50 speakers, both local and international, and 16 partners in the expo area, made this year’s edition a reality, ensuring that all attendees feel welcome and leave with plenty of information. 

The masterclasses, designed especially for a more hands-on approach to IT topics, were centered on AI and its cross with Java, Github and threat modeling. The sessions were open to all participants who registered, whether they are experts in the industry or young developers at the start of their careers. 

Save the date for DevCon 2025, on November 5th and 6th, at NORD Events Center by Globalworth. 

The newest IT conference powered by DevTalks Romania and the Catalyst Solutions team, Empower Tech conference held place on the 21st of November, and hosted one main stage with 11 content keynotes. In the expo area, our partners created a great atmosphere for the attendees and speakers, through fun activities, prizes, and 3 themed lounges where they came up with solutions to issues women face in their profession. 

On the first edition of Empower Tech conference at NORD Events Center by Globalworth, we exceeded expectations. The event was supported by 20 partners and it encouraged 400 participants, women, men, and students alike, to come and find what’s new in the tech world, from the perspective of personal and professional growth. 

Next autumn, on November 20th, we’ll meet again with more keynotes and connection opportunities during the event. 

Throughout the year, more than 700 IT enthusiasts attended the seven DevAfterWork meet-ups outside working hours for insightful keynotes, networking, and relaxing after a long day. These sessions were powered by Systematic, Everymatrix, S&P Global, and Raiffeisen Bank, who were very invested in offering participants the best experience. 

Rooftop Dialogue was supported in 2024 by AD/01 at Deschis Gastrobar, where participants not only took part of interesting content sessions, learning about the company, but they also shared invaluable ideas during the networking period. 

Finally, ending 2024 in such a powerful note, with a growing community and more events in our portfolio, the Catalyst Solutions team is looking forward to a 2025 centered around connectivity, learning, and innovative partnerships throughout the country and outside of it.  

Mark your calendars for: 

• DevTalks Bucharest on June 4th-5th at Romexpo B1 
• DevTalks Cluj-Napoca on September 25^th at CREIC 
• DevCon on November 4th-5th at NORD Events Center by Globalworth 
• Empower Tech on November 20th at NORD Events Center by Globalworth 
• DevAfterWork and Rooftop Dialogue throughout the year at more locations 

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