Why Attending Meetups and Conferences Still Matters in 2026

It’s the beginning of 2026. The IT world is evolving faster than ever before. AI, new work models, shifting market expectations - all of this makes many developers ask themselves a simple question:

Is it still worth being part of a community? Do meetups and conferences still make sense?

The answer is simple: yes - and they might be more important today than ever.

If you want to grow as an IT expert, building a strong professional network has always been and will always be one of the key elements of a successful career. Looking back, one of the biggest boosters of my own career was the moment I started attending conferences on a regular basis.

Why conferences work

In a single day, you get the opportunity to:

• attend a dozen short talks designed to inspire you,
• choose between multiple tracks and actively shape your learning path,
• discover new tools, solutions, patterns, and ways of thinking,
• reconnect with people from the IT world or meet entirely new ones.

Every time I come back from a conference, my head is full of ideas, notes, and topics to explore further. That kind of experience is very hard to replace with online courses or videos.

Meetup communities — a true game changer

Another major turning point for me was 2023, when together with my friend Daniel Glejzner, I became a leader of the Angular developer community in Wrocław.

Over the past three years, we’ve organized more than a dozen events featuring experts from across Poland and Europe. And while you don’t have to be an organizer (although it’s incredibly rewarding), being an active member of a community alone brings immense value.

Why are meetups so powerful?

• talks are usually longer than at conferences, allowing for deeper exploration,
• the atmosphere is more friendly and informal,
• there’s plenty of time for Q&A and post-talk discussions,
• during a single meetup, you can truly dive deep into 2–3 specific topics.

Every meetup also creates opportunities for networking — and today, networking means access to people, shared knowledge, consultations, and experience you won’t find in documentation or LLMs.

From narrow expertise to versatility

Just a few years ago, almost every programming language or framework had its own meetup community in major cities. In Poland alone, Angular communities existed in Warsaw, Wrocław, Kraków, Katowice, Łódź, and Poznań. Similar groups thrived around other technologies like React or Java.

Why did this happen? Because the market highly valued deep, narrow expertise.

However, over the last year, I’ve noticed a clear drop in attendance at meetups and conferences dedicated strictly to single frameworks. There are several reasons for this:

• reduced training budgets in many companies,
• but most importantly, the rapid development of AI.

Today, expert-level knowledge of a rarely used framework API is no longer a strong bargaining chip. There’s a high chance that a modern LLM — backed by access to documentation — will quickly suggest the right API once a developer clearly describes what they want to build.

The new wave: AI and Vibe Coding communities

Over the past year, new communities have emerged almost overnight, focused on:

• AI in everyday developer work,
• AI-powered IDEs,
• Vibe Coding.

Almost every popular AI IDE now has its own meetup groups in larger cities. And this is a natural evolution.

The IT market is changing — and communities must adapt as well. Especially now, when the pace of technological progress is accelerating, attending meetups and conferences gives you the chance to:

• see how others actually use AI in real projects,
• learn effective prompting patterns,
• exchange experiences that go far beyond tutorials.

Let’s not lock ourselves inside a single company bubble. Let’s step into the community.

Meetup vs conference — which one should you choose?

On average, each year I attend:

• around 15 meetups,
• 2–3 conferences.

I strongly encourage everyone to try at least one conference and a few meetups per year.

Conferences:

• I primarily use them for networking,
• they’re a great opportunity to meet people from all over the world,
• they require selective participation — it’s hard to stay fully focused for an entire day.

Meetups:

• usually last 2–3 hours, making it easier to stay fully engaged,
• offer longer, more in-depth technical presentations,
• focus on practical, real-world problems.

The takeaway?

Don’t choose between meetups and conferences. These two formats complement each other perfectly.

In 2026, being part of a community isn’t an optional add-on to a developer’s career — it’s a core component of it.