Sharing, learning and connecting at Turing Fest

August 05, 2022

Stage one at Turing Fest. Two large screens showing the event sponsors and Turing Fest written in large white block letters centre stage

At Kin + Carta we believe you should never stop learning. This is particularly true in the world of digital where there is always something new to discover, ideas that push things forward and brilliant people who simply inspire you to do better in your own work. That’s why we were delighted to attend Turing Fest 2022 in Edinburgh.

What is Turing Fest?

Turing Fest (named after Alan Turing, the British inventor of the computer) is all about learning and connecting with the best in tech. After a two year break, due to the pandemic, Europe’s best cross-functional tech conference was back bigger than ever. With over 1000 attendees and 40+ speakers, the conference was jam-packed with insight and learnings for companies looking to build, grow and lead successfully.

Supporting diversity

We were delighted to be one of this year's Diversity Partners for Turing Fest. Kin + Carta worked with the organisers to provide tickets to members of Girl Geek Scotland, Women Who Code, Black Professionals Scotland, and Code Your Future. As a B-Corp with a triple bottom line approach to business, working with underrepresented groups in tech is a continuous focus.

It was also great to be part of Edinburgh’s tech community in person as we continue to grow our Scottish hub. From kicking off the day with a hosted breakfast from Jamie Murray, client partner and Scotland Engagement Lead and a top tips for networking workshop with Turing Fest’s Chief Operating Officer, Tannya Gaxiola. It was great to learn and connect with the best in tech.

Jamie Murray speaking at Kin + Carta's breakfast at Turing Fest

Invaluable insight

Turing Fest offered two days of practical insight into building, growing and leading successful businesses - from startups to high-growth tech companies. There was a lot to take in so, for those who couldn't attend or missed some presentations, here are the main insights we took away with us.

Maria Gutierrez, VP Engineering, Twitter, talked about building the operating system of a healthy and responsible tech business. As a business, it is vital to prioritise and assess risks. These three building blocks were discussed in harmony. When one of these elements isn’t working, the business fails:

Execution (principles that we apply to make decisions)
Goals (mission, vision and strategy)
People (values and behaviours)

Atomic Habits by James Clear book on a wooden table

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” - James Clear, Atomic Habits (photo credit: Aidan Hornsby)

Ian Graham, Director of Research at Liverpool Football Club, talked about how data analysis in football has skyrocketed over the last ten years. Ian discussed the challenges the industry has faced, lessons they’ve learnt along the way and the combination of skill and luck in the game. Analytics have allowed them to map expected goals and goal chance which means they can ultimately put specific seasons down to ‘bad luck’. It’s not about improving performance, it’s about maximising performance to reduce cost. When looking at a players minutes on pitch vs goals and assists, data allows us to identify skill.

Ian Graham presenting at Turing Fest

Asia Orangio, Founder and CEO, DemandMaven, delivered the cheekily titled ‘Finding Growth Opportunities When Sh*t Hits The Fan’. Asia addressed how it’s essential to find growth opportunities when things don’t go to plan.

The pandemic turned our world upside down, this included the way customers viewed certain products and their need for them. Asia discussed a client case study where their product had previously been marketed on features, with a focus on simplicity, however it demanded a switch to quality and reliability.

Asia was tasked with overhauling their website to compete with competitors which previously had greater UI/UX and also fixed their onboarding and retention. Once she’d identified their ‘North Star Metric’, the value that is directly attributable to customer behaviour, they streamlined their third-party app process, updated product guides and onboarding emails. This resulted in a 20% increase in connection rate, 3x lift in sign ups to trials and 4x lift in revenue.

Andrew Clark at Turing Fest

Amplitude x Kin + Carta: The Edinburgh Product Club

To wrap up day one, Andrew Clark, Product Director at Kin + Carta, partnered with the team at Amplitude to host a product meetup at Indigo Yard, Edinburgh. The first Edinburgh Product Club saw a room full of product enthusiasts chatting and learning from each other. No pitches, just good conversations with free food and drink.