Welcome to Denver, developers! Whether you’re a native, transplant, or an actual native, we’re happy you are here contributing to the advancement of technology.
This guide is meant for both newcomers and veteran developers looking for new connections and opportunities in Denver. If nothing else, we hope you check out one of these recommendations and meet a new tech-savvy friend.
Without further ado, here are the best communities, meetups, and events for Denver’s developers.
Networking in Denver
Here are some of our favorite places to meet new developer friends in Denver. All of these have been verified as solid events by someone we know.
Meetups
There are two meetups we’ve received positive feedback for:
- DenverScript - This is a javascript meetup that discusses, “best practices, features coming to ECMAScript, application development, and what's going on in the Javascript community.” They meet once a month at Code Talent (34th and Blake in RiNo).
- PyDENCO - This group is much smaller, but focuses on Python. They also meet once per month at Cuttlesoft (33rd and Lawrence in RiNo).
Conferences
There are tons of conferences each year in Denver, many of them that we enjoy. But the big developer-centric one is Develop Denver which takes place each year in August.
Develop Denver is a two-day conference where Denver developers present ideas and network with each other. Some of the topics last year included “What Is a Graph Database?” “Mind the Gap: Improving Diversity in Tech,” and “Saying No to Your Boss’ Bad Design Ideas.”
This year’s schedule hasn’t dropped yet, but stay up to date here.
Events
You could probably attend a different networking event each night of the week (free food!), but we suggest starting with these big event producers.
General Assembly: GA has events around data, coding, business, marketing, and more. Here are their free events, most of which take place at Industry RiNo Station.
Galvanize: Galvanize’s Platt Street Location hosts events daily, focusing on web development, data science, and community. See their event list here. When you’re done, head across the street to Denver Beer Co.
Finding a Job
If you’re about to make the move to Denver, finding employment is likely your first concern. Here are a few things you can do.
Check out Built In. Built In Colorado has development/engineering, data/analytics, and product job listings that are updated daily. You can filter by industry, keyword, location, and more. Here are some of the languages and frameworks you can filter:
We like Built In because you can easily see each company's technology and the benefits/perks they offer.
Join Denver Devs Slack. Request to join this Slack community here. They have a channel devoted to finding work: #topic-gigs.
Explore Coworking Spaces. Startups love coworking tech hubs, so finding these spaces and perusing their tenant lists can be another good strategy. Here are the big ones we recommend checking out:
- Enterprise Coworking
- Industry Denver
- Industry RiNo Station
- Catalyst Health
- Industrious
- We Work
- Battery 621
Women-Specific
If you’re a woman developer, there are a handful of women-specific communities available beyond the ones mentioned above.
Women Who Code: Women Who Code Denver/Boulder is Colorado’s largest community of women developers. They host meetups just about every week, covering topics like JavaScript and Python, career advice, and case studies. View all their events.
ChickTech: ChickTech helps young women and girls learn about technology, and Denver has its own chapter. They frequently put on weekend workshops so explore their volunteer opportunities.
Beyond Denver
If you’re new to Colorado, you might be interested in how Boulder and DTC compare and complement the Denver tech scene.
While there is a rad community of developers and technology professionals in Boulder, they are somewhat separate from Denver. FYI: It takes about 45 minutes to drive between Denver and Boulder, much longer if there is traffic (which there often is).
Down south is the Denver Tech Center which is a massive hub for enterprise businesses like DISH Network, Comcast, and RE/MAX. It’s also a gnarly drive, especially during Denver’s ever-expanding rush hour.
Commuting to Boulder or the Tech Center from Denver is certainly doable, but we personally wouldn’t do it. We like it in central Denver where we can light rail to and from work, attend networking happy hours, and explore Denver’s growing tech community.
Whether you’re new to Denver or not, taking advantage of these developer community events can help you make new friends, find your next gig, and keep your skills sharp.
This post was written by the software development team at Devetry.
