On September 4, I had the pleasure of presenting at Commit Your Code 2026, a developer conference held at the Capital One Campus in Plano, Texas. I was there for only a few hours, but it was one of those events that left me with a big smile on my face... and a long drive home.
Building Games with CSS... Live on Stage!
My talk was titled CSS as a Game Engine: Building Playful, Stateful Web Experiences Without JS. The idea was to explore how far we can push HTML and CSS beyond their traditional roles, treating CSS as a way to model state and transitions to create Finite State Machines and, with them, small user experiences and games.
But I couldn't just talk about it. I had to build something!
The plan was to create a small Whac-A-Mole game live on stage, using only HTML and CSS. First, I'd explain how selectors such as :checked, :has(), and :valid help us build interactive experiences, and then I'd put some of those ideas into practice. Live. On stage.
Needless to say, some people adviced me against this idea. But, did I listen? No! And soon I was to find out why they said what they said.
With only 25 minutes, I had to rush through some of the content, to leave 10 minutes for the live coding. Then, as it happens when an event is live and something can go wrong, something went wrong. I was extending my laptop instead of duplicating my screen, and I couldn't switch half way through the presentation, so I had to code "blind" (luckily for me there was a secondary monitor where I could see something without having to turn my face every few seconds.)
Even with this technical difficulties, I managed to complete the game. I ran about two minutes over my allotted time. The "Scheduling Gods" threw me a hand: there was a break immediately afterward, so I didn't disrupt anyone else's session, and we were able to complete the game on time.
(I had full version ready to present on my desktop in case I ran over, but this was so close, that it felt perfect, and attendees were so engaged that they even encouraged me to finish in those extra 2 minutes.)
And to be honest, the audience was the most memorable part of the talk.
Around 50–70 people attended, considerably more than the 10–20 people I usually get at my talks. And there was a special energy in the room. People were engaged, laughing at some of my jokes, raising their hands when I asked questions, and nodding along as I explained things.
Those reactions may sound like small details, but they make a huge difference when you're presenting. You can tell when people are following along, when something clicks, or when they're having a good time. It makes the experience much more enjoyable for the person on stage, too.
This was one of those talks where the audience's participation made it special for me. Thank you to everyone who attended!
More than just a talk
I also got to attend a few other sessions and catch up with friends and acquaintances I've met at previous conferences.
Jake Johnson was there, and as always, he was incredibly friendly and supportive. He's one of those people who consistently cheers for my presentations, and I really appreciate it. I also got to chat with Danny Thompson, who organizes Commit Your Code and whom I've crossed paths with at other events this year.
I met some new people, too, including Amanda Mayfield, who also presented at the conference, Kyle Nojaim, who helped with the audiovisuals during my talk, and local developers such as Oleksandr Snihovyi. These conversations are one of my favorite parts of attending conferences.
As they say "The real treasure was the friends we made along the way." In a conference, the talks are important, but the thing that matters (or the one that I cherish the most) is connecting and meeting people who share a common passion for development and technology.
The venue was nice, too. It was better prepared for a conference and for working presenters than the venue from the previous year (which was also good, but it made working remotely tough at times). There were tacos for lunch, free coffee and snacks at different spots. No one went hungry.
As in every conference, there were a few vendor booths. Unfortunately, I didn't have as much time as I'd have liked to explore them, but I did manage to pick up a few nerdy stickers for my laptop. Priorities 😅
Feedback, learning, and getting better
After the conference, I received feedback for my presentation, and it was overwhelmingly positive. The talk received a 9.9/10 across ten reviews. That is encouraging. I'm grateful to everyone who took the time to leave feedback.
I know this may sound a little strange, but when all I receive is positive feedback, I sometimes feel I'm missing opportunities to improve. Compliments are great, but constructive criticism gives me something concrete to work on.
This was also one of the reasons I appreciated the feedback I received at RenderATL earlier this year. I used it to improve the presentation for Commit Your Code, and I hope to keep doing the same for future talks. There's always something to learn, even when things go well.
Thanks, everyone who left feedback!
A different kind of conference day
This conference was also different for another reason: a death in the family meant I seriously considered not attending. The funeral was scheduled for the following day, and I had to decide if the trip still made sense.
I had already committed to the conference, and I would have hated not fulfilling my commitment, so I decided to go. I drove from Austin to Plano that morning, spent the day at the event, and drove back that same evening.
The trip up took around three hours. The return journey, thanks to rush-hour traffic and road construction, took close to six.
Not exactly the most efficient use of a Friday! Thanks, IH-35 road construction that has gone on for decades 😅
Still, I didn't mind the traffic. After such a positive experience, I was riding the "post-talk high", and I treated the extra time on the road as an opportunity to unwind a little and relax.
Considering the circumstances, it turned out to be a really nice day. I got to share something I'm passionate about, meet and reconnect with great people, learn from other speakers, and receive feedback that will help me grow.
I'm glad I went.
Thank you to the Commit Your Code team, especially Danny Thompson, for putting together the event, and to everyone who attended my talk and made it such a memorable experience.
I really enjoyed my time at CYC26, and I'm already looking forward to coming back next year!
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