PYRMONT OFFICE FIT-OUT & REOPENING
The Pyrmont office of Data Processors reopened in the second week of November 2024 after closing for two months to undertake a fit-out.
The newly designed space offers a fresh, new contemporary look with sit-stand desks available and ample natural sunlight for those sitting in the open plan areas.
The breakout room still maintains its existing features of the pool table, lounging couches and big screen tv offering a multitude of Foxtel channels. The update also makes the space a nicer area for those that attend the fortnightly yoga session held in the office.
Welcome Back
DP WORKPLACE GIVING
This program has helped our staff donate nearly a quarter of a million dollars ($249,11.00 to be exact) to charity in the last 7 years, helped by DP generously matching all employee donations.
Per year, an average of 10% of DP Employees donated a total of $124,778 to the following charities
Black Dog Institute
Cancer Council Australia
Medecins Sans Frontieres
Starlight Children's Foundation
UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency Australia
We continue to encourage our staff to engage with the Workplace Giving program.
BOWLS & BOWLING COMPETITIONS 2024
DP’s popular bowls and bowling competitions return in 2024!
Across Melbourne, Sydney, and Hobart, DP staff will be heading out of their offices to compete, eat and most importantly, have fun!
Best of luck to everyone!
TABLE TENNIS COMPETITIONS 2024
From August 1st, staff across DP’s Sydney and Melbourne offices have been competing in 2024’s Table Tennis Competitions.
PRIZES: E-gift cards will be awarded to the top three winners in each office:
1st Place - $100
2nd Place - $80
3rd Place - $60
Good luck!
REGISTRATIONS OPEN NOW FOR STEPTEMBER 2024!
This will be our 5th year participating in this great initiative which runs through the entirety of September.
DP’s top reasons to participate:
Daily Exercise
Raise funds
Teamwork
DP will match all self-donations made by staff at registration
It feels good to do good!
Register by 30th August to get stepping!
ANNUAL COOKING COMPETITION 2024
Through Winter 2024 DP staff and their families showed off their skills in the kitchen with 2024’s annual cooking competition!
See the winning dishes and their subsequent categories below!
A: Pancakes and Zucchini Slice (Ages 5 – 8)
B: Beef Enchiladas (Ages 9 - 14)
C: Momo | Banana Bread | Chocolate Chip Cookies (Ages 15+)
E-gift card prizes were awarded as follows: 1st = $100, 2nd = $80, 3rd = $60.
Congratulations to our winners and thank you to everyone who joined in!
LIVE STREAM YOGA
DP has brought flow to the office with live streamed yoga classes, hosted by Rise Fitness fortnightly on Thursdays!
Classes are beginner friendly, and all employees are invited to attend– whether in the office or at home!
Each live session is recorded and made available for those who would like to participate but are unable to attend on the day.
Sign up now!
2024 OFFICE POOL COMPETITION
Through April and May, DP employees from our Melbourne, Pyrmont, and Hobart offices have been battling it out for a placing in 2024’s Office Pool Competition!
PRIZES – E-gift vouchers will be awarded to the winners of each office
1st place $100 | 2nd place $80 | 3rd place $60
Winners announced June 2024.
Good luck!
2024 EASTER EGG COMPETITION
Easter is almost here and once again DP employees have the chance to win some prizes!
We will be running another big NATIONAL "Guess the number of Easter eggs" competition!
The closest 10 guesses to the correct number of chocolates will win a prize. Entry is open to all staff in all states.
PRIZES
1 x The Easter Egg Grand Prize
1 x $100 gift voucher
8 x $50 gift voucher
Good luck to all employees and HAPPY EASTER!
2024 DP SPORTS TIPPING COMPETITION
All DP employees are welcome to participate and submit their entries in the 2024 Sports Tipping Competition across a range of 2024 sporting events.
Prize money is: 1ST - $2000 2ND - $1000 3RD - $750 4TH - $500 5TH / 6TH / 7TH - $250
Good luck!
LEGO SUMMER HOLIDAYS COMPETITION
DP’s latest competition invites staff to re-create their summer holidays - in LEGO!
Employees and families can put their master builder skills to good use - show us how you’re spending the holiday period and win some fantastic prizes.
Entries close 7th February 2024. Good luck!
2023 GINGERBREAD HOUSE DECORATING COMPETITION
It’s that time of year again - time to decorate!
Employees are invited to grab a gingerbread kit (or bake their own), add some delicious decor, and let their imagination run wild.
See some of our previous entries above!
Winners will be decided by voting - entries close 18th December.
Good luck to all entries!
DP SUPPORTS EMPLOYEE HEALTH WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF SKIN CHECK ALLOWANCE
Data Processors are pleased to announce the introduction of an annual reimbursement program for preventative skin cancer checks - to encourage employees to be Sun Smart and and attend an annual skin check.
Although almost entirely preventable, two in three Australians will develop skin cancer in their lifetime so regular skin checks are encouraged.
Remember to be Sun Smart and protect yourself in 5 ways from skin cancer:
- Slip on covering clothing
- Slop on SPF 30+ or higher broad-spectrum, water resistant sunscreen
- Slap on a hat
- Seek shade
- Slide on some sunglasses
MELBOURNE GO-KARTS JULY EVENT 2023
The DP Melbourne team enjoyed their annual go-karting event in Port Melbourne on 27th July.
The event comprised of a qualifier round, 2 x 10 minute race heats, a 10 minute consolation final with changeover followed by the grand final! The event concluded with a pizza dinner.
Congratulations to our top 3 racers, and to all who participated!
DP EMPLOYEE COOKING COMPETITION 2023
Calling all budding chefs - now is your time to shine!
It's time for DP's Annual Cooking Competition.
Share what you have been cooking up in the kitchen since our 2022 competition and showcase your skills.
The competition will be open for age groups: A: Age 5 – 8 | B: Age 9 – 14 | C: Age 15 – adult
E-gift card prizes will be awarded in each group as follows: 1st = $100, 2nd = $80 & 3rd = $60.
Entries close 8am Monday 4th September. Entries will be posted in DP news for employee votes, from 10am Monday 4th September and 12pm Friday 8th September 2023.
STEPTEMBER 2023 - REGISTRATIONS NOW OPEN!
Once again, Data Processors will be participating in Steptember, to support and raise funds for people living with Cerebral Palsy.
Why participate?
Exercise - get out and about in the warmer weather and start getting fitter;
Raise funds for Cerebral Palsy Alliance;
Teamwork - support each other, share photos and get to know people from different teams.
All DP staff are encouraged to register today - let’s get stepping!
YOGA IS BACK AT DP SYDNEY
Yoga has now returned to Data Processors’ Sydney office.
Staff are invited to take a break to relax, stretch out and unwind in our company-provided yoga sessions.
The benefits of yoga include relieving muscle tension, reducing stress and improving sleep quality.
The classes are inclusive and people of all ages and abilities can enjoy the numerous health benefits of a guided yoga experience.
Yoga sessions have now commenced fortnightly and Sydney staff are encouraged to take advantage of these sessions. Give it a try!
2023 DP TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT - SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE
Staff in DP’s Sydney and Melbourne offices have enjoyed participating in the 2023 table tennis tournament.
Due to the hype and interest from WFH staff, Sydney’s final was live streamed so all staff could watch the competition.
The Melbourne tournament is still in progress and awaits staff returning from annual leave - the semi final and final will be played on the same day in an exciting end to the tournament.
Congratulations to our winners, and to all who participated!
DP EASTER BONNET COMPETITION 2023
We're hoping to get everyone's creative juices flowing once again, with DP's 2023 Easter bonnet (hat) decorating competition.
The competition will be open to adults and children aged 5 and up. Entrants will be grouped by six age groups.
E-gift card prizes will be awarded in each group as follows: 1st = $100, 2nd = $80 & 3rd = $60.
Entries will be posted in DP news for employee votes, from 5pm Tuesday 18th April. Voting will close 5pm Wednesday 19th April.
2022 GINGERBREAD HOUSE COMPETITION
For the third year running, it’s time to decorate!
Employees are invited to grab a gingerbread kit, some delicious decor, and let their imagination run wild.
See some of our previous entries above!
Winners will be decided by voting.
Good luck to all entries!
DP STAFF RAISE MONEY FOR MOVEMBER 2022
As November comes to an end, it's a great time to recognize the efforts of our 2022 Movember team!
DP staff grew mo’s or completed a physical challenge to help raise funds for men’s health this November.
All contributions were matched by Data Processors.
Great effort team and thanks to all who supported the cause!
OCTOBER 2022 - KIDS HALLOWEEN COSTUME COMPETITION
Halloween will be upon us soon, so now's the time to prepare for the DP Kids Halloween Costume Competition.
Age categories: Below 5 | Age 5 – 10 | Age 11 - 18
Deadline: 5pm - Wednesday 2nd November
Prizes for each category: 1st = $75 | 2nd = $50 | 3rd = $25
Winners will be decided by voting, and announced on Thursday 10th November.
Good luck to all entries!
MELBOURNE CUP SWEEPSTAKES 2022
The Melbourne Cup for 2022 looms and to celebrate, the Data Processors sweeps will once again have FREE ENTRY for ALL STAFF to participate!
We will be using a random generator to assign every staff member a horse name, and in order to fill all of the sheets, the random generators will also choose some lucky people to get a 2nd entry!
Prize for each sweep are as follows:
1st Place - $270 voucher
2nd Place - $200 voucher
3rd Place - $150 voucher
Good luck!
DP SPRING GARDENING COMPETITION
It's spring and now things are warming up, it's time to get out into the garden.
Plant a flower, vegetable or fruit from seed / seedling and take a photo. and upload by Monday 28th November.
Take another photo of yourself with the same plant (together with its flowers, fruit or veggie produce) and upload by Monday 13th March 2023 with a brief description.
E-gift card prizes: 1st - $100 | 2nd - $75 | 3rd - $50
Good luck to all entries!
DATA PROCESSORS SUPPORTS STEPTEMBER 2022
Data Processors was proud to once again participate in Steptember this year, with 26 participants raising $11,722 in total!
Congratulations to our participating staff who raised a fantastic total of $5,886, which was then matched by Data Processors.
Over 6 million steps were taken which averages 260,000 per participant (or nearly 200 kms!).
We've helped Cerebral Palsy Alliance to raise over $9.8 million! An amazing effort and result.
Thank you to everyone who participated in Steptember and all the generous donors to this worthy cause.
PYRMONT AND MELBOURNE OFFICES 2022 POOL COMPETITION
Congratulations to all competitors who recently took part in the Pyrmont and Melbourne pool tournaments. The finals were live-streamed so staff working from home could watch the battle between the final two competitors and many took up this option. Thanks to all who took part and watched the tournament!
Prizes!
The following gift cards will be emailed out to our winners - congratulations!
Winner $100
Second $80
Third $60
DATA PROCESSORS SUPPORTS HUMPTY DUMPTY FOUNDATION & BALMORAL BURN 2022
Data Processors competed and won as back to back winners of the mixed race in the Humpty Dash with a recorded time of 00:01.17.
DP donated $6600 to purchase a BiliLux Phototherapy light system for Orange Hospital’s neonatal ward. These machines are placed on incubator hoods to deliver continuous phototherapy, which reduces the serum bilirubin concentration of premature babies and neonates with jaundice.
Data Processors has proudly supported The Humpty Dumpty Foundation for 15 years.
DATA PROCESSORS EASTER BONNET COMPETITION 2022
It’s been four months since the Gingerbread house competition, which generated many impressive entries and votes. We are hoping to use people’s creativity with Data Processors inaugural Easter bonnet (hat) decorating competition.
The competition is open to adults and children aged 5 and up.
E-gift card prizes will be awarded in each group as follows
1st $100
2nd $80
3rd $60
All entries will be received by Monday 11 April 2022, for employees to vote.
DATA PROCESSORS 2022 VIRTUAL TRIVIA AFTERNOON
DP Virtual Trivia Arvo is back a little earlier than usual for 2022!
As we will be unable to hold in-person events in the first quarter of 2022, we have bought our annual trivia event forward. The event will be held on Friday afternoon the 25th March from 3pm AEDT.
Everyone is invited to attend. You will just need a decent internet connection and a mobile device in addition to your laptop/desktop.
There are numerous categories that will be included such as music, sports, science, math, history, pop culture PLUS themed categories including The Simpsons, Star Wars, The Beatles and Disney.
We can't wait to get together virtually for an afternoon of fun and laughs.
NEWBORN ANNE TRAINING MANIKIN DONATED TO CANTERBURY NEONATAL WARD
Data Processors are a proud supporter of the Humpty Dumpty foundation. The Humpty Dumpty Foundation is a children's charity that, for more than 30 years, has been providing essential and often life-saving medical equipment for sick and injured children in Paediatric Wards, Neonatal Units, Maternity and Emergency Departments in hospitals across Australia.
Data Processors recently donated $4,140 for the purchase of a newborn Anne training manikin for Canterbury Hospital. The Humpty Dumpty team shared this message below, from the Head of Paediatrics:
Dear Humpty Dumpty Team
A big, huge thank you for all of us at Canterbury Hospital for the very generous donation of the Newborn Anne Training Mannequin – she has been warmly welcomed into the Canterbury Hospital Family.
Please thank you generous donor/s on our behalf. Baby Anne is about to be used in our simulation scenarios relating to COVID positive deliveries and will help us to be even better prepared. She was much needed on Monday for the orientation of our new doctors and we were able to demonstrate neonatal resuscitation and intubation.
Please let the donor know that we are utterly grateful.
DATA PROCESSORS FLU VACCINATION PROGRAM 2022
2022 flu vaccines will be available to all employees via reimbursement from 1 April 2022 onwards.
Now the country is opening up again it's even more important to ensure you're protected.
DATA PROCESSORS 2022 NATIONAL EASTER CHOCOLATE GUESSING COMPETITION
Easter is almost here, and we have decided to once again give more people a chance to win some prizes! We will be running one big NATIONAL "Guess the number of Easter chocolates" competition!
There will be 10 WINNERS, the closest 10 guesses to the correct number of chocolates will win a prize. Entry is open to all staff in all states.
Should we have ties within the 10 closest guesses, the deciding factor will be whose guess was made first - so get your guess in as soon as possible!
PRIZES
1 x “the chocolate-guess” container (including contents)
1 x $100 gift voucher
8 x $50 gift voucher
The winners will pick between the chocolates or the vouchers. If the 1st winner chooses the $100 voucher then the second person picks between the chocolates or the $50 voucher. This will continue till the chocolates are chosen, then the remaining winners receive a $50 voucher.
Good luck and HAPPY EASTER!
Update as of 3rd April 2022 - there were 317 Easter chocolates in the jar, the closest guess was 316 followed by 319. Our winners were ecstatic with their gift vouchers and the lucky one who took home the jar of chocolates has some extremely happy children.
DATA PROCESSORS - DONATE TO SES & FOODBANK
In light of the New South Wales and Queensland flooding in February 2022, Data Processors offered staff the opportunity to make a one-off pre salary tax deduction donation to the charities our staff selected: SES NSW & QLD and Food Bank NSW & QLD.
Data Processors will match employee donations up to $5k.
UBER EATS ON US
To curb our team’s take away cravings, we will be drawing TWO names per week to receive a $50 Uber Eats voucher!
All DP staff have been entered into the draw, which will be randomly generated each Monday.
DATA PROCESSORS 2022 SPORTS TIPPING COMPETITION
The Data Processors’ Sports Tipping Competition is back for 2022! Our team were sent a list of events and asked to pick a possible winner in each, and at the end of the year the entries will be tallied to win a share in the prize pool!
The prize money pool of $5000 will be distributed as follows:
1ST - $2000
2ND - $1000
3RD - $750
4TH - $500
5TH - $250
6TH - $250
7TH - $250
MELBOURNE GO KARTING 2021
Third time lucky, as previous attempts were cancelled by lock down, our Melbourne team managed to attend Aus Karts in Port Melbourne. There were 16 competitors, including the defending champion, and 2 reporters from the Melbourne Office.
The racing was ready to begin around 3 pm after instructions from the Aus Kart race leader, BAC breath testing and some helmet fitting. Fierce racing followed and the previous winner reclaimed his title.
Food and drinks were then served after the medals had been handed out. It was great for the team to catch up with colleagues considering most hadn’t seen each other in person for more than 1.5 years.
DATA PROCESSORS ANNUAL GINGERBREAD HOUSE COMPETITION
Our 2020 Gingerbread House competition was so popular that we brought it back for 2021! Our team voted for their favourite creation from the multitude of entries and the winner is pictured, taking home the title plus an e-gift card!
MELBOURNE CUP SWEEPSTAKES 2021
On Tuesday 2nd November 2021, Data Processors ran a company-wide sweepstakes for the annual Melbourne Cup race. The sweeps had free entry for everyone to participate, and staff names were drawn using a random generator.
Prizes for each sweep were:
1st Place - Verry Elleegant - $270 voucher
2nd Place - Incentivise - $200 voucher
3rd Place - Spanish Mission - $150 voucher
Congratulations to our lucky winners!
DP HUNGER GAMES
With majority of our employees working from home as of March 2020, we asked our people what they were missing most about the office. The #1 answer we got was: the office snacks. Our Office Admin Team decided to ensure they were well equipped snack wise whilst working from their bedrooms. Everyone’s name was placed into a random generator and each Monday two names were drawn and an assorted box of snacks was sent their way. Upon everyone receiving a snack box, an exciting new prize draw will start - keep your eyes peeled!
BLUE SKIES AHEAD
Data Processors loves to help out local sports teams in need and that’s just what we did, through our donation of $500 to the Tech Waratahs Rugby Club in Wollongong.
DP provided a one-off $500 donation to the club’s to assist with upgrading their lighting and perimeter fencing. We hope that our donation helps towards these efforts and wish the team all the best for the season.to
WEEKLY AFL AND NRL SPORTS TIPPING
Many of us were pleased to see the 2021 seasons of our favourite sports return. To make things a little more interesting we have set-up a weekly tipping competition for all employees to select their winner from the two games selected weekly.
At the end of the season the top 3, with the highest number of correct guesses across both codes, will win an e-gift card each. We have a few who are neck and neck currently!
VIRTUAL MORNING TEA
Our monthly virtual morning teas have become more popular lately and not just thanks to the $5 e-gift cards our team receive monthly to organise their own refreshments, we have also introduced the “Guess What the General Manager is Thinking/Reading competition”.
At the conclusion of our live monthly morning tea our General Manager (GM), pans his web cam over to a collection of objects and viewers have to guess what he has been reading in the news to win a $100 prize!
See if you can guess what our GM was reading in the news recently.
VIRTUAL TRIVIA
Not to let a pandemic prevent us from holding our annual trivia event, we organised our resident quiz masters into 9 teams to compete in DP’s first ever virtual quiz. “Don’t let the team down Scott!” took out first place, closely followed by the Social Quiztancers.
Watch this space to hear who will be victorious in 2021!
MARCH CHARGE
Five employees signed up for the March Charge to raise money for Cancer Research, by walking or running a certain distance during March. DP raised $2040 (including $1020 matched by DP). Well done team for exceeding our $1k goal!
CHILL AND GRILL
This year things were a little different, attendees were sent e-gift cards to use with family or their team for a picnic/BBQ. Post event we asked for photos and those who obliged were treated to a Peter Byrne Caricature to keep as a memento.
GINGERBREAD HOUSE COMPETITON 2020
It was heartwarming to see employees and families building their creations but, there could be only 3 winners voted by their peers from our 23 entries to win a coveted e-gift card and the title of winner of our inaugural comp!
HOBART - GO KARTING
On November 26th 2020, the team from the Hobart office travelled to Kingston to cut some laps at the indoor electric go-kart centre known as Hyperdrive, which utilises a large array of solar panels to charge the electric vehicles. Hyperdrive attempts to create a gamified version of karting, so there is a location on the track that allows you to pick up a power boost, which you can then deploy to supercharge your kart for 10 seconds. The power boost is absolutely required to set a fast lap time, and if you set a lap time under 18.9 seconds, you can upgrade to the paddle shifted super karts.
Hyperdrive also positions itself as a nostalgic 80s style video arcade environment complete with Street Fighter 2 arcade machine. Everyone was extremely competitive and one of the guys was continuously so fast that nobody could beat his lap time! For refreshments between races, they were treated to Coca Cola, party pies and hot dogs, all set to a background of Guns n Roses, Bon Jovi, and other 80s classics. They said it felt like being twelve years old again. After completing the final race of the day, they headed to The Salty Dog situated at Kingston Beach for some more food and drinks.
STEPTEMBER
Well done to our Steptember participants, with just one weeks’ notice before the challenge started, our team walked 3,487,099 steps and raised $3,554 for Cerebral Palsy Research, which was matched by Data Processors taking the total to $7,004.
DP WORKPLACE GIVING UPDATE
3 years in and almost 10% of our team have donated a total of $49,742 from pre-tax salary, matched by Data Processors this means we have donated over $99,000 to employee selected Charites!
DP MELBOURNE ROYAL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL GOOD FRIEND APPEAL
Well done to the team in our Data Processors Melbourne Office. They managed to raise an impressive $730 with their annual Easter Raffle.
SLOAN SPORTS ANALYTICS CONFERENCE
Just before COVID-19 took hold of international travel, several of our team were lucky enough to attend the Sloan Sports Analytics conference in Boston, USA. The conference ran over three days and focused on mostly Basketball. They attended several panel sessions and presentations where they learnt about ball & player tracking data analysis and how sports teams use data to improve their players fitness and plays.
NATIONAL BUSHFIRE RAFFLE
Thanks to Data Processors donation of $1,750 in gift card prizes, our National Bushfire Raffle raised $3,195 which was donated equally between the RSPCA Appeal and The National Bushfire Disaster Appeal.
DP SYDNEY GRAND FINAL WINNERS
Congratulations to the DP Football Team crowned the 2020 Grand Final Winners
PYRMONT VOLUNTEERING - OUR BIG KITCHEN
17 Pyrmont based employees volunteered at our Big Kitchen, for half a day on Wednesday 11th December. Our Big Kitchen is a community run, non-denominational, industrial kitchen where meals are prepared for distribution to people in need across Sydney.
The team spent their time prepping vegetables to go into a part prepared tagine and cookies for the Bilpin fire fighters who had been fighting fires during the bushfire period. It is a very small gesture but nonetheless an honour, for Data Processors to be able to give back to the community in such a way.
MELBOURNE VOLUNTEERING - FOODBANK
On February 6th 2020, 9 team members volunteered at Food Bank Victoria. After a brief introduction about the programs that Foodbank undertake, they were placed into teams to start working. Their first task for the day was to prepare large orders of various goods that would be collected or delivered to other distributing charities. This involved filling boxes with various foods and beverages, many essential items, and treats were also available to pack too.
The afternoon job involved them sorting through food supplies of soup, bread and vegetables to ensure the food was still in date. They then boxed the in-date food up and placed it all on a pallet.
At the end of the day, the team were provided with some statistics on what they had achieved for the day:
Their efforts supported 17 charities across Victoria
The orders combined to a total of 6,416 kg of food, which is the equivalent to 11,561 meals
Those 11,561 meals could feed a household of 4, 3 meals a day for 963 days
It was a great experience and very rewarding knowing they were contributing to such a great cause.
DP CHRISTMAS PARTY 2019
Data Processors’ 2018 Christmas party received such positive feedback, that we returned to Cruise Bar in 2019, guests were treated to close up magic and more.
TABLEAU CONFERENCE
A returning DP participant to the Tableau conference in 2019 held in Las Vegas, had only good things to say about their experience “it was interesting to participate in an interactive workshop with a group that use Tableau to explore sports datasets and the different ways to explore the same data. The conference was a great way to get a better understanding of how to use Tableau more effectively and how it could be used by our whole team”.
R U OKAY? DAY 2019
On 12 September, Data Processors were invited with a special kit kat invite to take a break and attend our special presentation, by a volunteer from Beyond Blue’s voluntary speaker program, Mark Shortus. Mark shared his personal experiences with anxiety, with all employees via a live video link and joined us all for morning tea in our Pyrmont office. We cannot thank Mark enough for his presentation. In recognition for the work Mark and all at RUOK and Beyond Blue undertake, Data Processors donated $1K.
PYCON 2019
In the first week of August, 12 DP employees from various technical teams across Data Processors attended PyCon in Sydney. There were four stages with talks with streams running in parallel security and privacy, DjangoCon AU, Education and Data Science with the latter being the most popular by far! everyone walked away from the conference having learnt something worthwhile. If you’re interested in watching any of the talks, you can find the recordings on the PyCon Australia YouTube Channel.
APACHECON 2019
ApacheCon19 is a tech conference organised by the Apache Software Foundation. This organisation provides support and services for the development of software projects without vendor lock-in and free of use to anyone that is interested in the software. With this year’s conference in Las Vegas having a strong focus on the database Cassandra (a piece of software we use) and other interesting projects being presented, it seemed worthwhile to head over and see how the big players in the tech space (e.g. Instagram, Netflix etc.) were using these technologies.