UKAUG: App-in-a-Day Conference
If you live in the UK (or want a great excuse to visit!), you need to register now for the truly unique "App-in-a-Day" conference on May 19, 2026, in Birmingham, UK.
If you've ever attended a Microsoft Access conference–or, really, any conference for that matter–you know how they work:
- Speaker 1: 45-min talk, 5-min Q&A, 10-min break
- Speaker 2: 45-min talk, 5-min Q&A, 10-min break
- Speaker 3: 45-min talk, 5-min Q&A, 10-min break
- Lather, rinse, repeat
It can be a long day with a lot of intense technical learning packed into a short amount of time. And when you are the last presenter of the day (as I was at the recent J Street Access Day event in Redmond), you can see it in the body language of the audience.
Everyone is mentally drained.
Which is why I'm so excited about the format of the UKAUG's upcoming conference in Birmingham, England, on May 19, 2026.
Say what now?
The App-in-a-day conference!
What does this mean? We have lined up 6 fantastic international presenters who will collaborate on a single objective for the end of the day – the development of a new app.
This could be anything from a smashing success to a mitigated disaster.
Wait, "mitigated" disaster? Don't I mean "unmitigated" disaster? No, no, no, dear reader. Trust me when I say that the worst-case scenario for this conference is quite mitigated indeed. How so? Let me count the ways:
- World-class speakers
- A top-notch team of conference organizers
- The camaraderie of the UK Access User Group itself
- A live, in-person event
A sunny, beachside resort(strike that, I was thinking of Juanjo's conference in Valencia, Spain)
The idyllic charm of Birmingham, England
A High Floor
The quality of the speakers and organizers is such that the event has a high floor.
I mean, not a literal high floor. After all, this is still the UK we're talking about. Five-story buildings qualify as skyscrapers in that part of the world.
No, what I mean is that no matter how well (or poorly) the actual app turns out, you will 100% get your money's worth by attending. While building the "app-in-a-day", each presenter will also be sharing insights in his respective area of expertise.
An Even Higher Ceiling
The "App-in-a-Day" format is an ambitious concept. And if anyone can pull this off, it's this group:
- Armen Stein
- Anders Ebro
- Kevin Bell
- Peter Bryant
- Steve Girling
- Andrew Richards
Here's a sneak peek at what you can expect, direct from the event website:
Over the day, the app will be developed to include such functionality as
- Adding and configuring a ribbon and a tree view for navigation around your project (Kevin Bell)
- Advanced and interesting things to do with Access reports (Anders Ebro)
- Approaches to importing existing, non-normalised data into a relational database (Peter Bryant)
- Creating a UI which doesn't even look like Access is in use (Steve Girling)
- Temporal tables - what they are, why they're useful and how to implment them (Kevin Bell)
And running as a thread through the day will be how to successfully manage the project (Armen) when your customer doesn't have a clue what they want (Andrew).
Key Details
- Website: https://ukaug.co.uk/event/the-app-in-a-day-conference-may-2026/
- Where: The IBIS Birmingham New Street, 21 Ladywell Walk, Birmingham, B5 4ST
- When: Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Cost: £95 member / £160 non-member
- Accommodation: A limited number of hotel rooms are available for the night before (add to your ticket at checkout)
- Pre-conference dinner: "Details" on the UKAUG site
