Julian Egelstaff

Julian leads the Formulize open source project, a data management platform that turns messy information and chaotic processes into beautiful databases that blend smoothly with how people actually work. In 1996, Julian got a Bachelor of Journalism and Philosophy, and naturally went on to 30 years in the software industry. In 2003, he co-founded Freeform Solutions, a non-profit web development firm, where the Formulize project began. Somehow, along the way, Julian became a Zend Certified Engineer.

Montreal 2026 sessions

A better fluxcapacitor will not make clients happy

English session - Beginner

If you're a tech person talking to clients, stop talking about technology. Start listening to people, figure out what they need, and make them happy. I guarantee you, a better fluxcapacitor will not make them happy, even if they need one. I spent 10+ years selling IT services as a principal at a small consultancy. Before that, I went to Journalism school. Let me tell you my best interview tips, people tips, and how and why you make clients happy.

Modern DevOps on Legacy Code

English session - Intermediate

Things we might take for granted today: comprehensive testing, automated deployment, local dev environments on demand. How do you take a 20 year old web application, including its runtime dependence on a live database, and retrofit it with these modern best practices? Well, testing was the (relatively) easy part, it was the deployment cycle, and spinning up local dev environments that was harder, but not impossible. Let us show you how we did it.