Upon deeper dive into the release of Magento 2.2.4 features Kalen and Phillip as the all-important question: how much bundling of 3rd party integrations in Magento is too much? Is there a line and does the 2.2.4 release cross it? Listen now!
Coming Soon!
Phillip and Kalen recap the first day and a half of Imagine 2018, and Kalen remarks how the entire Magento community is being asked to “level up” with a call to higher standards and higher goals from Magento CEO, Mark Lavelle.
Listen now!
Coming soon!
Eric Hileman from MageMojo and Mojo Stratus fame join us to get down and dirty in the nitties and the gritties about what makes scaling on AWS so difficult, and how running Magento in the cloud takes more expertise now than ever before.
Listen now!
Coming Soon!
We hope you like talking about GDPR because this one is ALL. ABOUT. GDPR. Buckle up, buttercup.
Coming soon!
What happens when Phillip forgets his headphones? Terrible audio quality, that’s what! Recorded 30 days before Imagine 2018 and never released, this episode held up production due to its neverending issues and basically almost never saw the light of day. Not for the faint of heart – this one is for the true fans that can’t get enough of MageTalk.
You’ve been warned!
2:12 Shoptalk Shenanigans
Phillip has insider knowledge that says (contrary to what Gary Benerofe (@garymediaspa) says) that the first twenty minutes are actually the most entertaining and not just filler.
Dissension amongst the ranks!
3:32 Distributed Contribution Day (say that five times fast)
Distributed-cd in GitHub if ya nasty.
419 tickets, over 40 pull requests, and over a dozen Magento agencies took part in Distributed Contribution Day. The boys break down the details of the repository.
Kalen gives a shoutout to Atwix for their great contributions.
Is this the new MageStackDay?
6:41 Some Magento Complaints
Shoutout to the echoing audio in this section.
Phillip gives a lot of exposition before complaining about Partner Points and the amount of contribution some developers give without getting any recognition.
Is this creating uncertainty in the Magento Partner community?
13:08 A complaint within a complaint
Kalen brings up the change in Magento certification naming.
Does this sound like a downgrade to you?
14:20 Another Distributed Contribution Day Shoutout
Kalen gives a shoutout to the elusive Peter O’Callaghan (@pete_cags) for a making rare appearance.
15:50 Shameless Commerce Hero Plug
Kalen gives us some updates on Commerce Hero’s recent successes and what he’s been working on.
Congrats, man.
17:42 The Search Workflow
Phillip asks Kalen what his search workflow looks like and how he handles this important step for Commerce Hero. Kalen breaks down what queries he uses as well as what’s important when matching potential applicants to positions.
“When you simplify, clean things up, and speed things up…something happens where some of the loss of functionality ends up being positive because speed is so important.” -Kalen Jordan
26:35 GraphQL is useful as Hell
Max Bucknell (@maxbucknell) did a presentation at NoMad Mage on GraphQL and Magento 2.3 that floored Phillip with the simplicity of getting data from multiple sources using one query.
Watch the video here.
Now that’s useful.
31:24 Component Driven Architecture
Phillip discusses how component driven architecture is making a comeback.
“Component Driven Architecture is going to change the way that we’re designing and the way that we’re building to where we will have almost functional mockups.” -Phillip Jackson
33:05 The Cost of Strict Deadlines
Kalen mentions a very transparent and telling tweet from Joshua Warren (@JoshuaSWarren) that shows the cost of some strict agency deadlines.
Mental health is important, folks. Take care of yourself.
This is what it looks like when you collapse from exhaustion from a 48 hour site launch followed by waking up at 4:30AM to catch a flight. I was going to make a joke, but this is no joke. The stresses we put ourselves under in this industry are why groups like OSMI are vital. pic.twitter.com/VAl5w9FG6o
— Joshua Warren (@JoshuaSWarren) March 27, 2018
35:08 Mental Health for the Self-Employed
Phillip asks Kalen what Mental Health looks like for those that are self-employed. Kalen breaks down the differences between what he faces today and what he has experienced in the past. Phillip then goes into the stresses he faces working remotely full time along with the multitude of side projects he takes on.
“Being able to turn it off and know where your limits are is really hard when you’re working at home or especially when you work for yourself.” -Phillip Jackson
40:31 Mentor/Mentee Matching
Kalen mentions a tweet by Sander Mangel (@sandermangel) regarding matching mentors and mentees and then goes into the details on how he matches the two.
Are you just starting out as a Magento developer and looking for a bit of mentorship? I would love to help you.
Please read this: https://t.co/QGg6BGM4iY
— Sander Mangel (@sandermangel) February 10, 2018
I have some data for mentors / mentees. Haven't quite polished up the matching logic because it's similar to job matching but still quite different.
Maybe if someone wanted to give a hand with that I could possibly add them to github.
— Kalen Jordan (@kalenjordan) February 10, 2018
44:28 Compensation for Mentorship
Phillip asks Kalen what he thinks about compensation for a mentorship position. Does it water the value of the relationship down when someone has to pay for it? He brings up how Alan Storm (@alanstorm) uses Patreon to distribute his mentorship.
Kalen is also looking for a mentee. Hint, hint.
48:05 Some Magento Community Love
Phillip gushes about how forthcoming and giving the Magento community is with its time and resources.
Y’all are a good bunch.
51:08 Shoutouts Upon Shoutouts
Kalen gives a shoutout to Brian Taylor (@BrianTaylorhere) at Forix for being a loyal follower of the show.
Another shoutout goes to Max Pronko (@max_pronko) for just hitting the 1,000 subscribers mark on his YouTube Channel. Congrats!
Video recordings are now available from Reacticon for only $10. That’s an unbelievable deal.
-Gary Benerofe (@garymediaspa)
-Peter O’Callaghan (@pete_cags)
-Max Bucknell (@maxbucknell)
-Joshua Warren (@JoshuaSWarren)
-Sander Mangel (@sandermangel)
-Alan Storm (@alanstorm)
-Brian Taylor (@BrianTaylorhere)
-Max Pronko (@max_pronko)
“Doing Magento Development with one hand tied behind your back.” Kalen opines whether college is valuable for Magento developers, the guys break it down and get real about Magento 2.3; PLUS a review of the “Marathon Masters” publication – and more! Listen now!
1:00 Something You Need To Hear
The boys start off by throwing back to Episode 163 in which they demonstrated what an advertisement would sound like if they were to make one. The magic moment happens at the 3:32 timestamp. You’re welcome.
Shoutout to the folks at Marello for providing the inspiration.
2:12 ZOMG
The boys give a “full-on, all caps, ZOMG” shoutout to the team over at Atwix for their incredible MageTalk custom art. The boys have never looked better.
HOLY CRAP THIS IS AMAZING HAHAHAHAHA @atwixcom https://t.co/9kXTAVf8yf pic.twitter.com/l1g2Akaqu4
— ??????? ??????? (@philwinkle) March 14, 2018
4:58 Masters of Commerce
Magento just dropped an eBook (like the hottest new EDM band of 2018) entitled Masters of Commerce that is a collection of interviews with the 2017 Magento Masters. Phillip has a highlight in the book so it’s a must read.
Check it out. It has some amazing information and some great quotes from some great people like Carmen Bremen (@neoshops).
“Be honest, open-minded, careful, clear, and transparent. If you don’t trust each other, don’t work together.” -Carmen Bremem
8:53 More Big Shoutouts
Phillip gives a shoutout to Amanda Batista (@AmandaF_Batista) on the Magento Marketing team that helped put the Masters of Commerce eBook together.
He also gives a shoutout to Andrea Ward (@awatpa) who heads the Magento Marketing team for her leadership and their amazing art direction.
10:12 The Deal with MageTalk at Imagine
Will MageTalk have a booth at Imagine? The mystery continues.
11:25 A Live Podcast Retrospective
The boys give a look back at their live Podcast from Imagine last year.
They were the #2 most attended session y’all.
12:37 Shoutouts Upon Shoutouts
To no one’s surprise, TJ Gamble (ecommerceaholic) and Rebecca Brocton (@RebeccaBrocton) get shoutouts for continuing to put out amazing content. How dare they.
Guido Yansen (@guido) at the Dutchento Podcast also gets a shoutout for some awesome content.
13:43 The Software Testing World Cup
Kalen brings up the Software Testing World Cup (yes, that’s a thing) and brags about how he knows a winner. #CommerceHeroAd
Phillip brings up Magento’s Functional Testing Framework.
15:36 The Dark Souls of Software Testing
Bastian Ike (@b_ike) goes to a Hackers World Cup. Phillip breaks down the criteria for this and gets all technical and talks about how these hackers like to play on “nightmare mode”.
Just like Dark Souls.
20:29 The Swift Otter Guide
Phillip jokingly says he’ll wait for the Swift Otter guide, Joseph Maxwell (@josephmaxs) delivers. Get the guide here.
Last night, I finished a 33-question practice test for the M2 Certified Developer exam: https://t.co/maVNWIJwtk. After passing the real exam, my goal was to create a test that had the same feeling of scenario-based questions. Let me know what you think.
— Joseph Maxwell (@josephmaxs) March 10, 2018
22:41 Let’s Talk About College
Kalen gives his thoughts on college, and how many smart people he knows that didn’t finish or even go to college.
Phillip chimes in with his thoughts and about how a lot of things have become vocations that do not require college educations.
Amendment from Phillip
So Phillip misspoke and clears it up in the below tweet. Sigh.
Ok ok ok I get it. I misspoke when I said "secondary education" on @MageTalk 166, which means high school education, when I meant post-secondary.
Maybe if I had finished post-secondary school I would know the difference?
— ??????? ??????? (@philwinkle) April 11, 2018
35:52 MageClippy?
Kalen brings up a recent Tweet from Danielle Mundle (@UXdanielle) in which she teases at a new Magento feature…
I've been low-key on Twitter trying to properly recover from my cold, so here's a sneak peak at a mock-up for a possible #Magento feature (by @kipizki)
Happy Friday! pic.twitter.com/CJ3GMmwGBX— Danielle Mundle (@UXdanielle) March 9, 2018
And THEN, Ben Marks (@benmarks) comes to bat with a tweet from three years ago proving that it’s already been done.
Perhaps the most important Magento feature comes from a @firegento hackathon: Mage_Clippy, in right corner of screen. pic.twitter.com/q1A13Gvaq8
— Ben Marks (@benmarks) May 10, 2015
Seems like people are coming for Kalen and Phillip’s job…
-Carmen Bremem (@neoshops)
-Amanda Batista (@AmandaF_Batista)
-Andrea Ward (@awatpa)
-TJ Gamble (ecommerceaholic)
-Rebecca Brocton (@RebeccaBrocton)
-Guido Yansen (@guido)
-Bastian Ike (@b_ike)
-Joseph Maxwell (@josephmaxs)
-Danielle Mundle (@UXdanielle)
–MageTalk Episode 163 – “How to be Good at Flappy Bird” (w/ Erfan Imani)
–Swift Otter Magento 2 Certified Professional Developer Practice Test
“Why is Magento Enterprise so expensive?” Kalen and Phillip argue the finer points of a controversial topic. Kalen coins a catch-phrase, and Phillip forgets a real microphone and his beard mucks up the audio for the entire episode.
Coming Soon!
Kalen does his best Bill Clinton impersonation, the guys rap about GDPR – and we interview Kuba Zwolinski of Magebutton and Snowdog fame about the Magento Innovation Lab and how B2B can benefit from the Internet of Things. Listen now!
Coming soon!
Kalen gets new glasses, will he finally see the light? PLUS an interview with Erfan Imani, accomplished Triathelete and developer of the Magento Innovation Lab-recognized Speqs augmented reality commerce experience.
Also – a Magetalk First – a swear word appears (gasp!) in the second half of the show. You’ve been warned!
Listen now!
Coming Soon!
The guys sit down with Jon Woodall of Space 48 to talk B2B, the challenge of professional services, the growth of Mage Titans, and employing Magento Masters. Listen now!
Today’s special guest is Jon Woodall (@Jon_Woodall), the Managing Director at Space 48, back for the third time. Space 48 is a Magento Enterprise Partner from Manchester.
2:50 The New Queen Bee of Meanbee
Jon discusses the acquisition of Meanbee and the origins of the deal. He also discusses the fragmented agency landscape and how similar viewpoints between companies can lead to some interesting conversations and partnerships.
5:40 The New Voltron Of Magento
Phillip crowns Space 48 the new Voltron of Magento. What does this mean? How does a company earn this “title”? Is “Magentron” a terrible pun?
8:14 Get Me a Slice of that Consultant Scene
Jon talks about the goal of Space 48 and breaks down the state of the consultant scene and how they are carving out their own unique slice of the industry.
10:57 Generalization or Specialization?
The boys weigh in with their opinions on a generalized agency vs a specialized agency? What are the benefits and setbacks of each?
The customer is demanding far more than just great Magento development.” -Jon Woodall
Does a great looking website translate into dollars?
13:08 The Micro Agency Survival Guide
Jon gives his thoughts on how smaller agencies can grow their business and take it to the next level.
17:17 Split Needs and Split Responsibilities
Customers are filling separate business needs with several vendors. Having multiple agencies involved when forging business strategies is tough. Phillip lets us how to work smart and not hard by covering the bases with your skill set.
22:24 Magento Master
What qualifies being a Magento Master? Think you make the cut?
“The key to leadership is recognizing people who have potential and empowering them to realize that potential.” -Phillip Jackson
24:48 #MageTalkMeetup?
Imagine? Jon is coming. Will you be there?
Would you be excited about a MageTalk Meetup? (Maybe get a new # trending??)
27:04 Ask the Masters
A new webinar series from Space 48 called Ask The Masters had its debut episode this past Saturday. Don’t be like Kalen and miss the next one by spending the day at Walmart.
33:22 Regional Challenges
Phillip and Jon discuss regional challenges for their respective Magento Enterprise. Do you face any of these same challenges?
38:18 A Shift in the Tide
Phillip talks about the shift in focus from B2C to B2B business in various cities across the country and how this shift can address some the challenges agencies are facing.
Jon brings up the potentially intimidating prospect of change management and the changes that this will bring to teams across the board.
41:37 Fixed-Bid Battle
It’s getting juicy now.
Kalen recently tweeted a rather sassy comic about fixed price estimates (see below) and directs some of his concerns towards Jon. Jon goes to bat for the fixed bid system. Are the problems with the system itself, or with the individual customers?
Fixed bid estimates h/t @cmuench pic.twitter.com/Z1oTvofH4w
— Kalen Jordan (@kalenjordan) February 22, 2018
Who do you think won the battle?
52:30 Client Communication: The Key to A Successful Relationship
“This project can be fast, effective or fair. But it can only be two of the three.” -Jon Woodall
Jon breaks down not only the difficulties of project billing but the issues with client relationships in general. Phillip suggests some commonality that can help agencies communicate and get on the same page with their clients.
57:07 Mergers, and acquisitions, and growth, oh my!
Jon gives a brief snapshot of his busy 2018.
59:49 #Community
Phillip lays out what he thinks the Magento UK community is going to need to do to grow.
-Jon Woodall Twitter
