Remembering Vincent Tang: Community Builder and Friend

TL;DR:

Vincent Tang, founder of Tampa Devs, was more than a leader—he was a true friend and brother. From hackathons to housewarmings, he built welcoming spaces that shaped the Central Florida dev community. Last week I attended his funeral, met his family, and was reminded how short life is. This blog is my way of celebrating his life and the mark he left on all of us.

By Javi, Developer and Community Organizer at GDG Central Florida

Celebrating the Life of Vincent Tang

Last week, I attended the funeral of my friend and hermano, Vincent Tang. I met his family, some members of the dev community, and a few from Tampa Devs. It was a hard day. Writing this blog has been even harder. I still cannot believe he is gone. In my heart, I still feel like he’s just traveling, living out another one of his adventures.

I also carry guilt—I didn't respond to the last text he sent me about him moving to Austin. That thought stays with me.

Our Journey Together

Vincent was one of the very first people I met when I decided to move my family to Orlando in 2017 and begin my career in development. He welcomed me into a world that felt new and uncertain. He helped me when I was struggling, and he always found a way to make space for others.

One of the first hackathons I joined as an opponent was TADHack-mini Orlando 2019, run by Alan Quayle. That’s where I saw Vincent’s passion shine—his energy, his ideas, and his drive to connect people. Alan recently wrote a beautiful blog celebrating Vincent, which brought back many memories of those early days.

We shared so many other moments—participating in hackathons, meeting Steve "Woz" Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple Computer, working on the startup CherriPick 🍒, and late-night coding. I’ll never forget the night my car was towed, and I found myself stranded without a way home. Vincent came to my rescue without hesitation. That was who he was—always ready to help.

He was also a passionate rock climber and latin dancer. On August 10, just weeks before his passing, I watched his bachata video reel. That was pure Vincent: joyful, present, and sharing his energy with everyone around him.

The Builder of Tampa Devs

Vincent left a mark on the developer community that will last for generations. Together with Charlton Trezevant, he co-founded Tampa Devs in 2021, creating a space for junior and senior devs to learn, grow, and connect. They weren’t just building meetups—they were building people.

Through Tampa Devs, hundreds found their first dev jobs, mentorship, or simply a place to belong. Vincent’s legacy is not only in the events and talks, but in the countless lives he touched along the way.

He also shared his voice as part of the ThunderNerds Podcast and part of the Code Chefs Podcast, where he hosted and interviewed guests from across the tech world and helped Junior Devs navigate the development world. It was another way he celebrated ideas, amplified others, and connected people together.

Charlton continues to build on that spirit. He and his co-founder are working on Packfiles, a software platform aimed at simplifying the migration of coding files to GitHub. Packfiles is designed to reduce reliance on service firms for file migrations and was recently listed as one of Tampa Bay’s 25 Startups to Watch in 2025.

You can still read some of Vincent’s blog posts and see his dev projects online:

• The Story of Tampa Devs
• Vincent Tang’s Projects on Devpost
• How We Built Tampa Devs – Talk

One of Vincent’s blog posts captured his philosophy perfectly:

“When you learn without boundaries, you can be a creative original thinker—break out of molds you don’t want to be in, and embrace new ventures you didn’t know existed.” — Vincent Tang

That’s exactly how he lived, and what he encouraged in all of us.

A Friend, A Brother

Vincent wasn’t just a friend—he was a brother. He even helped my daughter celebrate her sweet sixteen, something my family will treasure forever.

I will miss our phone calls, his hospitality, and his housewarming parties. I’ll miss hearing about his travels and his search for a place to call home.

At the funeral, I met his father and mother, and though I did not know them before, I felt their pain as we cried together. I also met his brother and cousin, and I carry the grief of that day with me. Vincent was in the prime of his life, and moments like this remind us how short life truly is—and how important it is to acknowledge that truth and live the best life we can. Vince did, and now he is in a better place.

Final Thoughts

This blog was hard to write. It hurts to think about the moments we won’t get to share. But I know Vincent wouldn’t want us to stop building, learning, and living fully.

📚 If you’d like to read more tributes to Vincent from our community, here are a few:

• R.I.P. Vincent Tang – Joey deVilla
• Celebrating Our Community Hero: Vincent Tang – Michael Rosario
• Celebrating the Life of Vincent Tang – Alan Quayle

Rest in peace, hermano. May you climb new heights in heaven, and may we carry your light forward here on earth. 🕯️

• Obituary: Vincent Tang
• Website: vincentntang.com
• GitHub: github.com/vincentntang

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🤝 Let's Connect

I love sharing, teaching, and learning with others. Let's build cool stuff together:

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/technologic
• Bluesky: @code-vista.bsky.social‬
• GDG CF Discord: Discord Server

👉 Join our community at GDG Central Florida for workshops, meetups, and more!

– Javi (Software Engineer & GDG Community Organizer)