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Conference Speakers, Check Your Egos

davidbisset.com

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Re: Conference Speakers, Check Your Egos

#21

Post by sgrove »

crabasa wrote: post #10

I'm a conference organizer, and I'm not sure what I just read. I feel there must be some angry emails or negative interactions that led to this blog post. I'd encourage the author to consider if there is anything they can do to attract different kinds of people to their CFP or perhaps manage expectations better? One thing we did with our most recent CFP [1] was to reply individually [2] to each person who submitted w…

Replying to each submission is very impressive! Looks like last year you had ~24 speakers, so I assume you had ~100+ submissions. That's definitely dedication!

Have you run into speakers responding negatively to your (constructive) feedback before?

Re: Conference Speakers, Check Your Egos

#22

Post by denzil_correa »

phlakaton wrote: post #14
ravenstine wrote: post #4

Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info) When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen . That's true whet…

I go to conferences for two reasons: to meet people and learn stuff. And really, as I am generally poor at meeting people, the learning part is the bulk of it. So, really, I completely disagree with the foundation of your statement. Whether or not information is technically available, there are any number of reasons why conference presentations are useful. They provide synthesis of information from multiple sources.…

When you say “meet people” - what does it mean? Does it mean - you just have a 1-time conversation with people or do you hope your conversation goes beyond the conference? If it is the latter, you are not going to “meet people”. You are actually trying to foster collaborations. “Meet people” is a broad phrase which encapsulates that concept.

Re: Conference Speakers, Check Your Egos

#23

Post by eanzenberg »

ravenstine wrote: post #4

Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info) When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen . That's true whet…

This is so incorrect and for some mainly subtle reasons. Many times companies (and people) don't publicly want to expose the details of what they're doing or working on. That said, at conferences many "off-the-record" conversations happen that are extremely valuable. How often can you spend days together with peers from other companies? That IMO is the real value of going.

Re: Conference Speakers, Check Your Egos

#24

Post by AJ007 »

eanzenberg wrote: post #23
ravenstine wrote: post #4

Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info) When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen . That's true whet…

This is so incorrect and for some mainly subtle reasons. Many times companies (and people) don't publicly want to expose the details of what they're doing or working on. That said, at conferences many "off-the-record" conversations happen that are extremely valuable. How often can you spend days together with peers from other companies? That IMO is the real value of going.

There is a profound difference between research and sales conferences, to the extent it seems wrong to even use the same word to describe them.

Re: Conference Speakers, Check Your Egos

#25

Post by nitwit005 »

> if you ARE the only person capable of giving the talk then is there is a diversity issue. Can you take an honest look at the diversity of your industry and perhaps mentor new ones – especially those from under represented groups – to be able to speak on such topics?

This seems a bit bizarre to me. Sure, they're the only one who knows right now, but they are giving a talk at a conference, which is supposed to have the purpose of educating a large number of people.

Re: Conference Speakers, Check Your Egos

#26

Post by monksy »

nitwit005 wrote: post #25

> if you ARE the only person capable of giving the talk then is there is a diversity issue. Can you take an honest look at the diversity of your industry and perhaps mentor new ones – especially those from under represented groups – to be able to speak on such topics? This seems a bit bizarre to me. Sure, they're the only one who knows right now, but they are giving a talk at a conference, which is supposed to have t…

I got the feeling the author was saying: "Step out of the way for what ever group we feel is marginalized today"

It's such a regressive statement. If you know what you're talking about and are excited about it. YOU ARE THE RIGHT PERSON. The people who are at the conference and speaking are people who stepped up to do it. You don't just get this granted pass to be up there.

Re: Conference Speakers, Check Your Egos

#27

Post by greggman2 »

ravenstine wrote: post #4

Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info) When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen . That's true whet…

I don't go to conferences to be seen. I go to conferences to see friends and if I'm lucky make new ones. Friends from all over the world, and from previous jobs, show up the conference. I could care less about "being seen".

Re: Conference Speakers, Check Your Egos

#28

Post by monksy »

RuleOfBirds wrote: post #2

Huh. Is it just me? I couldn't make it through more than a screen of this post because of the author's ego that seemed to be spilling out the sides of their mouth. I didn't "read to the end" like admonished, so not sure if it was meant to be humorous.

I felt like it was a bit preachy and "only listen to me" kind of a tone. I agree with you. If he had articulated his point better I would have liked it. I really hate the ego of the author to suggest that you shouldn't speak on something and should "mentor someone 'underrepsented'." Sigh. If you put the work into the talk, know it really well, and you're enthusastic, that's what's important. Be there to help others and help them prep. Give talks on how to give a talk.

Re: Conference Speakers, Check Your Egos

#29

Post by odiroot »

ravenstine wrote: post #4

Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info) When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen . That's true whet…

> Conferences don't exist to convey information.

This, for me, is the only reason to go to conferences. Watching presentation on YouTube is just not engaging enough and I drift away.

I don't care about being seen and I'm definitely not going there to "see" any specific persona.

All in all (I am talking about tech conferences here) they're a way for me to gauge the current development in my industry.

On top of that I specifically and without exception avoid all off-topic/non-technical talks. Maybe if more people did so we could have better conferences.

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