Why Speak at conferences? write blogs? - To get your message out.

TLDR; We all have different experiences. Share them so that other people can learn. Share them so that people see that their experience is not covered and they are triggered into sharing as well.

Get Your Message Out

So I never wanted to speak at conferences, I only ever did that because I got sick of going to conferences where all the experts on the stage were telling me things that were anathema to my experience. They weren’t necessarily lying, but what they were saying made no sense in my world.

It would not work in my world. It jarred with my experience. It wasn’t my world they were describing,.

And I resolved ,at the end of one conference, that I was never going to attend another conference unless I was speaking because I wasn’t prepared to pay to listen to this nonsense.

Even if I didn’t cost me, anything I wasn’t prepared to spend my time listening to this.

And that was what motivated me and still motivates me.

I am not trying to convince People.

I am not trying to get people to do something different.

I am not even going out there.

And saying “this thing is wrong!”

I mean the most I will do is give a Willy Wonka, impersonation: “Stop. Don’t. Come back.”

I am really just presenting an alternative. My alternative based on my experience and someone might hear it, or read it or use it… but it doesn’t matter.

The point is that I am sharing it.

So I know that my message is out there and the hope is that when someone needs it, they will find it.

And the more that people speak at conferences, or write blog posts, or share code, or post information on social media, the more that people share their experiences, the more likely the rest of us are going to hear that message when we need it.

So, I mean, this is all so selfish. Share your experience so that I can learn. Share your experience so that someone somewhere can react to your content with: “I am never coming to another conference unless I am speaking!”

Your experience will help people realize that they have something different to share and then that helps everyone.

This was originally recorded on Racket in 202107