EPISODE 3 - Mindset: Is it useful to visit Tech Conferences?

Michael Seidl: Welcome to a new episode of the Get Shit Done in IT podcast. Today, I want to talk about if it is useful to visit tech conferences. So there are a lot of tech conferences out there. Usually, maybe you can spend each day on a different conference to visit and to see sessions and so on. But mainly it makes sense, in my opinion, to visit a few, definitely, but to pick out those which sessions you like with topics you like, maybe with speakers you like. So you also need time to, to implement those new things you learn at IT conferences. So first thing is in my opinion, make sure you only visit those conferences, those, sessions, those, listen to those speakers, which talk about topics you are interested in. There are different types of conferences, day conferences, evening conferences, cafes, online, on -site, multiple day conferences. So free conferences, paid conferences. So whatever you prefer or like, but in my opinion, is really helpful to communicate with others to see how others solved any problems or used any products you like. So in my case, mainly be part of Microsoft conferences about Microsoft technologies. So I cannot know everything. So I'm here since more than 20 years in IT and definitely I don't know everything. Yeah. And so I mainly visit conferences as a speaker. And I also try to listen to other sessions because I want to learn something I'm interested in. And my goal is to at least have one thing I learn in a conference, in a session. There might be sessions out there about the same topic I talk, maybe about the same specific topic I talk mainly about, but I'm sure that other person made other experiences. So they will tell me different things that I know. So each session will have...

Michael Seidl: something new for you. So it is really useful to visit conferences, to see sessions, and just to hear other experiences from speakers. And of course, to talk with other attendees. So talk with other attendees about the specific topic in that session, in that conference, what their experience is, maybe the... you're facing an actual problem and want to look for a solution. Talk to the attendees. There might be attendee parties, evening events, dinner or whatever. So talk to them, ask them the questions, ask the speakers so you can learn something. As I said, I mostly visit conferences as a speaker, so I like to speak. And that is not only for me, but I think also for a lot of other speakers I know and talk with. We as a speaker don't know everything. We don't know the topic perfectly. We just want to share our experience, what we learned, our passion about a specific topic. So right now I'm talking a lot about PowerShell and graph API and automation. And I do this daily since many, many years, but I definitely don't know everything. So I'm not standing in front of the audience with that mind, knowing everything. I just want to share my experience, my story about that specific topic. And I really like when someone is in there telling me they did it in a different way so I can learn. And when I'm... standing here as a speaker. So don't be afraid of, don't have that mindset of, I know everything. What should a conference teach me or what should I learn? There's definitely enough topics and things you can learn on the conference and just talking with other people, how they solve the specific problem, how they solve the specific challenge or whatever. So,

Michael Seidl: Don't be too... to be in that mind, I know everything, what should they tell me? There is no one who knows everything, okay? So everyone is making different experiences, different things, different solutions. So go out open -minded on conferences and just listen to speakers, to other attendees. and ask your questions what you want to know. And when it comes to speaker, I really love having a conversation with my attendees during my session. So I don't like sessions coming in, speak 50 minutes, go out and never talk to any, any attendees. I really like to, that someone raises his hand and ask me questions during the session, but the same after the session. So, I can understand when you don't want to be on the recording, for example, or don't want to ask questions in front of any and all the all the attendees, but don't be afraid to go to the speaker after the session, put them aside and ask him the questions. We really love to talk with attendees, talk about their questions. So don't be afraid and take the time. to ask the speaker your questions or your specific need or maybe a feedback to the session. I really would like to have a feedback of the attendees, how they like the session. Maybe they want to see different things in more detail. Maybe we can skip different things. So give an honest and real feedback to the speakers. We really appreciate that. But don't blame the speaker for bad. or something like for comparators. So the speakers are not responsible for the food. So I had one conference a year ago, I had a bad feedback because the food was too less and not good and my session feedback was about the bad food. Speakers can do a lot, but we are not responsible for the food.

Michael Seidl: And maybe keep in mind, we speakers travel to the conferences on our own expensive, on our own costs. We don't get paid for this. So maybe keep that in mind. We do that because we love to talk about the specifics topic. But that's not the main topic about the podcast today. So in summary, Yes, definitely visit your conferences. Maybe you like specific brands of conferences. There are a lot of conferences doing every year. So if you like the concept, visit the conferences. Choose your conferences based on the topic, on the topics of the session. Or maybe there is a specific conference to a specific topic you like. Maybe you just like a speaker and you want to just listen to what he's saying. So choose your conferences wisely and try to have also time to implement those things you learn on the conferences. Be open -minded. So go to the speaker, ask them questions, go to the other attendees and ask questions. And the third thing is why not be a speaker yourself? So... There might be people out there that don't like to speak or talk about anything. That's okay. But don't use it as an excuse. You don't know enough about a topic to talk about. As I said in the beginning, I and I think all the other speakers, at least those I talked to and know about, they don't know everything about a specific topic. They just like to talk about their experience. So don't get it as an excuse. You don't know much about a specific topic. So if you want to be a speaker, you can start small and virtual conferences. So you don't have the situation of a lot of people eyes looking at you. So you have a little conference or you can do so small fees or evening events where you sit on a table together. You don't need to stand in front. You sit on the table and talk about. So that's not the situation of being in front of many eyes.

Michael Seidl: So you can start easily on your own as a speaker. And if you like it and enjoy it, then go step by step, go to bigger conferences. But I think also as a speaker, you can learn a lot because you need to prepare. Yes, it is a lot of time you need to put in to prepare a session, definitely. But you also learn a lot. So every session I did in the past years, I learned a lot during preparation because I saw that there is might be a... way to do it and they want to tell the people the differences. So you need to learn and understand what the difference is. So I need to learn more to talk about. So you can also be a speaker and learn of course about the topic. So that can also be a reason. So to summarize, because we already have 10 minutes and this podcast should not be much longer than this. Yes, get your conferences. Choose your conferences wisely, be open -minded. No person knows everything in IT and I know we IT people are shy but talk to people, go to them, ask them questions. Maybe you have a problem, ask them. Go to the speakers, we would love to chat with you as the attendees. So ask the speakers about any topics, be open -minded and maybe consider being your speaker yourself. So it is fun, it makes fun, you get a lot of connections to other people and maybe one of those connections will help you to solve any problems or maybe to get a better job in the future. So be open -minded and go to conferences. If you have any questions for this podcast, I would love to have your questions on LinkedIn. So you can send me a message on LinkedIn, you can send me a voice message, a text message, whatever you like. but please contact with me on LinkedIn and see you the next episode. Thank you and bye bye.