4 ms·

I've not done nearly as many conference talks as many people here (I do about one a year) but just for entertainment here is how it usually goes for me: 1. Com

by Touche 9y ago

I've not done nearly as many conference talks as many people here (I do about one a year) but just for entertainment here is how it usually goes for me: 1. Come up with a proposal, send it out to as many conferences as I can find. 2. Wait. 3. Most reject it. Some times (often, actually) all of them reject it. Go back to step 1 (You lose 3 or 4 months when you are waiting, not knowing if any will accept your proposal). 4. If one of them accepted, be overjoyed! 5. Tell myself I'll start working on the talk super early so I'm extra prepared. 6. Actually not start until 1 to 1 and a half months before the conference. 7. Be super stressed. Not get anything else meaningful done. 8. Day of the talk I am angry at myself for agreeing to do it when I get little out of it. 9. Do the talk, it goes way better than I expected! I didn't totally embarrass myself and people seemed engaged. 10. It's over! Oh my god, it's over! Thinking of all of the things I can get done now, I'm never giving another talk and putting myself through that again. 11. 3 or 4 months pass and I see people I know are giving talks and I get the itch to do it myself again... back to step 1.

BrentOzar 9y ago
> 3. Most reject it. Some times (often, actually) all of them reject it. Go back to step 1 This is one of the biggest reasons I started https://GroupBy.org https://GroupBy.org. I speak at a lot of conferences, and I was frustrated with the mystery of the abstract review process. I wanted anybody to be able to submit on any topic, at any time, and then get peer review from other speakers and attendees. The abstract submission process is totally open - it's just a WordPress blog where folks can submit comments and talk directly to the presenters out in the open. It really helps speakers understand why their abstracts aren't resonating, and how they can tweak their abstracts to improve.
- nojvek 9y ago
  I sometimes get a feeling that some speakers due to their history get invited to give talks over and over. There are only a few respected conferences where you get to see new faces. The rest usually cycle through their top speakers. The worst is when you have the same white 5 males talking about diversity.
  - BrentOzar 9y ago
    > I sometimes get a feeling that some speakers due to their history get invited to give talks over and over. Running a conference is a financial risk. You have to bring in enough attendees to ensure that you'll break even on costs. Because of that, organizers often bring in presenters with a known reputation for putting butts in seats. To break into the circuit, find a conference with lower financial risks. For example, in the Microsoft database space, that's SQLSaturday, a free regional conference typically held at colleges. Those organizers don't have a lot of money on the line, so they can work on promoting their local speakers. Even better, speak at local user groups and build up a reputation.
    - Touche 9y ago
      Not saying you're wrong, but I've done 6 conferences and the 6th wasn't any easier for me to get than the 1st.
      - pc86 9y ago
        I think his point wasn't that doing conferences makes it easier to do more conferences, but that doing a big, headlining conference, and doing a great job, makes it easier to do that conference again another year.
    - ghaff 9y ago
      >bring in presenters with a known reputation for putting butts in seats And, whether or not they're a direct draw, a reputation for giving good talks, not giving a sales pitch, not flaking out at the last minute, etc. For better or worse, it's just a lot safer for conference organizers to accept talks from known quantities. Unfortunately, this makes it harder for unknown quantities to break in and (often) means that there is less variety of topics and perspectives than might otherwise be the case. Building up a portfolio at user groups and other local events helps to some degree--especially if you've never spoken before. However, in my experience, just about every conference at its in crowd. In my case, there are some conferences where I get accepted to speak regularly, some where I have a middle of the road batting average, and some where I mostly don't even bother to put in proposals any longer. And it's got very little to do with the topic area or the prestige/popularity of the event.
jrauser 9y ago
This is roughly my cycle. I'm finding that step 10 gets stronger and stronger. After my first talk there was no noticeable step 10. Several years and many talks later, I'm currently in step 10 and I think I might really never get to step 11 again.
sillysaurus3 9y ago
So what are some reasons to do any of this? Sounds unpleasant. Does it really increase your salary or your network that much?
- Touche 9y ago
  Being seen as an "expert" in your field does positively affect your salary and giving talks is one way to help there. To what extent it helps I'm not sure. But that's not really the reason why I do it. I do it mostly because of ego. I see people tweeting about giving a talk at X convention and I feel like I should have that status. As jrauser said, though, the more I do them the less inclination I have, as it really does negatively effect my ability to achieve other goals. And the older I get the other projects become more important to me.
  - jrauser 9y ago
    Even more than affecting my ability to achieve other goals, I think it might actually affect my health. After my last talk I tweeted[1]: "In the days before my recent talk, my resting heart rate was ~50bpm. The morning after, it's ~45bpm. Be kind to your speakers, folks." Long term low-level stress is pretty bad for you. [1] https://twitter.com/jrauser/status/867055469700849664 https://twitter.com/jrauser/status/867055469700849664
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- jrauser 9y ago
  As I wrote elsewhere in this thread, I write talks mainly because I want the finished talk to exist in the world. I think this is the same relationship an artist has with their art. That said, having given some memorable talks[1] at high-profile conferences probably has helped my career more than a little bit. [1] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv3BG8BSXbeFNfR2Zk4n8SlJYv8yNwZCi https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv3BG8BSXbeFNfR2Zk4n8...
- roel_v 9y ago
  Speaking at a conference vastly increases its usefulness, especially if you get a slot on the first day, as people will then come to you for the rest of the conference to talk about stuff. It takes a bit of work up front (although - are there really people who rehearse for hours, apart from TED style performance-talks?) but it makes the conference itself easy cruising, and you get information and energy from it you never get when you're just listening to speakers and having to go 'hey, so who do you work for' a few dozen times over coffee breaks.

by Touche 9y ago

BrentOzar 9y ago

> 3. Most reject it. Some times (often, actually) all of them reject it. Go back to step 1 This is one of the biggest reasons I started https://GroupBy.org https://GroupBy.org. I speak at a lot of conferences, and I was frustrated with the mystery of the abstract review process. I wanted anybody to be able to submit on any topic, at any time, and then get peer review from other speakers and attendees. The abstract submission process is totally open - it's just a WordPress blog where folks can submit comments and talk directly to the presenters out in the open. It really helps speakers understand why their abstracts aren't resonating, and how they can tweak their abstracts to improve.

nojvek 9y ago
I sometimes get a feeling that some speakers due to their history get invited to give talks over and over. There are only a few respected conferences where you get to see new faces. The rest usually cycle through their top speakers. The worst is when you have the same white 5 males talking about diversity.
- BrentOzar 9y ago
  > I sometimes get a feeling that some speakers due to their history get invited to give talks over and over. Running a conference is a financial risk. You have to bring in enough attendees to ensure that you'll break even on costs. Because of that, organizers often bring in presenters with a known reputation for putting butts in seats. To break into the circuit, find a conference with lower financial risks. For example, in the Microsoft database space, that's SQLSaturday, a free regional conference typically held at colleges. Those organizers don't have a lot of money on the line, so they can work on promoting their local speakers. Even better, speak at local user groups and build up a reputation.
  - Touche 9y ago
    Not saying you're wrong, but I've done 6 conferences and the 6th wasn't any easier for me to get than the 1st.
    - pc86 9y ago
      I think his point wasn't that doing conferences makes it easier to do more conferences, but that doing a big, headlining conference, and doing a great job, makes it easier to do that conference again another year.
  - ghaff 9y ago
    >bring in presenters with a known reputation for putting butts in seats And, whether or not they're a direct draw, a reputation for giving good talks, not giving a sales pitch, not flaking out at the last minute, etc. For better or worse, it's just a lot safer for conference organizers to accept talks from known quantities. Unfortunately, this makes it harder for unknown quantities to break in and (often) means that there is less variety of topics and perspectives than might otherwise be the case. Building up a portfolio at user groups and other local events helps to some degree--especially if you've never spoken before. However, in my experience, just about every conference at its in crowd. In my case, there are some conferences where I get accepted to speak regularly, some where I have a middle of the road batting average, and some where I mostly don't even bother to put in proposals any longer. And it's got very little to do with the topic area or the prestige/popularity of the event.

jrauser 9y ago

This is roughly my cycle. I'm finding that step 10 gets stronger and stronger. After my first talk there was no noticeable step 10. Several years and many talks later, I'm currently in step 10 and I think I might really never get to step 11 again.

sillysaurus3 9y ago

So what are some reasons to do any of this? Sounds unpleasant. Does it really increase your salary or your network that much?

Touche 9y ago
Being seen as an "expert" in your field does positively affect your salary and giving talks is one way to help there. To what extent it helps I'm not sure. But that's not really the reason why I do it. I do it mostly because of ego. I see people tweeting about giving a talk at X convention and I feel like I should have that status. As jrauser said, though, the more I do them the less inclination I have, as it really does negatively effect my ability to achieve other goals. And the older I get the other projects become more important to me.
- jrauser 9y ago
  Even more than affecting my ability to achieve other goals, I think it might actually affect my health. After my last talk I tweeted[1]: "In the days before my recent talk, my resting heart rate was ~50bpm. The morning after, it's ~45bpm. Be kind to your speakers, folks." Long term low-level stress is pretty bad for you. [1] https://twitter.com/jrauser/status/867055469700849664 https://twitter.com/jrauser/status/867055469700849664
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
jrauser 9y ago
As I wrote elsewhere in this thread, I write talks mainly because I want the finished talk to exist in the world. I think this is the same relationship an artist has with their art. That said, having given some memorable talks[1] at high-profile conferences probably has helped my career more than a little bit. [1] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv3BG8BSXbeFNfR2Zk4n8SlJYv8yNwZCi https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv3BG8BSXbeFNfR2Zk4n8...
roel_v 9y ago
Speaking at a conference vastly increases its usefulness, especially if you get a slot on the first day, as people will then come to you for the rest of the conference to talk about stuff. It takes a bit of work up front (although - are there really people who rehearse for hours, apart from TED style performance-talks?) but it makes the conference itself easy cruising, and you get information and energy from it you never get when you're just listening to speakers and having to go 'hey, so who do you work for' a few dozen times over coffee breaks.