Attending Your First Tech Conference

Going to your first tech conference?

I’ve been a speaker at, attended and been part of organising multiple conferences.

In the process, I’ve learned a thing or two about getting the most value from and enjoying your first ever tech conference:

Here’s some advice on attending a conference (in no particular order):

Deciding Which Talks to go to:

• Check the program in advance and mark the talks you want to go. Some conferences like Öredev, let you create a schedule online. Other conferences, hand out physical copies of the program.
• Note that sometimes the title isn’t very helpful in determining what the talk is actually about. (Some speakers just come up with something catchy) Therefore, I strongly recommend you always take the time to read the description before committing to a talk.
• Generally speaking, you should be able to apply the law of two feet. i.e. You may find yourself in a talk where you are not getting value (For example: How you interpreted the talk description, and what the speaker is actually talking about isn’t matching up), in that case, feel free to quietly sneak away. No speaker likes to see people walk away from their talk, at the same time, as an attendee you want to spend your time wisely.

What to do When Not Attending a Sessions:

• Don’t feel like you need to be at a talk/session for every single time slot. Sometimes there are time slots in a program where there aren’t any speakers/topics you are interested in.
• There’s a lot of value to be gained from the conversations you’ll have, with the people you’ll meet. In the day to day, you work with the same people, with the perspectives you are probably already familiar with. Conferences are a great place to hear from fresh perspectives, both in and out of sessions.

Bonus tips for attending Your First Conference:

• Did you enjoy a particular session/talk? If so, feel free to go up to the speaker after the talk and say so. (Even chatting to them during the break and saying you liked their talk would be appreciated).
• Most conferences will have a speakers area where they can focus/do last minute prep. So if they are not in this area, you can probably assume they are open to the above conversation.
• If you want to retain information, take notes. You’ll be surprised by how much there is to learn at a conference, but then realise that a day later you forgot most of it.

Lastly, enjoy the conference!

Soak it all in.