He told me that as it was only 5 minutes, if I really didn’t like it, at least it would be over quickly. Peter was the one who convinced me to submit a lightning talk to Joy of Coding in 2018. One of those people was Peter Hilton, whose talk I saw speak at CodeMotion Amsterdam 2017 and later met at Joy of Coding in 2017. To expose myself to more ideas, I created a Twitter account and started following speakers I liked and people I met at conferences. While talks can often be watched online after a conference, meeting new people and having conversations with them only happens in person. In addition, I very much enjoyed meeting people and discussing our thoughts on software development in the so-called “hallway track” the conversations that happen in the hallway in between talks. My favorite conferences are the ones where I come back with a bunch of ideas of new things to try. Also, I’m interested in hearing stories about challenges people face in other companies and industries, and how they solve their problems (either with or without specific tools). Some of the things I particularly enjoy are hearing about new technologies I might not yet be aware of, or new and different perspectives on technologies I already know. As it turns out, I really loved going to conferences. At bol.com, going to conferences was very common. This changed when I joined bol.com, an online retail platform, in 2017. In my 20+ years in IT, I’d never had a job where it was normal for me to go to conferences. Everybody has their own personal story this is mine. As a public speaker, one of the questions that comes up occasionally is “How did you get into public speaking?”.
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