LEARNING
My experience at Collision
If you had asked me one year ago “Do you think that you’ll ever speak at North America’s biggest tech conference?” I would have laughed in your face.
A year ago, I didn’t even know what I wanted to do with my life, let alone speak at conferences.
However, that all changed when I joined The Knowledge Society (TKS), a human incubator where you learn about emerging technologies.
(FYI, in case you didn’t know: This article will be a quick summary and reflection of my journey + learnings+ my experience at Collision!)
My journey and learnings
To be honest, I never thought I’d be writing an article about myself or what I’d done. I never thought I’d accomplish anything until late high school. Maybe university. I honestly wasn’t sure.
From when I was little, I’d always wanted to create an educational software website for kids to learn to code. I had even created a website and everything.
Now, you may be reading this and marvel over how ambitious I was, but I see (now at least) a key flaw in myself back then. I had such a fixed mindset.
I was set on going to MIT for a joint bachelors degree in Business and Computer Science, then to Wharton for an MBA, then launching my app.
However, when I joined TKS, that changed.
At first, I thought it was going to be another one of the programs I join where I learn about technology, go home, and forget.
However, TKS isn’t a program, it’s a lifestyle (why do I feel like a cult member writing this lol). You have a network of kind, supportive, unicorn people to talk to, and if you don’t use it, your loss.
I built so many relationships, learned so much, and overall, feel amazing!
Key Takeaways from my Journey in TKS
- Mindsets are key. I don’t care if you’re a business mogul or just a kid who wants to read. Mindsets are how you think, and they shape how you learn and grow, and how much value you extract from things.
- Have boss mentality. So, this sounds basic and something that you could probably already do, but it’s so important. Whether it’s networking with people, being outgoing, presenting, or just straight up having conversations, it’s a great mindset and mentality to have.
- Be a genuine person. Okay, so again. How do we make sure we’re kind, genuine people? I’m not saying ask everyone around you, but my only advice for this point is to care about your personality. Something that Navid, one of the heads of TKS, brought up was the fact that we’d cry over a 67 on a math test versus needing a personality change.
Okay, so, now you must be impatient for the Collision section. That’s probably what you came here for anyway.
Collision
Now, the actual conference. For those who don’t know, I spoke at the HealthConf track on Thursday.
Video of my talk below!
I went on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. I can safely say Thursday was the best day of my life.
It started with meeting people like the CEO of Tribalscale, Tim Draper, or a fellow cell biologist! Everyone was really kind, and I got 40 new connections for my newsletter!
Personal favourite moment of the entire day of Thursday: At the end of the talk, when I finished explaining my call to action and Zen Chu told my parents to stand up and started clapping for me, it was a really kind, sweet moment!
Additionally, I did a Facebook Live Interview with them (linked) afterwards!
Top three learnings:
- NETWORK WITH EVERYONE! By this I mean talk to everyone there. Everyone is so interesting and can provide value to you in such surprising and different ways. For instance, I met Dean from one eleven, and Leah Hunter from Fast Company, and they both offered to set me up with labs for Biotein!
- Conferences make you tired, but push through! I was tired at the end of the day at Collision, but if I hadn’t stayed a little bit longer and networked, there would be so many people I wouldn’t have met.
- The talks are interesting, and definitely go to some, but they aren’t holding the real value. Yes, I love to go to talks, but as I mentioned before, people hold the real value. A lot of the information in talks can be looked up, but you can’t look people up (Fine. You can. But you can’t have these discussions with people any other time).
- I’m going to sneak an extra one in here. When I was speaking to various CEOs, I noticed they all had something in common: Their ambition and enthusiasm! I dare everyone reading this to speak to 3 strangers a day!
TL;DR: Network. Till. You. Die. (Okay, fine. Maybe not that dramatic, but STILL)
Quickie on presentation tips
Now, if you wanted presentation tips, go here!
TL;DR:
- Try to change that nervousness you have into excitement!
- Center your presentation around 4 key lines.
- Be enthusiastic and interested.
- Pick an emotion.
- Keep going even if you screw up.
- Don’t be a slave to your slides.
- Maintain eye contact and keep your audience engaged.
- Legitimize yourself.
Anyways, I think that’s all I have to say about this amazing experience for now. *cue goodbye statement*
Key Takeaway(s) (or not)
“Wait! WAIT! WAIT UP NINA!”
“What?”
“What about your key takeaways?”
“I figured I wouldn’t have them this time, because this is more of a reflection article. And it’d be faster to read the actual article than all of this dialogue.”
Thank you for reading my article! I hope it blew your mind! If you liked it, check out my other articles and I’d love it if you left a clap or a comment! If you want to connect with me, drop me a note on my LinkedIn, or just reply to this article, or use one of the many many other messaging services nowadays. There’s no shortage, you’re good!
Additionally, before I let you go back into the world (or void, or black hole) of medium articles, sign up for my monthly newsletter at http://eepurl.com/gcl0Vr. It updates you on my progress that month, articles I’ve made, videos I’ve created, and conferences I’ve attended/spoke at!
My next one is coming out May 30th at 6:00 PM, so be sure to sign up before that.
