Beer JS summit is the wind of change
OK, let’s speak briefly about the conference that I attended in Minsk. BeerJS is the new format of the conference, and that’s why I think the whole IT community all around the world should pay attention to it.
25 Uncensored Lighting talks for five minutes in five different sections with panel questions after every session:
1) About life in general (fuckups, minds, everything)
2) Development (All about software development)
3) JS
4) Market yourself (Talks about public speaking, marketing, recruiting)
5) Philosophy
Also, free beer, live music, and much more.
The format
This format of lightning talks and panels after all sessions is entirely revolutionary in conference organization. First of all, the atmosphere is cozy, and people are friendly enough to talk about anything, not only about software development. Then, in the panel, you can ask whatever you want in whatever language. I loved these open-minded talks. They are so new and refreshing compared to boring, 30-minute speeches at which the people, in the end, have become distracted and are looking at their mobile phones. Do you know why? It’s because each conference is not about speeches — it is about people that we would like to know, people that we would want to talk and hear new ideas from. Messages should not be one-directional.
In the last five years, I did not participate in technical talks and just focused on networking, as well as business conferences, but here, I was in almost every conversation, and you know why? Given only five minutes, it is the perfect timing; there’s no bullshit, no dullness, just fun and action. There are also no questions because they come after.
The Panel
I was a panel interviewer, and it was a lot of fun, working this way, asking questions, and work with audience and speakers. It was my first time working this well and I will continue improving this skill as well.
The talk
My talk was not a typical technical talk. That talk was about a gig economy with topics like:
1) How the employee market will transform in the next five years.
2) Positioning in the market and why it is essential.
3) Why outreach campaigns works?
4) Value pricing and why hourly billing is nuts.
It was quite challenging to do it in five minutes, but I finished precisely at the right time.
A lot of people asked about the books and many more topics. I am glad that people are very interested in this topic.
After the talk, on the panel in which I participated, I also tried to show the development community that demand for development is so high nowadays as compared to other industries, such as music, and they should appreciate that they are earning so much while doing what they love.
Limp Fate live set
I played my first music live set, and it was excellent. People enjoyed my performance, and I think afterparty was also excellent.
The long day was over, and the conference also came to an end. I think that was my best experience so far in my public speaking career. :)
BeerlinJS…
I hope we will do something like this in Berlin soon…
