Post-SaaStr: What I experienced and learned from attending SaaStr & Impact Awards
I’m a borderline Introvert/Extrovert. There are times when being surrounded by people energizes me. Other times it drains me. I experienced both over the few days I attended SaaStr.
First, I’d like to talk about my nomination for the “Fearless Founder” at PagerDuty’s Inclusion for Impact Awards. Rarely do I get to be in a room completely surrounded by women of color in tech who are brilliant coders, intrepid entrepreneurs and just plain inspiring, powerful people.
I walked away feeling energized and excited. I felt a sense of belonging. I felt like I was surrounded by my people. I saw Janice Omadeke, CEO of the Mentor Method, kill it whenever she talked about how her company was going to foster authentic, lasting connections. I interrupted a tall white man who didn’t know who Stephanie Lampkin (CEO of Blendoor) was and fan-girled with her in front of him, talking about how I had seen her on the cover of The Atlantic a year ago, and how I aspired to make an impact in the diversity, equity and inclusion space like her. (That man quickly pulled out his phone and started googling, and was kissing up to her as soon as I left).
She was incredibly gracious, humble and kind to me. And when I asked for a photo with her, she immediately suggested that we sit on the Iron Throne (game of thrones randomly set up a photo area there) together.
The awards ceremony was short and sweet. I was disappointed to see that only 1 out of the 5 award winners was there to accept their award. It made me wonder how often opportunities like this come up for people in the Bay Area versus elsewhere in the country.
The rest of the conference was more on the draining side. I wanted to pack my time with 1:1s with key leaders in diversity, equity and inclusion; and I was able to find some time to meet with them throughout. The nice thing was that all the people I met with immediately saw the value of what we’re doing with <div>ersity and wanted to know how they could help. Validation like that confirms to me that we’re on the right track.
Luckily, my concerns over potential seizures were taken care of, as the conference center had plenty of access to water stations throughout the venue, and plenty of spaces to sit and relax when needed (although I wouldn’t have taken a nap there).
As budget allows, I plan on going to more events where I can meet with leaders who are truly invested in diversity, equity and inclusion. Hopefully I can continue to find more inspirational allies and people who “get it”.
