I Spoke at My First Online Conference
For the first time I spoke at an online conference. It was fun. The pros:
- no traveling
- no dressing up
- you speak in the comfort of your office
- no worries to forget the slides at home :)
The cons:
- I missed the after conference, the water cooler chat that happens in between sessions
- I had to share my slides full screen, so I had no visual feedback from the audience
As for the last point, my connection dropped five minutes before the end of my presentation, but I kept speaking because I had no way to find out. Luckily I was almost done. Chuck pinged me on Skype, but my phone was in “Do not disturb mode” so I didn’t notice. This clearly has nothing to do with the conference organization. It is just something to improve in the 3rd party service that was used.
Overall I liked this experience. I noticed that my speaking pace was slightly slower than when I am on a stage. On the other hand I’d have liked to make the presentation a bit more interactive, like asking quick questions, but it’s pretty hard in such a context.
I don’t think online conferences will substitute face to face events, but they are a good complement, especially if you can’t travel but still want to stay in touch with a community.