digoverdosewriteup.txt

Last weekend I had the honor of participating in the Digital Overdose Con 2021. 
I was nominated as a rookie speaker and the experience from my first conference as a speaker was thrilling to say the least. 

I spoke about Bizops in Motion, an agile approach to business automation and process optimization.
My take on this topic was a unique overview on how businessess can make more money, save time and have a happier and more efficient 
environment and experince for both the staff and clients of a business. 

This is something I am truely passionate about being a Business Systems Analyst and doing business gap analysis for nearly a decade.

The conference was online and gave an atmosphere of excitement and fun.

The team was absolutly amazing, from the mentoring sessions prior, from the prep room to the green room. 
I wasnt expecing the prep room to be as calming as it was. The transition was invaluable and without it, as a rookie speaker, I dont know where my nerves would have sat.
My personal experience in the prep room was not about rushing to get to the talk, but a fun chat.
For those of you that know me, I got to laugh at myself for needing to practice talking more on Discord on the VC as opposed to typing !
So thank you Atomic for the laughs.
And Eden was amazing. By the time we were live in 30 seconds she was saying she needed more cholocate milk and thats what I went into the talk thinking about,
which set a joviel atmosphere of fun, which is what conferences should be about.
Everyone was encouraging and the experience was one of a kind! 

A part of my presentation that will stay with me forever was the nerves on the words "and we're on". 
I took a deep breath and began the only first time rookie presentation I will ever have.

The audience was very welcoming and encouraging. During the talk I was so focused on what I was saying but after the talk I read through the comments 
and was blown away! Being a rookie I had doubts wether what I was talking about was relevant and interesting. 
I touched on a topic that falls into a unique scope of using technology in business and the experience it can bring, not purely on the technology itself.
I was inspired by one of the sponsors reaching out to me then and there in the Q&A part of my talk. 
I felt a sense of achivement and like I was being heard and able to make a difference to people. At the end of the day, people are behind all businesses.
So to help make peoples s]lives more enriching and valuable is my life purpose.

I feel like bringing the infosec community together means that we all have something different to bring to the table.
Its in the authenticity of each person that this industry will grow and thrive.


https://digitaloverdose.tech/conference

The best advise I can give a rookie speaker is WATER and BREATH. I think the other important thing is to have confidence. Confidence in yourself.
There are tons of people in this industry and many other industries that have imposter syndrom or think they dont show confidence. 
In my experience, having the guts to apply to be a speaker in the first place shows a lot about a persons confidence in itself.
And what you have to say can make such a huge impact on peoples lives, so give it a shot!

And my last piece of advise is to tell you that you will fail. Failure is good. It helps us learn and become better at what we do and how we interact with people.
I dont know if anyone noticed but I made a blooper in my talk as well. The key is to keep moving. Imagine yourself as an eagle.
No matter what happens, just keep soaring higher and higher. Dont look down and dont let someone tell you that you cant. 

I dont think my nerves for a conference will ever go away but Im hoping it gets easier. 
The only way to know is to keep practicing and to "Just keep swimming".