“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

In my personal and professional opinions, conferences are one of the most important events to attend as a developer. I know there are many people who don’t share the same feelings. Allow me to attempt to either convince you, or if you agree with me, give you arguments to challenge their current mode of thought.

I can imagine that the naysayers of conferences, or those who choose not to go despite having the opportunity to, think of them as a meaningless time sink. They may be inclined to think “Why would I waste my time on something so ephemeral? I go for a couple days and eventually I wake up a day or two later and just go back to work, forgetting most of it and carrying on with everyday life.”

Perhaps I don’t walk away from every conference with a head full of encyclopedic knowledge on every subject presented. Just about every talk I listen to leaves my own notes with pedagogical holes left behind in moments where I missed a phrase because of a distraction, or was so enthralled by a speech that I forgot to write it down completely. What I often walk away with instead is the intent of the talk. The main message left behind as an echo of a shockwave in my mind, with subsequent perturbations resounding smaller, memorable points in the lecture itself from the speaker on my mind, reinforcing neural pathways that will continue to drive my decisions and shape who I am as a person and developer.

I’ve read that even the things you don’t agree with (things you may even find reprehensible) can shape your mind for better or worse. If that is true, I can’t think of a better way to influence yourself than listening to a curated group of speakers who are often experts or innovative thinkers in their field and challenging your currently conventional thoughts with their novel arguments!

“You don’t know what you don’t know” ― I don’t know

Often attributed to the Dunning-Kruger effect, but I think that’s often looked at in a negative light. We should embrace the fact that being ignorant and flawed is what makes us human. After all, if we knew everything we needed to navigate life we never would have invented language to communicate with one another. Code, after all, is just another language for communication.

Conferences are a fantastic vehicle for learning things that you didn’t know you didn’t know.

I spoke to a college student at the most recent talk I attended: SoftwareShould.Work.

He mentioned something interesting to me. “It’s interesting to see so many experienced devs come to a conference to listen to talks about things they already know.” (Paraphrasing).

I responded similarly to how I feel here: I, like many other devs, know a little bit about a lot of things. This career almost necessitates being a jack of all trades. Yet, each one of these specific trades has an expertise ceiling beyond what I could ever reach in one lifetime. Getting the chance to sit down and listen to an expert discuss their thoughts on a subject opens my eyes and mind to things I’ve never considered before.

Cultural Exchange

When you go to a conference, you’re just one person in a sea of dozens, hundreds, or thousands of programmers, managers, designers, accessibility advocates, users, executives, founders, owners, etc. Everyone brings with them a unique experience and view of their job, the industry, and the world. No one’s experience is the same as another’s. We all have overlaps, but it’s on the margins of our perspectives where we often find the real virtues of our conversations.

The next time you attend a conference I encourage you to do these things: 1) Strike up a conversation with a random nerd during some downtime 2) Ask what they do 3) Ask what language or tech they mostly use 4) Ask about the things they like or the challenges that stem from 2 and 3 You will learn something new. Almost every time. If you don’t learn anything new, then congratulations! You’ve found someone you can relate with on your own challenges!

Inspiration to Be Bold:

Emboldened by likeminded, passionate individuals

Lastly, conferences are not for the meek. They take effort to go to, even if they’re all paid for by one’s company or otherwise. Yes, we are privileged to get to experience them at all, but every person that is there has taken some initiative to be there! They have expressed agency and acted upon their desires to be with other likeminded people who all have one thing in common. We are passionate about improving our programs and ourselves. We love creating new products, tools and opportunities. We are fixers. We see a tough problem and think “there must be some solution or way to alleviate this,” and almost every interaction I’ve had at a conference has enforced this idea to me. I walk away from every conference ready to take on the worlds problems, one at a time, knowing that there are other wonderful minds attempting to do the same. I hope this post can share just an inkling of the enthusiasm I gained every time I’ve had the opportunity to witness a conference in person. If it has then please let me know and share some of your story with me :)

P.S. Thank you Isaac for putting on such an amazing conference at https://softwareshould.work It was truly an awesome experience to be a part of.