> if you ARE the only person capable of giving the talk then is there is a diversity issue. Can you take an honest look at the diversity of your industry and perhaps mentor new ones – especially those from under represented groups – to be able to speak on such topics?<p>This seems a bit bizarre to me. Sure, they're the only one who knows right now, but they are giving a talk at a conference, which is supposed to have the purpose of educating a large number of people.
Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info)<p>When people attend conferences, they're doing it <i>to be seen</i>. That's true whether you're on stage or off. Everyone thinks they're awesome, or if they don't then they probably want to be awesome. People with big egos, though we get jealous of them, get big attention. If you act important, chances are you'll make people think you're important. It's all business.<p>If you're at a talk that's truly unbearable, just tune out or walk out if it's that bad. I've done this a bunch of times when a person's egotism is too cringy or when some malcontent is being way too preachy. The latter seems to becoming more common. <i>Barf.</i> Sorry, you're not making me pay thousands for this shit so I can be told I'm dumb.<p>Check your egos? Why are you even going to conferences?
I'm a conference organizer, and I'm not sure what I just read. I feel there must be some angry emails or negative interactions that led to this blog post.<p>I'd encourage the author to consider if there is anything they can do to attract different kinds of people to their CFP or perhaps manage expectations better?<p>One thing we did with our most recent CFP [1] was to reply individually [2] to each person who submitted with constructive feedback on their submission. I think transparency and respect goes a long way.<p>[1] <a href="https://2019.cascadiajs.com/cfp" rel="nofollow">https://2019.cascadiajs.com/cfp</a><p>[2] <a href="https://twitter.com/crtr0/status/1156602180763152385" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/crtr0/status/1156602180763152385</a>
Huh. Is it just me? I couldn't make it through more than a screen of this post because of the author's ego that seemed to be spilling out the sides of their mouth.<p>I didn't "read to the end" like admonished, so not sure if it was meant to be humorous.
I really don’t understand this preoccupation with policing “humility” in others... Some seem to think that if you don’t have impostor syndrome you’re a scumbag or something... Can anyone explain?
I hate the phrase, "check your [facet of personality]." I have asked people to examine their motivations, and I always will - because saying, "why do you believe you are the most qualified person to give this talk?" should really be answered before the person gets up to speak.<p>And if the answer is, "I'm not, but the person who is doesn't want to evangelize", fine. But yes, consider why you're speaking. That's fine. Otherwise, the message is a load of drivel.
Well, I dare to say that almost every conference speaker has at least a "sufficiently sized" ego. Otherwise they won't be speaking at a conference about $topic.
I've been to a few developer conferences in the UK over the years with "famous names" on the bill. But I don't remember detecting any of the speakers having overly burgeoning egos. In fact I got to speak to a quite a few of these folks at lunch time (most, if not all, ate lunch with the attendees as well), breaks and post conference; and in these encounters so none of these folks made me feel "they were too important" to speak to me.<p>Sure some of the folks have a certain "showmanship" on stage such as back in the day Don Box (and his bath full of SOAP) and these days Scott Hanselman at NDC or Build. But that's fine, they make what could be a dull presentation highly entertaining and you're learning some stuff as well.<p>Maybe this is a US thing (seeing as the author seems to be based in the US) or certain types of conferences (WordPress conferences?)?
Your ego isn't something you just "check"
People toss around the word ego with zero understanding of what ego is and how it functions.
YOUR VERY SURVIVAL IS AT STAKE:
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8NNtpzYQx8" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8NNtpzYQx8</a>
But how developed does your consciousness have to be to even begin to grasp it?