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Questions after talks at conferences
At many conferences, people allow the audience to ask questions after the talks. I want to argue that this is an anti-pattern in many ways, and some solutions that have worked that I recommend.Issues...
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Documentation is JSON for the Brain
When you are writing software, you build a mental model of the program in your brain. This is how you make decisions and reason about how the program might work, how data flows, or what designs make...
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The Pac-Man Rule at Conferences
I firmly believe that conferences can provide a lot of value for people in an industry. Conferences allow people to create a network, which helps them feel integrated in a community and profession.In...
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The post I never published
Looking back, the file was created on my 29th birthday:Jul 9 2016 read-the-docs-sucession-planning.rstI had failed. I burned out. (I’m fine now, don’t worry!)I started writing a blog post that you’ve...
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Conference Mentorship
I have had the opportunity to provide mentorship to folks who have organized conferences twice in 2017. Through this process I have realized the value in this practice, and I’d like to write this to...
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One Percent for Open Source
The open source ecosystem is the most valuable part of the software industry today. From the programming languages to the web frameworks, the operating system to the cryptography, all software...
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“My Code is Self-Documenting”
Self-documenting code is one of the biggest documentation myths in the software industry. This view generally conflates documentation with code comments. I’d like to make two arguments in this...
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Business questions I’m working on in 2018
In November 2017 there was a lovely gathering of independent business folks in Portland, Oregon called DazzleCon. Leading in to that lovely event there was an introduction thread where everyone...
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Breaking Cliques at Events: The Snowball Rule
I’ve been going to professional events for a number of years, and one of the trickiest dynamics I have seen is that most events develop an “insiders” group who has been going for a long time. These...
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Using a Welcome Wagon to Help First-Time Conference Attendees
You walk into the room and you’re wearing the wrong thing. Everyone else is dressed casually, but you are not. You feel silly and find the quickest excuse to leave the situation. This is an example of...
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