The KatieDoes Conference
This past Saturday, I had the privilege of attending CenPhoCamp – “an unconference designed to bring small, local organizations together with the customers they serve.” This event was organized by Tyler Hurst and Yuri Artibise.
I cannot speak to Yuri’s motives, but I witnessed much of the behind-the-scene planning on Tyler’s end – including the first inklings of the idea back in November. He wanted to bring people together to solve specific problems – raising awareness, encouraging enthusiasm and getting others invested in Phoenix. Every event he has led or planned has been geared toward these goals: CenPhoCamp, PhxThink and yes, even Radiate Phx.
For all that can be said about Tyler, I admire him for his ability to focus on one goal and make things happen.
Me on the other hand, cannot seem to focus on one goal or one idea to save my life.
I wrote about being a “jack of all trades” a while back. Now I’m seeing the ramifications of this personality being displayed in a whole other way.
I tweeted today that most conferences are not geared toward me because I am a “doer” and learn best when performing an action. The responses I received were mostly “maybe you should come up with one”.
I heard this when I was looking for a different kind of book club. I was told this when I wanted to find a writing group. It was suggested to me when I couldn’t find a history teacher’s support network.
I keep starting things around such varied interests that I’ve run myself round in circles. Few of the groups have a lasting shelf life because I can’t keep up with them all. I hesitate starting something as big as planning my own conference for fear that I’ll lose interest before it comes to fruition.
Could just all be excuses, but I do try. At least that is something.
No related posts.
“For all that can be said about Tyler, I admire him for his ability to focus on one goal and make things happen.”
Hey! This post better have some serious disclosure, along the lines of “Tyler is awesome” and “But he’s not Katie Charland.”
The answer isn’t more events, it’s more hands-on experiences. It’s more uncomfortable situations that get better with practice.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by RedLedges: What about a conference that actually made you do stuff? http://bit.ly/620iuN...
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tyler Hurst, Katie Charland, deangraziosi, Yuri Artibise, LegalTube and others. LegalTube said: What about a conference that actually made you do stuff? http://bit.ly/620iuN [...]
Maybe you’re just not the “conference” type. Maybe your event should be a “doing” event. Perhaps you should consider a team approach. One person can’t do everything. Maybe you need people to hold you accountable to your goals, to help with your event, to support your brilliant ideas.
To me the people saying “Start your own thing” are the same kind of people who say “It’s all in your head” or “Walk it off”
They don’t understand the necessity for there to be more than simply a motivation for something, that there tends to be an internal battle that you must personally overcome.
So, the answer isn’t to start your own event. For me, the answer is for you to find out the true deep cause of whats lacking in the others. Why is it that these other events aren’t satisfying your intellectual curiosity in ways you can put to use.
Maybe you don’t want a conference, maybe you need workshops, or apprenticeships. Maybe you can’t gain much from a one-off weekend event that doesn’t have a tangible continuation beyond itself. This isn’t a signal that you need to start an event that’s right for you, and I wouldn’t listen to those who simply dismiss your dissatisfaction with the idea of ‘If you think you can do it better…”
I say this realizing I started Design Week. In my case, the answer WAS to start an event (because there were none similar here). Was that just an event? No, it has a deeper cause: A desire to find more design in those around me.
Am i done? Is that the end all? No. And I think you’d find the same continued yearning from others who have started similar endeavors.
Your lack of being able to pay attention to things has a root cause. Once you figure that out, you’ll find out what you need to do. And I’m almost positive it’s not as one dimensional as “Start a conference”
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tyler Hurst, JoshuaStrebel and tylerhurst, Tyler Hurst. Tyler Hurst said: Okay, so KatieDoes this. Booyah. Yep, that @katiecharland. http://bit.ly/bgMXTx [...]