Write Archives - Write/Speak/Code

October 20, 2015 By Nasima Tamboli Leave a Comment

Write to change the world

This entry is in the series 2015 Scholarship Recipients

Write day at the Write/Speak/Code conference commenced with the welcome and opening talk by Founder, Rebecca Miller Webster on overcoming stereotypes and imposter syndrome. She reflected on how and why Write/Speak/Code began.

Followed by Neha Batra’s “You are not your imposter syndrome”. She talked about how to identify and overcome imposter syndrome using following 6 steps.

Recognize (the language and that it’s happening again)
Separate (facts from feelings)
Analyze (facts only and expand them)
Rewire (base your decision on the facts)
Do it
Reflect and celebrate.

Own your expertise

Next we carried out a couple of activities and accomplished following things.

Crafted a high level and networking bio and framed ourselves as Experts.
Generated 20 topics that we can write/speak about
Drafted a blog post and got feedback from peers and experts

Writing for developers panel

Speakers Chiu-Ki Chan, Pam Selle, Debra Williams-Cauley, Julie Steele , and Corey Latislaw shared their experience and thoughts on writing opportunities and technical publishing. One of the important tips was, not to edit while writing. Writing and editing to be considered as two separate steps.

Topics to write about

Write about what did not work. So others don’t have to go down the same dead end.
Something you Googled/some problem had to solve recently
When you produce content, you don’t have to produce content you are not interested in.

Some of the appealing quotes from the write day talks included

Open source is like being an adult. It’s magical until no one knows what the hell they are doing.
We stay too long in demoralizing work situations. Life is too short to stick it out in a miserable job.
Being aware of your thoughts and intercepting them helps you change your behaviors. Do it anyway.
Leap with a safety net. Have someone in the audience to back you up.
Even if the risk is high, the experience of preparing itself is invaluable.
After you do something that’s out of your comfort zone, reflect on what you learned and tell yourself that you’re awesome.
Don’t let your fears stop you from giving your best effort (Dr. Klawe)
Experts are not people on pedestals. They are people who share what they know. Own your expertise. Share it.
Fake it until you make it.
If you mess up nobody knows! Because you have no readers.

Conclusion

The best part of the conference is executing lot of activities after each talk which involved teaming up with other attendees (different for each activity) and working in small groups directed by organizers which lead to spontaneous networking, thorough understanding and imbibing of the matter the speaker’s were presenting.

We came up with lot of new ideas on writing, understood how to write what strategies to use, what things to avoid, things which are blocking/holding back and how to get over that.

I think, I am awesome as I wrote my first ever blog post after the conference.

My Experience at Write/Speak/Code 2015 Conference

This entry is in the series 2015 Scholarship Recipients

At some point, I came across an email about Write/Speak/Code (which I’d never heard of before early 2015). I clicked on the link in sheer curiosity, thinking nothing would come of it.

I started reading about the conference, looked at the schedule and my curiosity began to peak. Here was an intense three days of writing, speaking and learning to code with women who have a passion for technology. Can you say, #Score!?!

I am reading this and saying, “Clearly, I am 0–3 right now!” Glad that this was a LEARNING and TEACHING moment for little grasshoppers such as myself!

I entered the conference, not knowing what to fully expect. I knew no one attending and was honestly, scared because the skills being taught were things that I needed and wanted to learn, but lacked in parts, big and small.

Day One — Write. We developed a list of topics to write or speak about and an outlined draft for one topic. I am thinking, “Are we seriously going to have to present this in front of others?!” The steps we learned to develop a topic, outline the topic, further develop the topic, I am thinking, “Where was this 20+ years ago?!” #WriteRocks

After Day One, I was completely exhausted, but utterly untroubled with the amount of information as well as the information, itself, learned that day. I was blown away by the diversity of cultures, level of knowledge in tech and ages of the women who were participants as well as speakers. For the first time in a very long time, I went to bed tired, but woke up, refreshed, before my alarm and ready to see what day two held.

Day Two — Speak. Further developing from what we wrote on Day One, my partner for the day and I presented our topic to our small group and it was well received with good feedback. WHEW! Relief. We also learned about how to submit to speak for conferences, what conferences are looking for and how to develop lightening talks! Talk about an eventful and jam packed day! #SpeakRocks

Day Three — Code. I am clearly thinking, “YIKES” in my head. I mean of the three days, THIS one was my weakest link. I’d met a few of the ladies and knew about their background. I was in INTIMIDATION mode at this point. I mean, my coding skills are non-existent other than going to a few forums and Meetup groups. I was proved WRONG, again. The ladies, from all levels of coding knowledge, were EXTREMELY helpful and the Code Montage set up class was super helpful with getting Github set up. By the end of the day, I knew how to use Git and GitHub as well as I’d done my FIRST pull request on GitHub. #CodeRocks

I can’t thank the ladies enough of Write/Speak/Code for having a lasting impact on my life. In those three days, I met so many women in tech or who want to be in tech, who LOVE what they do and have a passion for technology. I honestly didn’t want to leave due to the amount of knowledge I was attempting to absorb. I have PAGES of notes, several new bookmarked web pages, new Slack channels I’ve joined, new Twitter friends and a new tech family. I am STILL reviewing and reading information from the conference as a reference in my tech self-study.

I proudly have my Write/Speak/Code sticker on my laptop case with no other stickers overlapping, etc. I want the WORLD to know what the conference is and the impact it’s had on my life. I am a LIFE advocate of the conference.

Thank you to the generous sponsors for believing and supporting a conference such as Write/Speak/Code. The life-long impact of these three days can’t be described, fully, in a blog post.

Thank you could NEVER be enough, ladies of Write/Speak/Code <gracefully bowing>.

Generating Blog Topics

This entry is in the series 2015 Scholarship Recipients

Blog topic generation is often an Achilles’ heel for me. The options are endless, but what do they mean to me? Will I make a point, a difference? Educate, humor, share a useful experience? WSC2015’s “Topic Generation” talk covered the variety of talking points to inspire useful, engaging content.

The topic types offered run the gamut, and can give structure to even the vaguest ideas:

How to do this, fix this. Sharing how you fixed a nagging issue or work through a task is great for SEO.
Quick hit. Whether a photo or simply a bit of wisdom, your blog post doesn’t have to be an epic tale.
You should do this, because… Opinions on how to approach a problem.
We do this and it works. Case studies are a lot of work, but great examples of your expertise in action.
Success story. I love to share successes, and they’re great SEO fodder.
Hero’s journey. The typical story structure: This is how it is, and this is how it should be. Often a call to action, there’s a stated problem, the vision, and the proposed path to get to the vision.
Intro to technology. Invariably, there’s someone who can learn from where you’ve been, no matter how simplistic.
Process. Your best practices can inspire others: How a team works together, how to build an app, how to fix an issue.
Philosophy. Your way of working, and the reasoning, is also enlightening.

From the “Find Your Expertise” talk, I also found helping others to be a great way to frame a blog topic:

Teach things you know.
Make things easier to learn than they were for you.
Ask the first question so someone else doesn’t have to.
Teaching teaches you; break it down into pieces.

Expressing one’s expertise so it aids others can be a great exercise and lead to blog topics, speaking topics and more. And from this list, I have more than a few thoughts to inspire a slew of new blog posts.