I recently attended a tech conference. It was a well-run event. There were talks about a good selection of topics and all the speakers were good, even great at presenting. The food was good and I enjoyed the after-party. Yet there was a problem: I was bored. None of the talks went over my head.
This problem isn’t unique to this event. When I watch conference videos, the situation is the same. Introductory talks are everywhere, deep talks are few and far between.
I wish this wasn’t the case. When I attend a tech talk, I want to struggle to understand it1. If you do not need to pay any effort to understand an idea, are you even learning anything?
Tech speakers, please give demanding, ambitious talks! Tech event organizers, please invite such talks to your event!
Every time I talk about this with friends, they shrug and say “I thought it was okay”. Maybe it’s just me.
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Preferably because of the depth and breadth of the ideas, not because of poor presentation. ↩︎