I’m going to preface this with the note that it might offend some people. However, it is not meant to offend, but to merely state my opinion.

I attend a lot of professional events. As a result of that, I have seen a lot of speakers. A lot of people that end up talking at me. I’m sure it’s impressive to a lot of people. On one hand, attendees get to see someone they have probably heard a lot about, who has written a lot of fantastic things, talking to them and giving them advice, and telling them about approaches to take. The person that is speaking gets to present their ideas to others. It can end up being a win/win situation.

With this philosophy, who would ever turn down an offer to speak? Who wouldn’t be thrilled at the opportunity to tell their ideas to others?

Me.

I feel that speaking is a rather one sided approach to learning and growing in your profession and your passion. Speaking involves someone talking to you and telling you their ideas. It is my opinion that the best ideas are not those that someone tells you that you should have; they are the ones you form on your own from your learning and sharing with other people.

I’ve been given several opportunities to speak. I’ve turned them down. There are very few topics I’d be willing to speak about aside from an Ignite Phoenix presentation all in fun, and I think, even at that, I would try to find a way to have crowd participation. However, give me an opportunity to run a workshop or lead a roundtable discussion and I would be overwhelmingly enthusiastic at the idea.

Ideas are best shared and generated through conversation and hands-on learning and discovery. At least that is my opinion. Roundtable discussion and hands-on workshops are my favorite activities. Not only does the person presenting have an opportunity to throw something out there that other people can build upon and form their own ideas from, but they also can build off the ideas and thoughts that the others generate and discuss and re-evaluate and challenge their own beliefs.

Don’t get me wrong. I still listen to speakers. I usually take what they are presenting and have my own roundtable discussion in my head or immediately follow it with a discussion of my own with colleagues and acquaintances. I just believe the focus should be towards open conversation and hands on activity. I think simply preaching your ideas and beliefs to others is slightly selfish. The best speakers encourage those listening to take the information and learn to use it in their own way and not just listen as if it was being told to them in a book.

I say lead more workshops. Don’t be afraid to have a conference focused on learning and challenging thoughts and ideas. Have roundtable discussions where those attending can have healthy deabates and conversations. It allows learning from both ends, and this is where professions truly begin to grow.

Why wait until attendees get home and expect them to use these practices in their own way on their own? Engage them from the start!

I’d run a workshop or a roundtable any day. Just ask.

I’ve been spending a lot of time since I have been back from Vancouver thinking about what I could possibly write about Interaction 09 and all that I learned and experienced while I was there. I have realized that it was about so much more than the education on techniques, processes, and deliverables that were shared in workshops, lightning rounds, and keynotes; it was also about friendship.

There is no way for me to completely describe how amazing the experience was from a personal level. Up until Interaction, I had never met any of the people that were attending face to face. Thanks to Crowdvine I was able to begin tracking the people that I wanted to meet. There were people that I had conversed with through volunteering for the IxDA via email and phone. There were some that I had found through the lovely IxD twitter crowd, and there were some I was just plain a fan of. Not only did I end up meeting nearly all the people I had aimed to (Christian, I promise next time we are doing coffee or something), but I met so many more that I admired and those I had never been aware of until the conference started.

I made some great professional connections, but even more than that, made truly mind-blowing friendships; friendships that are truly real and extremely overwhelming, to the point of being emotional. Being around so many talented minds was truly inspirational.

However, as with anything else, I also learned that some relationships end up being one sided. Sometimes these relationships can appear to be fantastic, but when evaluated, it’s learned that you are the one putting all the effort into the relationship and making it work. Not much is being returned to you. While this does have to be done on occasion especially when learning a new craft or skill, I feel that mentors and other role-models should play a more active role in those relationships. It made me start to evaluate who I interact with on a daily basis through mediums such as Facebook, Twitter, and email.

And now, a list of people that I found truly awesome at Interaction, that I hope to continue to learn from and build better friendships with.

If I am following you on twitter (and even if I’m not), chances are very good I want to keep in touch. My account is locked, but please request a follow. My id is @toniambartz

• Mario – I cannot even begin to describe how truly energizing it is to even be around you. You are so inspiring and great to be around. Hell you completely threw me off my rocker and flattered me when you said I was an amazing person. You’re always in a good mood and constantly trying to make sure everyone else is having a good time.
• Denise – Super awesome woman!! We didn’t get to see a lot of each other (and I’m always told I’m the social butterfly), but hopefully that won’t happen again.
• Matt – I enjoyed meeting you. It was great to hear about all the awesome things that Toronto’s IxDA group is doing and to have some good IxD conversations as well.
• Liz – It was so awesome to finally meet you and be able to have discussions about IxDA, the profession in general and just get to hang out. I look forward to helping out more with the organization.
• Dante – What a great and innovative session you led at the conference. Not to mention you are fun to hang out with. And hey, anyone that thinks I’m awesome is a friend of mine. I hope we keep in touch.
• Eric (kink.com guy) – It was determined we are tied for the best business cards right? Rock out.
• Will – It was great to get to hang out with you, and no, not just because you had the kick ass suite. Maybe it was because we stalked each other haha. Hope we keep in touch, and hopefully will be at another conference together at some point!
• Whitney – Any friend of Mario’s has got to be phenomenal. It was nice to meet another down to earth woman around my age that is passionate about her career.
• Nasir – Glad to have had the chance to spend time with you and discuss the organization as well as hear your ideas for local groups. Next time I will be at karaoke for sure!
• Shaun – I cannot believe it took us until the last day of Interaction to meet. Thank you so much for all your help before the conference in regards to local groups and I hope to continue sharing that knowledge in the future.
• Angel – Loved getting to meet you finally. Any friend of Colleen’s is a friend of mine. Thank you for all of your help and support with starting up a local group.

If I left your name out I truly apologize. There was no way I was going to be able to write about everyone tonight – I would never get to sleep. I want to keep the friendships and conversation going.

Pics of my adventure are scattered both on Flickr and Facebook