404: Social Battery Not Found

✨ Rise & Rage ✨

giddy the frick up and to quote Lawrence Lockhart, “LOCK THE FREAK IN”!

Guys, this is my official confession. You heard it here first. Put it on my gravestone. Whatever the kids are saying.

Render: 3, Me: 0.

Koolaid Was Consumed: A Pre-Render Story

I’m actually sitting here typing this from the exhibit hall in AmericasMart, the home of the largest tech conference my brain can possibly comprehend at this point: RenderATL.

I must say coming into this I was naive and oh so very foolish. What did I get myself into?! <— the question I am consistently asking myself. I’m sort of comparing this to trying to plan a trip to Disney World. The first time you go, it’s just complete chaos. No matter how much you try to plan, that first one is just going to be an absolute wash. I now know why I watched so many “how to prep for RenderATL” streams prior to coming. All of those people who have had this very same “wtf am I doing“ experience all want to share with you what they wished they had known going into their first Render Conference.

But don’t drink the Koolaid!! its a sham. You can plan all you want to but the moment you arrive and the adrenaline kicks in, you are off to the races babyyyyy! It’s every man for himself. (I’m kidding…… kind of)

Networking, but Make it Insanely Chaotic

From the minute I arrived in Atlanta, I have had the opportunity to meet people who I follow in tech who are brilliant, remarkable. Some who I knew from online interactions, some who I have just been dying to meet. Honestly, RenderATL is a networkers dream. Meeting people, developing connections, making friends. When I get the chance to reflect on why I decided to just put myself right in the middle of this chaos of a community, this is my “why”.

The Agenda….?

Similar to most, I’m starting the day off with Part 2 of Kelsey Hightower’s talk which I just KNOW is going to knock my ass right into shape. Later today I’m hearing a talk on community being a catalyst in the evolving workplace. Actually, I am seeing a lot of community focused talks on the roster and to me that speaks volumes about community and connection being a cornerstone to the ever-evolving tech landscape.

Crying in the Club (except its just Kelsey Hightower’s talk)

Kelsey’s 15 minute talk was everything I expected it to be. That man has the GIFT of story telling! He had me tearing up and he said something so profound that I immediately had to write it out in a note: “society can see your light, don’t let them take that from you”. Brb crying amiright?????

Sticker Collection Saga

I’ve had the pleasure of stopping by a few different booths, making some connections and yapping it up per usual (the Jordyn special!). I’m obsessed with the candyland themed booth that New Relic has. Their marketing team deserves a raise. I‘m actually still working on adding all of the stickers I got to my computer so I’ll post a pic in 10 years when I am done with that.

AI Made an Appearance but Wasn’t my Main Characer

Interestingly enough, I kept my AI talks to a minimum BUT I did hear some wise words from the VP of product engineering at Figma, Marcel Weekes:

“Look at how you use AI. How can you get more productivity and leverage the skills that you have in place?“ (I ship this so hard).

Guys, I really believe in this perspective. If you can use AI to help you learn and level up, you’re going to come out on the right side of this AI trend.

You can pretty much doom scroll on any social site these days and you will see people telling you over and over that AI is or is not going o take your job… idk I’m no psychic. Meanwhile, everyone is out here saying “please” and “thank you” to their chat bot because ultimately, the chances of your chat bot unaliving you are low, but never zero. Keep saying please and thank you folks!

Shashi Cooked (Chicken & Waffles… he also Ate. Period.)

The last talk of the day that I attended was none other than Shashi Lo. If you had the opportunity to see this talk… no words. I mean I knew this guy for a solid 15 hours before this talk and I’m ready to invite him and his family to Thanksgiving this year. For me, his talk was a moment of “I almost forgot this was the whole point”. When you get to see the passion of mentors and engineers first hand, what a gift. Seriously.

Tattooed & Torcy

To wrap this up.. I just want to give love to the Torc Community. Taylor, Angelos, Jason, Roxy, Noah, Sebas, Anthony, Morlando, Dillon, Brandon, Jeff (even though you were only there in spirit), Jalen, Rich, my baby Janet, Angela, DUDE THIS LIST IS SO LONG (& I’m sure I missed some)!!!!! You guys are awesome and I can’t wait to hug you all in person again at CYC. Be there or be square.

UPDATES: POST RENDERATL

This was hands down the biggest serotonin overload I have experienced in a very long time and it’s going to take me about a century to recover from the happenings. Can’t wait to do it all again next year!

To the people I met and the new friends I made: You are all gems. (Except Dom Clark - we‘ve got unresolved beef my dude). This community is what it is because of you all. Thank you for the opportunity to learn from you and thank you for being insanely cool.

hugs - Jordyn.