Darkness. A good kind. The theatre dressed in purple and black hues. The theme colours. Quite empty at first, smattered with only a few people. Organisers, speakers and sponsors. Everyone calm and confident, or maybe hiding nerves well. Time moved fast. The seats, around 200, seemed to fill at the blink of an eye.
Stefan Judis spoke. His passion for web accessibility is uplifting. His ideas mean something, but don’t register as relevant to everyone. He is future-focused. He has smoothly conquered the human urge for immediate results. No easy feat and one that deserves respect.
Jana Beck spoke. Ideas are the possession of many. Making them real is hard. She does it. She takes ideas from start to finish. Incredibly well. Far beyond my abilities (for now). Her skills both perplex and delight me.
I spoke. Exhilarating and fun. Nerves not there. Audience seemed tiny. Learned things I couldn’t have any other way. Not from reading, talking to or even watching others.
Aminata Sidibe spoke. She’s foreseen something. Something wide-reaching. Matters to all of us. Personal fulfillment and happiness. A basic human right? Seems not. Society and individuals are only as strong as the weakest of us all.
Natalie Pistunovich spoke. Eye-opening barely describes it. We ignore the world. Our field of vision heavily blurred. Crystal-clear vision exists in story books. Her calm confidence drew me in. She laid out clear points. They’ll stick with me. In all the work I do. Some perspectives change people. Hers changed me.
Thank yous. Lights on. The seats empty in half a blink. What now? Some chatting. Some beer. Then it’s over.
Quality over quantity. Coming together is what we need. Inspiration plus connection plus perspectives equals sparks. A flicker of light that ignites, fueling confidence and passion for what we do. The massive energy put into a conference sits, invisible, in every corner. Each attendee gets a little bit of it. Then they go out to spread it across the world.
See Nightlybuild 2017 site.