On of the many things I love about fall is all the activities that seem to blow up this time of year. Sure, it gets a little overwhelming, but these are some of my favorite activities of the year: football games and tailgating, hockey (ok, maybe not this year), band competitions (NERD!), and conferences. Yes, I said conferences. For me, fall holds a really staggering number of conferences, which generally include BarCamp, WordCamp, IgniteRaleigh, UNC CAUSE and our very own SpeedCon.
I am a big fan of conferences. I think they’re a great way to get people together, to network, to share ideas, to break out of the box. This is a chance to get into a new environment with new people and I almost always find myself really excited and full of inspiration after a conference. These days the best conferences (in my opinion) aren’t the ones you go to for work, they’re the ones you go to for yourself. In fact, of the 5 conferences I mentioned above, only one is a true work conference.
So with my love of conference you can’t be surprised that I helped create and plan an annual conference. SpeedCon is an unconference on communication. Folks show up and share ideas, present presentations, and pose questions of a communications community that includes undergrad and grad students as well as communications professionals. This is our second year and we have more space, better door prizes, plus an increase in registered attendees and I can’t wait to see what kind of topics and conversations come out of it. I’m totally stoked. And maybe need to look for 2012 version of the word “stoked.”
Learn more at speedcon.wordpress.com and it’s not too late to come out at participate! We’ll be on NC State’s campus and the doors open at 9:30am.
Happy conference season!
