>Not just that! Don't forget about attending a dozen conferences a year, doing talks, and local meetups

You don't really need any of that.

Ultimately, you just need to pass the interview.

Sure conferences and tech talks might help give your resume some more visibility and likeliness of getting hired. Similar to having a couple toy projects, but many top tier companies adhere to a set of standards in their hiring process where they won't let you bypass their DS&A interview because you gave a tech talk.