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Comment by softwaredoug | Hacker News Reader

Have you heard of conference driven development?

The idea is you propose a talk for 6 months out on your idea. You thus give yourself a deadline and consequences.

(And it’s not HUGE consequences - “I tried X and failed, here’s what I learned on the journey” are some of the best conference talks)

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That’s very good advice but 6 months a talk are too many imho. One talk / public meeting per month (even virtual meetings) is kicking enough to keep you going without feeling isolated. It’s also a nice way to improve your networking attitude.

Do y'all do meetups for this? Or just apply to random conferences and talks?

Start with any venue at any level offering you a 15 minutes slot for a 5-6 slides presentation or a 2-3 pages case study. Be it a peers meetup, a local open day, a virtual conference. Treat any opening as a nudge to get out of your shell, wrap up your work and speak about it with different people. You will find your best path and your best convenience realtively soon.

Yeah, I usually choose whatever venue makes sense for my level of commitment.

Meetups are pretty informal and usually eager for talks & speakers. There's not a high bar.

Conferences (depending on the conference) feel a bit like a bigger deal, and I'll commit to them if I feel I can have a bit more polish.

Some conferences/meetups also have shorter time slots if you don't want to commit to the classic 45 minute talk.

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