Tag Archives: web 2.0 expo

Conference Warrior Princess

Posted on May 2, 2010 | 2 Comments

‘Tis the season. For conferences.

Flowers are in bloom, winter feels like a distant memory, and suddenly my calendar looks like a bad game of Tetris (must add though that I really love Tetris).

I’m going for 3 in 3 consecutive weeks – having attended Cloud Computing Expo in New York at the Javits, Interop Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay, and last but not least – Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco at the Moscone. Phew. Just typing this list exhausts me.

Having attended many conferences in my life, here is a list of items I’ve come to realize are essential in making a conference successful / bearable / enjoyable for yourself:

  1. Breath Mints: better than gum, because no one likes talking to someone that looks like they are chewing a cud.
  2. Comfortable Shoes: no they are not the sexiest, but even your comfortable shoes will cause your dogs to bark if you’re on your feet for 16 hours.
  3. Hydrate: two parts hyrdogen, one part oxygen.
  4. Charge Your Devices at Night: there’s nothing worse than running out of juice when you need your phone / machine / pager to work for you
  5. Business Cards: lots of ‘em. You think you have enough? Throw in 50 more. Seriously.

Fun Fact: Xena was played by Lucy Lawless in the Xena TV series. I want my last name to be Lawless.

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Posted in cloud computing, Conferences, Social Web, Uncategorized

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How to Properly Mug Someone

Posted on December 9, 2009 | Leave a comment

Just had the cool experience of being interviewed by Kaitlin Pike, the Web 2.0 Expo Community Manager. She asked some pointed questions about my Ignite presentation and I wanted to share an excerpt (my favorite part):

In response to her experience, Paige created “A New Way to Mug” for robbers to follow:

  1. State the other person’s behavior: “She has a laptop, and she’s just walking around with it.”
  2. State your emotional response: “That pisses me off. I want that laptop.”
  3. State choices to the other person as a result of your emotional response: “If you don’t give me that laptop I’m going to get violent.”

Although the example for these three steps involves muggers, Paige believes they should be applied much more broadly. “This can be used in any situation requiring negotiation,” she said.

For instance, imagine your boss gives you a deadline for a project you know needs more time. 1) State the other person’s behavior: “The boss has given me a deadline that isn’t realistic if we want a quality product.” 2) State how that makes you feel. “This makes me anxious.” 3) State choices to the other person as a result of your emotional response. “Boss, I am anxious this deadline as it stands will force us to cut back on important features. If you give me 4 more days I can deliver a much higher quality product.”

The important thing to remember, Paige said, is that the person cannot “make” you feel anything—your response to your boss could have been ambivalence; “It’s not my fault the product will suck. Oh well.”

Paige did not make the mugger feel angry—that was simply her response to Paige’s behavior.  When in a negotiation or conflict, say things such as “While you were doing this, this is how I felt.” People aren’t mind readers, and if you want to resolve issues with them you need to be straightforward with your feelings and what you want out of the discussion.

Thanks Kaitlin, for not asking if you minded if you unzip your pants, and for making me sound smart :)

Full interview can be found here.

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Posted in Conferences

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