The Joy of Conference Sidequests
– Alternative notes outside the limelight
A baritone voice sings along to drilling German rap down below on Augustenstrasse. Occasional trams rumble by.
It’s the foggy morning after the Push UX design conference. I’m lying in a cosy hotel bed, reminiscing about the past two days.
Heading to a big design event after years of the pandemic was a thrill. Joining as a non-presenting, non-volunteering guest with no reporting duties doubled the excitement.
As my conference buddy and I were walking back the night before, I realised I attended the event as a happy “wallflower“. I was a non-playable character, privileged to focus on the people I met and without any main goals to attain.
That was new for me.
What should such a wallflower do, then?
Here’s my sidequest report to no one in particular on the things I encountered outside the official programme.
Unordered.
Learned that cows might be part of the Illuminati. According to a UX research lead/farm specialist, cows are plotting against you. If you sit down on a pasture ground, cows slowly form a circle around you and stare as if performing some sacred ritual. I saw the picture, and it happened. They are cute and devious. You have been warned.
Collected light fur, together with a Swedish-Brasilian designer colleague, on both of our dark attires after repeatedly hugging a Labrador that randomly joined our gang at the bar.
Fought tears while balancing on the tiniest beanie bag ever while discussing what russian invasion in Ukraine has done to children’s sense of danger. The whole community appeared caring — the atrocities of the war seemed to have shaken all of us.
Gathered quirky “bet you didn’t know this about me” -details from ten new event friends while enjoying a post-conference wine & wurst. Based on the research, collectively, we could now either start a band or a side hassle related to pharma, fast cars or redesigning cornflakes packaging.
Spontaneously speed-shared “how much sexism have you survived” with three other senior designer womxn, as a no-frills ice-breaker, in a foyer, during a coffee break. Most of the five-minute conversation consisted of nodding and that one type of laughter that emancipates all emotions.
Observed what felt like (to quote a by-listener) a non-scripted, live podcast between a Facebook expert and an Indian designer on the net neutrality case from 2016.
Learned from a former pharmacist that oxytocin acts as a chemical messenger in the brain, stimulates contractions during labour and promotes lactation after giving birth.
Felt the disbelief of someone connected to Twitter, who just heard about losing 3000 of their colleagues to a random decision by a strange man.
Caused, by proxy, the shattering of a little candle holder in a bar after teaching new friends some of my favourite voguing moves. No casualties. A nominal price for being extra for a moment. All good.
And finally, got a free lesson on go-to one-liner design advice from an impromptu expert round table. Entourage’s personal favourites include:
- Natália: Start designing UI by mapping interesting shapes
- Julia: Avoid tabula rasa syndrome with mood boarding
- Melissa: Stay curious with research, no matter your design title
- Maximilian: Smooth is precise, and precise is fast
- Arunima: Don’t be afraid to unlearn and start over
- Frederic: Good design is bad design well edited
- Kapil: Spend time understanding the problem
- Hannes: Always try to talk to the users — it will inspire you!
- Max: Your first idea might be the worst or the best — test to figure out
Being a wallflower for a change was terrific.
It reminded me of impro, where you can alter between leading the scene and being taken along on a journey. It’s freeing.
We’re living through significant historical events and redefining what’s in our control. Just imagine the things that have altered our interpersonal connections and the sense of normality in the past few years.
It seems we’re all, in our own way, constantly rebuilding what it means to be a human, a designer — or simply, a person in a public space.
Because of this constant change, on-site community events feel like a safe haven, evoking a sense of mutuality and affirmation.
So here are my five cents of advice.
If you’re like me, you might initially have a tad of a threshold about re-entering professional events and spaces. The past years’ pandemic put all of that in a hibernation state.
Attending feels restorative. Especially if you have the opportunity to do that without performance pressure. Not all encounters are intended to bear a “hot lead” or fulfil some corporate KPI. Simply getting to know new people on a more personal level can be rewarding.
In our insecure times, enjoy the tiny enlightening sidequests.
🌻
