Plot twist: not a speaker

If you’ve seen my updated Twitter bio lately, it reads like that. Here’s a little more context behind it.

But first, about those profile pics

Once in a blue moon I update my avatar everywhere I can manage to remember to, and these days profiles come with covers too. So it becomes this small ceremony of deciding what I should use, depending on how much time I’d like to procrastinate.

Should my avatar and cover match? With lots of places using circular avatars now, will my image crop ok? Is my photo big enough?

I usually try to match them, and end up picking a cover first because there’s more space to play with. Sometimes I go for a not-so-obvious photo from a certain place. Sometimes I crop my avatar from it, which on certain networks would look seamless.

Right now, it’s me behind a laptop that’s not mine, not giving a talk but doing opening remarks for the 2017 <form> function() & .class conference (register now!). The cover is my stash of stickers from tech and design events I’ve attended over the years, which I should trim down and collage more neatly, just not on a laptop.

So it might look like I’m identifying as this ~professional resource speaker persona~, but I’m not.

It’s really more my way of promoting FFC and all the grassroots groups who’ve worked hard at organizing communities—not to make money, but to make them grow. Philippine Web Designers Organization also turns! 10! this! year!

Speaking allergies

I actually don’t enjoy the idea of speaking. I get nervous, sure, but I’m not deathly afraid of stages or crowds. It’s more about how I’ll never consider myself fit for teaching because I have certain expectations that come with the role. That, and my laptop might keel over any day now.

Yet somehow I’ve been roped into doing talks in the last 12 months, and all different ones at that.

For the latest list, please visit Projects.

1. May 2017: State of the Philippine Web Survey 2016 Results at the Philippine Web Designers Organization’s MiniFFC Meetup
2. August 2017: Theming Workshop at Women Who WordPress by Women Who Code Manila, WordPress User Group Philippines, & Philippine Web Designers Organization
3. November 2017: Social Media Workshop at Philippine Web Designers Organization’s Members Empowerment Series (because trivia: we’re a social media baby)
4. February & March 2018: mSite Study Jams at Google Developer Group Philippines’ Women Techmakers Manila 2018

They even tend to be workshops, but I find that’s actually less pressure than the hour-long talk format, which is more of strategic, choreographed storytelling and performance.

One thing I like about making a presentation: the opportunity to insert gifs and memes. #WomenWhoWP and #WomenTechmakers had me looking for awesome girl power gifs. Maybe I’ll agree to doing another talk if I can find more cats doing high fives (social media workshop).

But for the record, if there’s one talk I’d want to build and polish, it’s probably going to come from this blog, and it’s probably going to be this one.