Kirk’s first in-person BoS Conf

Driving home from Business of Software Europe In-Person on Tuesday evening a song came on the radio and the lyrics summed up my experience perfectly:

Now I know what you’re thinking, “oh no Kirk is one of those ‘it’s a sign’ people”; I’m not, but – after 57 hours of being in BoS-mode and having not slept much as my head was buzzing with adrenaline – I may have become slightly emotional.

But enough of THAT!

Here are my top three moments and three things I learned from my first ever in-person BoS Conf :

Top Moments

1. Brennan Dunn Scaling to infinity and beyond
   Seeing how simple good segmentation is and how much can be done to provide a better service for newsletter readers was a penny dropping moment. All the ideas I’d had previously had been pointing to doing just this but had never worked out the right starting point.

2. Nopadon’s teardown
   Turning the camera onto our attendees and their websites to give actionable advice that can totally change their business. It proved what a safe, open, and community-esque environment BoS creates that people were willing to take criticism in front of others and hear input on their messaging. A LOT of takeaways from this session (for us at BoS too).

3. Dinner
   The buffet lunch and the BoaF discussions are great for when you’re in business mode, but having a dedicated meal where guards were down, business cards were put away, and people could just get to know one another over some fine dining created a wonderful air of equality and openness that meant I could really get to know the people I had only ever seen on screen.

Top Learnings

1. You can never be too prepared – detailed spreadsheets are my friend
2. Bumbags/Fannypacks are both the past and the future and I apologise for ever judging those who wore them. I already have a BoS USA In-Person bumbag ordered.
3. We can all do more. More for neurodiverse people. More for the planet. More for our individual company cultures and also for industry culture. More for better engagement. More to make our lives better and help each other out.

Oh and also

4. I am too old and spoiled for standard mattresses – I need luxury!

Overall, I had forgotten what it was like to run in-person events. I had forgotten what it was like to be in the room during talks and not be thinking about ‘is the Zoom defo recording’. I had forgotten how fun it is running from one place to another making sure things were set up correctly. Here’s to BoS USA In-Person on 26-28 September and all the fun that comes with it.