Here it is, about twelve and a half years later, and I realize now that I never actually said what the event is.
So, here goes.
TED Talks has an offshoot called TEDx. After the x is always the name of a city or school. Essentially, this is the venue. For here, of course, it is TEDxBoston.
However, these events are more of a grass roots nature versus regular old TED Talks.
What’s the Difference Versus TED Talks?
Well, for one, it’s the level of fame for the person talking.
Real TED Talks (the original kind, that is) are the kinds of stuff that Bill Gates does. You invite Jane Goodall to do a TED Talk, or maybe, heh, Ted Turner. But TEDx Talks are more local.
In a way, you can think of them as the difference between a regular old Google search and Google’s local search functionality. For a recipe to make pizza, you use the former. And, it’s huge! But for a local pizza delivery place, you use the latter. And now, there are a lot fewer hits. But they are right on target.
And it’s a Meme, Too!
Seriously. And a lot of that has to do with a bit of perceived snootiness.
But it is also due to the phrase, “Thank you (or thanks) for coming to my TED Talk,” being a great way to end an announcement or a statement.
So, it’s a little bit like quod erat demonstratum. Just without the fancy-shmancy Latin.
And when it comes to talking about my blog—you guessed it!
Last night, I helped host our first event to promote Neuron Robotics. Our first idea from it was to provide considerably more notice. This is because we could have promoted it better. We could have had a listing on a good half dozen or so calendars.
It wasn’t a bad first event. Just not promoted too well.
But On a Personal Note
I also learned that the really high heels look good, but I pay for it the following day. I suppose I knew that already.
How Our First Event Really Went
My boss and I each brought a DyIO and we talked about not only it but also the Bowler Communications System (BCS). Our Development Lead, Kevin Harrington, did an excellent job explaining not only the system but also how the company was initially put together.
I think we impressed our guests. We were certainly impressed with our guests! Plus we had a great time — we just enjoy each others’ company.
Thank You!
A special thank you and shout out to the lovely Paula who joined and supported us. Thanks, Paula!
And thank you for reading. We’ll have another event soon!
With the Gift of Hindsight
About twelve and a half years later, I can honestly say that the first event was… okay. Considering that we had nearly no preparation or promotions, that is.
But, like with so many other aspects of Neuron Robotics’ brief existence, one thing stands out.
And that one thing is the opportunities we missed.
We had a chance for some local techie press. At least, to get a mention in some blogs. But… nothing.
We had a chance to sell some units. Yet again… nothing.
Again, as I have noted oh so many times before, Neuron desperately needed an adult in the room. But there was no one to be found.
And again, in retrospect, it should have been me. Ah, well.
And Another Thing
In a world full of neurodivergent folks, there was probably no one who was truly neurotypical! Maybe Paula, as I remember her. Certainly Bob’s girlfriend (who is now his lovely wife).
I suppose this would be true about anyone’s first hosted event.
I am a tad nervous.
My company is sponsoring an event tonight. It is a Meetup for Tech Crunch, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in Harvard Square. The venue is John Harvard’s Brew House on 33 Dunster Street. Grab a map, in case you want to follow along.
I have clothes picked out. And I have packed the camera. I hope the batteries work. I even saved up a bunch of calories.
Because I want very much for this to go well.
Eek!
At 8 PM, I will be taking a deep breath and plunging in. Big smile, business cards at the ready, DyIO ready to rock and roll. Only a few butterflies.
Over Twelve Years Later…
Well, things have changed considerably from my first hosted event. For one thing, Neuron Robotics is no more. But such is the way of the universe.
It is with this kind of a latter day perspective where I can see the holes in the company.
But not the holes in our strategy. Because, truly, it was—strategy? What strategy?
Yeah, we were that green.
If I Had it to Do All Over Again (the First Hosted Event and More)
I don’t think the first hosted event was the real problem. Rather, it was that the rest of how we ran the startup was.
No plan. And no one even coming up with one. It was a lot of throwing jello against a wall. And, very little of that ever stuck.
Also, there was no money person. Because even a startup with a shoestring bootstrap budget needed someone to wield a checkbook. Or, at least, to turn out their pockets and tell everyone that there was no more cash to be had.
In short, someone had to be the adult in the room.
And in retrospect, it probably should have been me.
So, my knowledge of the subject spanned R2D2, Lost in Space, Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Star Trek.
In short, I was about as over my head as anyone could possibly ever be.
What the Hell
But the event was free, and I figured, well, everybody needs social media marketing, right? So I decided to go anyway.
I got a haircut that morning (completely unrelated, I swear!) and prepared for the event by printing up business cards and generally doing pretty much everything but think about it. Yet onto the bus I went.
The space is interesting. It’s a two-level area, where there is a huge staircase in the middle, splitting up the lower level. Being that in a former life I was an insurance defense attorney, I always look at that big, beautiful staircase and think: someone’s gonna trip.
But I digress.
I walk in, and I am easily a good 20 – 25 years older than everyone in the room who isn’t an employer. Also, I am one of very few females. And most of the job seekers are in corners or staring at their shoes.
There are two skateboards in the room (fortunately, they are not being used — see tripping hazard, above).
God knows I do not belong.
I do not belong. Cough, wheeze.
Mild Panic Attack Ensues
But seriously, folks.
I do not belong.
Taking the Plunge Which I Did Not Expect Would Become a Job at Neuron Robotics
And that is all I can think of, but I plunge in anyway, and I talk to some people but, frankly, I can only reel off about five words before I’m done. I drop cards wherever I think I can.
And then I retreated to the sidelines, to an area where there was a large wall that showed information on all of the companies attending. I stare at the names, and I am having an existential crisis.
I do not belong.
Oh, I do not belong. Panic, slight panic, big panic.
But let’s face it.
I do not belong.
Gawd, this is not good. I look up and I see this guy standing nearby. He is, perhaps, thinking some of the same things I am; I can’t tell of course (it turned out, he more or less was). He looks at me, I look at him, and perhaps there was a flash of recognition or sympathy or commiseration because he smiles, says, “What the hell!” and sticks out his hand.
Thank God!! And, Suddenly, a Job at Neuron Robotics
So, we chat, and I find myself becoming animated again. It is a free and easy discussion, on topic and off, and it is, above all else, easy. Hallelujah, saved from despair.
We part ways in order to mingle and network, but keep circling back. We are not there together, of course, but keep circling back anyway, you know like you do when you are at a party with a friend and comparing notes or taking a breather.
The evening ends and the next morning, I send a note. But I hear nothing, and chalk it up to experience. I continue, as always, to go to networking events.
In late April, I get my reply. So, we start emailing, and agree to meet on May 10th. Coffee okay? Sure.
I get in early, and the coffee shop is playing The Smiths. This I consider to be auspicious. Bob arrives and we again chat easily. Finally it comes down to brass tacks. Do you want to help us out? Do you want a job at Neuron Robotics?
Sure. Details are discussed over the next few weeks, and I meet the rest of the team, and we hit it off, too. We agree on a shmancy title: Director of Social Media and Public Relations.
And I think to myself:
I belong.
I belong.
… and …
I belong. And egad, I suddenly had a job at Neuron Robotics.
A Quick Look Back at My Old Job at Neuron Robotics
A bad scan of my Neuron Robotics business card! Meet me and you could get a much nicer one.
We used to make stuff. Or, at least, that was the plan. The company, apparently, was sold or taken over or got its own taste of reinvention. Helfino.
Did it help me? I can’t honestly say. I came away from it with some fun stories. As in, running through the streets of Cambridge, barefoot, hunting for a place to buy batteries (my shoes were off because I was in killer heels).
Also, as a person who has worked in a startup, it gives me some street cred around not only startups but also fast-paced work and modern work.
I made friends. I still keep up with the guys. And I did a ton of networking, but that’s only semi-helpful as it’s not in the field where I want to be these days.
In retrospect, it filled what would have been a rather large gap in my work history. And, if nothing else, I made like Socrates and learned just what I didn’t know. So, I went to Quinnipiac!
I think of just how long I’m (hopefully) going to be living. And can I ever really be happy? But now I feel I’ve found my bliss — social media. All I need is to make the leap into doing it professionally. Every day I run up, hard, to the gate. One of these days, the jump will be made, and I will land.
Careers are tricky things, aren’t they? We ask people about their ambitions all the time. In fact, for children, it can even be an occurrence that happens more than once per week.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Raise your hand if you ever said, “I don’t know.”
Because that is totally okay.
Time Keeps On Going; If You Don’t Look Around, You Just Might Miss It
But that’s all right. Because, you see, time slipping away has made careers like mine possible in the first place.
Say what?
Seriously.
Invention and Reinvention
So, I graduated from high school in June of 1979. There were no smart phones. There was no internet. Yet there I was, a kid who kinda, sorta understood communications.
Oh yeah, computers were the size of a room. And the popular fiction of the time showed them as unhinged menaces, lurking and ready to get us.
I’m looking at you, 2001.
And you, Star Trek TOS.
I graduated from college in 1983. Computers were a little smaller. But their cost was still comparable to a car. I had taken one programming class, hated it, and had dropped out before I could get a failing grade. But I had liked fooling around on the computer. I just didn’t want to program in DOS.
And then…
I graduated law school in 1986. I had used LexisNexis. But then I went to work for a large firm where there was still a typing pool. And IBM Selectric typewriters. No lie. Two secretaries had word processors. But at least the managing partner had a computer which he was trying (miserably) to teach himself how to use.
So, I left after 6 months and was at a firm where we had dumb terminals with some actual information in them. We did scheduling this way – although the clerk still used a huge book.
When I left a few years later (and left the practice of law altogether), things had not changed much.
Plus…
I taught paralegals. And I adjusted claims. Everywhere I went, it seemed computers were used less and less. In 1995, I started as a litigation auditor. I did not know how to turn on the Apple PowerBook 170 they gave me. According to Wikipedia, it was vintage 1991. I 100% believe that.
So I taught myself how to use it, and how to get faster. Slowly, we were switched to better computers. In my last 3 months or so (late 1999), we were finally given internet access.
Because I knew databases, and it was the dot-com boom, I found another job fast. 9/1 happened, and it stole my job, along with a lot of other peoples’. I drifted. Slowly, I was getting away from databases. In 2004, I worked at Dictaphone, and I did three separate stints at Fidelity Investments.
And I was at that third Fidelity job when I first wrote something like 73 words for this, my first-ever blog post.
Life Has Changed and That’s Changed Careers
From there to here, I wanted out. So I went to grad school and I blogged – here! Plus I made whatever contacts I could.
In 2014, I became a published fiction author. And in 2017, I was offered a job managing content for a business credit company.
What a long, strange trip it’s been. I have never regretted changing my life this way. Careers, I have learned, are for bending and changing. Because you will never know if there might be a better choice out there than you’ve got right now.
Careers are for reinvention. Never, ever set yours in stone.
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