On Monday I went to my first DemoCamp. Being the farthest thing from a techie, I understood very little of what was being presented, though I did like Sunir Shah’s bibliography automation , it was the only thing that I really got. And yes I liked the tabs. If you want a really detailed description of what was presented check out Craig Borysowich’s Post, he really knows Internet technology (Craig regularly posts on a site called ittoolbox.com, and he has his finger on the heartbeat of business IT).
Though I didn’t learn much on the technical side I did have some Demo presentation tips.
- Make sure your Demo works. If it doesn’t have a back up plan, even if that means using power point (where is my beer?)
- If you are pitching and idea with the hopes of getting an investor, make sure you anticipate the questions that they will ask. Though you may be highly specific on technical question, you can’t be vague on money question. Investors ultimately are interested in the bottom line “will they make moneyâ€Â
- Don’t confuse Demo with “Show and Tellâ€Â. Yes you may like a product, but if it’s already out on the market, then post it on your blog or wiki, and let people check it out themselves.
- If your idea is not ready to demo, then don’t. It is better to keep people waiting, than to show an incomplete concept that leaves people wondering “why did they just show us their blog?â€Â
Ultimately I respect the fact that these presenters made the effort. It takes guts to stand in front of couple of hundred people, and stand tall.
For me the real purpose in going was to meet new people/bloggers and to learn as much as I can from them, which took place at the pub.
For instance I learned about wikis. Until last week if someone would have asked what it meant to wiki, I probably would have blushed. In truth wikiing is quit interesting. When you go to wiki you add directly to the page. It is like being part of an ongoing thought. I made use of a site called wikipedia in my last post. wikipedia is like a living encyclopedia it is constantly changing and being added to.
If you want to know more about wikis check out Martin Cleaver , I especially like his post Blogs are like plastics, wikis are like leaves.
It was also good to see familiar faces from the previous weeks Mesh Meet up.
It was nice to see Rohan Jayasekera again (Rohan is an information machine when it comes to Web 2.0), Sacha Chua was there finding people and connecting them.
One of the new people I met was Kevin Amery . Kevin is a technical writer, which means if you have a product that you want to bring to market and you need to write a manual that can be understood by the masses, Kevin is your man.
I also met Jenny and her colleague Slava who are working on a top secret web project. If I told you I’d have to…
In general I am having an incredible time meeting all these interesting people.
When I began my blogging journey, I thought I was only for the purpose of sharing my ideas, but in truth I have learned so much more from all the new and interesting people that I have had the pleasure of meeting.
Happy Day.
